Culinary ID
Name: Laura Biagiotti
Occupation: fashion designer
Birthplace: Rome
Favourite Food: spaghetti with tomatoes and basil
Favourite wine: ferrari rose
Dislikes: cheeses
Laura Biagiotti is one of Italy’s most successful designers whose creations are particularly loved by ‘real’ women. For more information on her latest collection visit: www.laurabiagiotti.it
Are you a good cook?
I know how to cook even though I have a great cook who prepares for my daughter Lavinia and me and our guests …
Do you have a favourite restaurant or chef?
In Rome I like to go to Fortunato al Pantheon, especially during the truffle season. And then there’s a chef I respect and consider a friend, Heinz Beck at the Hilton’s La Pergola, who always prepares me a special dessert for my birthday on 4th August. When I’m in New York, I go to visit my friend Sirio Maccioni at Le Cirque…
What's the most unusual food you have ever eaten?
In China I had hundred-year eggs which are considered a delicacy. They’re conserved underground for three generations, I couldn’t refuse and in the end it went well! …
Is there a book or a film about food that you like?
Chocolat, divine film with Juliette Binoche. …
What foods would you take with you on a desert island?
Pasta with tomatoes, and chocolate …
Do you eat breakfast?
It’s vital to start the day eating breakfast and I never skip it. I have a cappuccino and a couple of biscuits with Lavinia…
Who are your ideal dinner guests? And what music would you play?
I love having friends over to dinner, and the most important ingredients are a well-mixed group of people, with simple but artfully prepared food and an attractive table with coordinating flowers.
My favourite sound at a dinner table is that of my guests conversing but we put on a little background music, normally Mozart, during the aperitivo…
Is there room in the world of fashion for women who love eating and whose generous figures show it?
I invented the monotaglio, a flattering one-size cashmere dress ‘Bambola’, that became a cult during the 1980’s and which I still include in my new collections as it is always very successful. ‘Bambola’ was invented precisely so that women with fuller figures didn’t feel ignored or left out by the fashion world.
Women have a complex and changing relationship with their bodies: they put on weight and slim down during different
phases of life and often have a problem with their relationship with food. Either way, they should never be made to feel guilty. …
You get some good news – what do you celebrate with?
Being Italian and in some sense an ambassador for all that is ‘Made in Italy’, I’d have a good Italian spumante…
Food for moods
I think a wonderful Neapolitan pizza, for example, makes you feel happier than a plate of boiled vegetables …
