When Salvatore Meo reminisces on his childhood, he is warmed by the memory of his father cooking delicious meals for his family and for his customers. He admired his father’s profession and the fact that he was able to do what he loved unapologetically. He was inspired and he was determined to take fate into his own hands. The Italian-native accepted his calling and established a remarkable career as a chef. He is energized when he in his kitchen, preparing meals for food lovers from all over the world. It is his art, his passion, and his true joy in life. Fortunately for Meo, he can also call it his job.
When it comes to identifying what he loves most about his job, Meo doesn’t have to think. When he chose his career path, he never looked back. He is confident in his decision to pursue a life as a chef and his relentless desire to be the best chef he can possibly be has carried him far.
In his quest to become a top chef, Meo has acquired a vast amount of invaluable experience. Today, he describes himself as having a gastronomic style and creates classical Italian cuisine with a flair of modern touch. He uses elements of the traditional styles his father taught him growing up and has since evolved to give his own, new world look to classical dishes. With his authentic style, he has opened restaurants in both Italy and Germany. Some of his more notable restaurants consist of Restaurant Zur Ratsstube, Restairamt Zum Nudeldunker and Ristorante Rossini Bischoscheim.
One restaurant that stands out in Meo’s career, however, is Trattoria Fornaretto as it was his first Italian-only restaurant and he was able to focus solely on Italian cuisine. For Meo, this opportunity was particularly significant to him as he was able to get in touch with his roots and explore his heritage in the best way he knew how. He loved the restaurant’s authentic, old style Italian brick oven and using it made him feel as though he was traveling back in time through the history of Italian cuisine. Beyond that, he enjoys the smoky flavor that the oven adds to his food.
A career like Meo’s is unique in the sense that unlike certain professions, Meo’s job gets more and more challenging with time. The pressure to continue to develop your style, to keep up with the industry’s current trends, and to bring new, unique dishes to the table can be a daunting task at times. To be able to open several restaurants throughout his lifetime is impressive in itself; however, he considers this to be one of the greatest challenges of opening Trattoria Fornaretto.
“To establish another new restaurant and to be more creative than your competitors is a tough job. Adding a brick oven was a chance to present the Mediterranean kitchen in a way that no one else had done before. It even attracted other Italian restaurant owners to sample my food whenever they had time off,” told Meo.
Meo is a strategic businessman with an unparalleled ability to cook. When he encounters challenges in his career, he never seems to fail to overcome them and land in a better position than where he began. He knows his art like the back of his hand and he thrives on the opportunity to let his creativity run wild. He strives to improve his recipes on a consistent basis and to create new elements for traditional dishes in order to keep his menus fresh and enticing.
Similar to the way in which Meo’s father inspired him to follow his dreams, Meo acts as an inspiration to aspiring chefs that he encounters. For instance, Tiziano De Lorenzis, who worked under Meo at the outset of his career, speaks highly of the renowned chef. He grew used to pleased customers and rave reviews when he worked under Meo and he was astounded by Meo’s ability to produce the highest quality dishes, whilst professionally conducting himself and his business before his customers.
“I was fortunate enough to observe how Salvatore teaches and instructs young cooks during their Apprenticeships. With guidance and patience, he acts as a role model for young chefs and he motivates us to successfully finish our culinary education so that we can try to achieve success like his,” noted De Lorenzis.
If Meo’s 6-year old self could see him now, you can imagine how proud he would be. To identify your dream at such a young age and to spend the next several years of your life nurturing and expanding that dream is a true accomplishment. He is eager to continue to live his dream for as long as he lives and he is happy to look back on how far he has come.