From Humble Beginnings, A Chef Stays on Course to Success

What do we do with the worlds we are given?

“EMILY: "Does anyone ever realize life while they live it...every, every minute?"

 STAGE MANAGER: "No. Saints and poets maybe...they do some.”

― Thornton Wilder, Our Town

Ennio Riga lived just under 40.8 million minutes. And while he wasn’t quite a saint, he was truly a man of faith. While not quite a poet, he was without a doubt a storyteller who blended his passion for life into his tableside cooking performance.

Most remarkable about Ennio, who would’ve turned 79 today, is that, far worse than George Bailey in “It’s a Wonderful Life,” he very nearly did not escape his beginnings.

Ennio was born amidst the throes of a worldwide Great Depression. Italy entered World War II on the Axis side on June 10, 1940, less than two years after Ennio was born there. Italy surrendered to the Allies on September 8, 1943, six weeks after leaders of the Italian Fascist Party deposed Fascist leader and Italian dictator Benito Mussolini. That, however, was not the end of hostilities. The Italian Social Republic was formed shortly thereafter, based about 120 miles west of Ennio’s hometown, and was largely dependent on German troops to maintain control. The war raged on for another 20 months, just short of Ennio’s seventh birthday.

In that time, Ennio:

·     Survived a difficult birth

·     Grew up in a small and modest 150-year old country home, which his father purchased prior to Ennio’s birth for only 3,000 lire (a few dollars, in today’s currency)

·     Worked in the fields and tended to livestock

·     Hid six refugees for two years, at tremendous peril, 24/7

·     Sacrificed his own meager food ration for starving children (and was beaten for it)

·     Had his skull grazed by a German soldier’s bullet

·     Watched his father be dragged off to a German forced-labor camp

·     Had a dead Nazi fall over him when he opened his house door.

Even in the 10 years that followed, Ennio:

·     Had his father sell his car to buy Ennio a violin (which was later broken over his head by the same father)

·     Watched his younger brother narrowly escape death by a polio outbreak

·     Finished school at the age of 10, then worked three shifts (14-hour days), six days a week

·     Carried 140 lbs. of wine in containers on his shoulders

·     Gathered lamb and pork guts to make salami and sausages

·     Saved two lives from poisonous gas fumes by the age of 13

·     Started a soccer team with others that went on to play professional soccer

·     Coordinated food delivery for three large grocery-chain stores

·     Delivered the news of a husband’s airplane crash to his wife, who was expecting their first child

·     Broke up with the then-love of his life of more than four years to seek his fortune in Switzerland.

This was all *before* starting his first cooking job, which he only obtained by beginning as a dishwasher. In true Ennio fashion, he progressed from dishwashing to the head of the staff within six months … and was in charge of the bar at a five-star hotel, home of the Locarno International Film Festival, at the tender age of 21. (Among many ironies in Ennio’s life, the Italian comedian, Roberto Benigni, Oscar winner for “Life is Beautiful,” a story with several parallels to Ennio’s own life, appeared at the festival in 1998.)

It wasn’t long before he was cooking for the royal families from Norway, Holland, England, Sweden, Belgium, and Spain, as well as Hollywood “royalty” like Charlie Chaplin. Already self-taught in French, German, and Spanish, as well as his native Italian, Ennio would eventually learn English well enough to accidentally set himself on fire in front of Queen Elizabeth, as well as give the heave-ho to an improperly dressed Mick Jagger. All by age 25.

Want to know the rest of the story? (plus, more than 20 “Chef to the Stars” recipes) The official book is due out later this year.

Buon Compleanno a te, Ennio!