Twelve years after the passing of Stefano Bonilli and a few months after that of Carlin Petrini, Daniele Cernilli remembers two of the leading figures in Italian food and wine culture. Different in character and vision, often at odds but united by mutual respect and affection, they helped change the way wine and food are discussed in our country.
As I do every year, I’d like to remember Stefano Bonilli on the anniversary of his death. I remember it was the evening of the August 3, 2014, so twelve years have passed. Only a few months, however, have passed since that of Carlin Petrini, his friend, collaborator, and sometimes adversary.
Two Personalities, a Long Friendship
The two were bound by a thirty-year friendship. Both of them, in different roles, had been active in the group of the Manifesto, starring Luigi Pintor, Rossana Rossanda, and Valentino Parlato. And also Lucio Magri and Luciana Castellina. Petrini, the more political one, a great orator, with the charisma to inspire the masses. Bonilli is more of an intellectual, with a keen eye for the aesthetic aspects of wine and food and a truly unique journalistic sensibility.
It was estimated that, each of them said that the other was intelligent and visionary, though in almost opposite ways. Gigi Piumatti and I had to act as mediators between the two when their discussions took a contentious turn—which happened quite often. After all, Arcigola and then Slow Food were and are associations, while Gambero Rosso was and remains a company.
Respect Beyond All Differences
Different organizations, even different tax systems, and therefore, in the production and publication of the Guide to Italian Wines, which was “shared property,” as Petrini put it, there was no shortage of problems. In the end, though, a solution was always found. Respect and affection were more important than disagreements.
An imaginary gathering, once again around the table
Now, perhaps, they’ve ended up who knows where. In a hypothetical “heavenly” Bra, where Petrini would have dragged Bonilli to a Langhe-style trattoria, and Stefano, on the other hand, would have preferred a great chef—maybe his beloved Ferràn Adrià, or Fulvio Pierangelini. At most, the Antica Osteria Bottega in Bologna, his hometown, with his favorite tortellini in broth. “But nothing beats raviolini del plin,” Carlin would have replied. You decide who was right.
