Massimiliano Eandi

I was born on October 26th, 1992 in Turin, Italy. Growing up in a modest and close family, I grew up influenced strongly by each of my family members. I watched my father work hard to build a small company, which made me understand the value of money and hard work. My mother was more creative and artistic, and from her, I learned the meaning of art and beauty. On the other hand, my older brother opened my eyes and exposed me to a different, more contemporary kind of world. I remember being young and thinking I wanted to become a cop, an astronaut, a scientist, a thief, but deep inside, I knew I would someday become a cook.

As a boy, I was overactive and looked forward to the time I could get in the kitchen —it was something I romanticized about. At 14, my dream came true when I got my first kitchen job! Initially, I hated it because I was treated as someone who knew nothing, but that didn’t deter me. Instead I immersed myself in reading and studying books so that I could learn more and prove myself. Then at 16, I finally had the opportunity to become part of a serious kitchen when I began working at Combal.Zero as a Commis. Not long after, I moved to London to work at 1 Michelin starred modern bistro, ARBUTUS and then joined the 3 Michelin starred Gordon Ramsey. Finally, before my recent move to the New York, I was fortunate to be able to return to Combal.Zero as Chef de Partie in the year it was awarded 28th place out of the top 50 restaurants in the world. Although I took something away from all of my mentors, it was here that I became enlightened to new ways of seeing food through constant experimentation, new methods of cooking and food design. I finally began to relate to food in a different way and really grasped what rules needed to be respected and where freedom could come into play.