“Passion for food is in my blood”, says Giancarlo. With roots planted in Italy and China, he grew up in a household immersed in international flavours. “Hot chilli beef and beautiful lasagnes were the norm in our kitchen. When we moved to the island my father taught me how to spearfish. I fell in love with anything that involved fishing and started cook what I caught.”
His culinary career brought him to Ventnor’s Royal Hotel where he was sous chef for 11 years, intersected with stints at the kitchens of le Mannoir Aux Quat Season and Chewton Glen. “I lived, breathed and dreamed about food,” laughs Adam. “If I was writing and creating new menus I would go to sleep thinking about a recipe, then would dream about it and when I woke up would make it. 9/10 times these dishes became part of my cooking repertoire. It was during my time at the Royal that I met Giancarlo who had also become a chef.”
My career in cooking was really the result of my love of travel and fishing in beautiful places. It meant I could work summer seasons and then head off to tropical countries during the winter. Following the Royal Hotel I worked at the Hamborough and the Pond Café before me and Adam reconnected at Goodman’s Bistro.”
“Our idea was to open a place where we could serve fresh, exhilarating Mediterranean inspired food and where the atmosphere would be really alive. We wanted to bring amazing food to people in a relaxed way whilst giving them a real flavour of who we are; mixing up the best locally caught seafood, seasonal products, raw talent and with a twist of travel and adventure,” says Adam.
Just like the shoreline, Tramezzini continues to shift and evolve. Adam explains; “We run our business in the same way that chefs develop food. We are constantly tasting, trying, rearranging and adapting, keeping the best bits and evolving others. Food changes, the island changes and we strive to be at the crest of the wave.”