Filippo La Vecchia is one of Brussels’ top Italian chefs. But his rise to the top has not been easy – he’s had to overcome everything from a health pandemic and economic crises to terrorist attacks on the city.
Osteria Romana (pictured), located at the top of Avenue Louise, has built a fine reputation in the near 15 years since it opened.
Here, in an exclusive Q&A with Together Magazine Rome-born Filippo explains some of the “secrets of his success”.
Q:Who taught you to cook?
A:Curiosity.
I never grew up dreaming of becoming a chef. What fascinated me wasn’t simply cooking, but the idea that a meal could become a memory.
I’ve learned techniques from talented chefs throughout my career, but curiosity has always been my greatest teacher. Every day I still ask questions, challenge my own ideas and try to improve.
I hope I never stop learning.
Q: What was your first job in hospitality?
A: Like almost everyone, I started at the bottom.
I’m actually grateful for it.
When you’ve cleaned kitchens, carried heavy deliveries and finished services at three in the morning, you develop enormous respect for every person working in a restaurant.
Those experiences taught me humility.
Today I own the restaurant, but I never forget where I started and where I come from.
Q: What is your current role?
A: People often imagine that I spend every service behind the stove.
The reality is quite different.
Today my biggest responsibility is protecting the identity of Osteria Romana.
I’m fortunate to work with an incredible team. Giuseppe, our Head Chef, and Gianluca, our Sous Chef, have been with me for years. They know every recipe, every standard and, most importantly, the philosophy behind everything we do.
In the dining room, Gokhan, our Restaurant Director, together with the rest of the team, create the experience our guests remember.
I still develop new dishes, taste everything, question everything and make sure the standards never change.
I’ve always believed that if quality disappears the moment the owner leaves the kitchen, then you’ve built an ego, not a restaurant.
A restaurant should be able to stand on its own because great teams always outperform great individuals.
Q:What is your favourite ingredient?
A: Rice.
Most people would expect me to answer pasta, but I’ve always had a soft spot for risotto.
It’s one of the purest expressions of technique.
One minute too early, one minute too late, and it’s gone.
One of my favourites is incredibly simple: tomato, Parmigiano Reggiano, basil and just enough excellent French butter to bring everything together.
The simpler the dish, the less room there is for mistakes.
Q: What is your signature dish?
A: Carbonara.
Because it’s brutally honest.
There are only a handful of ingredients and nowhere to hide.
When it’s done properly, it’s unforgettable.
When it isn’t, everyone knows.
I like recipes that reward precision rather than complexity.
What is your most important piece of kitchen equipment?
My palate.
Everything else comes afterwards.
Technology changes.
Equipment improves.
Good taste never goes out of fashion.
Q: Which restaurants do you enjoy on your days off?
A: I’m lucky because some of my favourite restaurants also belong to friends whose work I genuinely admire.
Kevin Le jeune’s Chaga.
Nick Bril at The Jane.
Yamayu Santatsu.
Vitium at Giovanni and Vito.
Al Bacio at Claudio
Le Parloir.
I appreciate restaurants with personality.
Places that don’t try to please everyone.
Q: What do you cook at home?
A: I’ll probably disappoint a few people with this answer.
On the rare evenings I’m actually home, give me a takeaway pizza, Netflix a comfortable sofa and my two cats, and I’m perfectly happy.
After spending all day thinking about food, it’s surprisingly nice to forget about it for a couple of hours.
Of course, if I’m cooking for someone special…
…that’s a completely different story.
Q: Is there anything you won’t eat?
A: Very little.
I’ve learned that every culture has something worth discovering, and I’ve been surprised too many times to judge a dish before tasting it.
Curiosity has introduced me to flavours I would probably have missed otherwise.
Q:What are your tips for hosting a dinner party at home?
A: Keep it simple.
Cook one dish really well instead of five average ones.
Open a bottle of wine you’re excited to drink, put on good music and spend time with your guests instead of hiding in the kitchen.
At the end of the evening, nobody talks about how perfect the potatoes were.
They remember the atmosphere.
Q: Who do you most admire in the industry?
People who last.
Anyone can be successful for a season.
Very few remain relevant for decades.
I admire chefs, entrepreneurs, artists and architects who never stop evolving.
Talent opens doors.
Character keeps them open.
A: What’s your advice for youngsters thinking of starting a career in hospitality?
Don’t choose this profession because you want to become famous.
Choose it because you genuinely enjoy making other people happy.
This business will test your patience, your resilience and your character almost every day.
If you stay in it long enough, you’ll discover that success isn’t built during the exciting moments.
It’s built during all the days when nobody is watching.
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing you and those in the restaurant business?
Maintaining excellence while everything around you becomes more difficult.
Guests see a full dining room.
They don’t see the responsibility behind it.
Running a restaurant means carrying the lives of your employees, their families, your suppliers and your own future on your shoulders.
Being an entrepreneur gives you incredible satisfaction.
But it also demands an extraordinary price.
Not only from you.
The people who love entrepreneurs pay part of that price too.
They accept cancelled holidays, missed birthdays, late nights and weekends that disappear because they understand you’re trying to build something bigger than yourself.
Those sacrifices are invisible.
But they’re every bit as real as the business itself.
Q: Is Belgium doing all it can to foster entrepreneurship and support hospitality?
A: Belgium gave me the opportunity to build my life and my business, and I’ll always be grateful for that.
At the same time, I believe every country should encourage people who are willing to take risks, invest and create jobs.
Entrepreneurs don’t expect special treatment.
They simply hope that taking responsibility doesn’t become more difficult than avoiding it.
A healthy economy needs people willing to build things.
Q What is the secret of your success?
A: I don’t think there’s a secret.
Success is usually the result of thousands of ordinary decisions made well over a very long time.
Listening more than speaking.
Surrounding yourself with people who are better than you in many areas.
Knowing when to be stubborn.
Knowing when to admit you’re wrong.
Remaining curious.
And never believing you’ve arrived, because the moment you think you’ve finished learning is probably the moment you start going backwards.
There’s probably one more reason.
Failure was never really an option for me.
Some circumstances in my private life simply didn’t allow it. I had to make it work.
There’s an old saying in USA that goes: “If you want to take the island, burn the boats.”
In my case, the boats weren’t just burned.
It had already exploded.
When there is no way back, you stop looking for Plan B.
You put every ounce of energy into making Plan A succeed.
Q: If you were in the condemned cell, what would you choose as your last meal?
A: Very easy.
A perfect Amatriciana.
Or spaghetti alle vongole.
Or maybe a beautiful Milanese cutlet with crispy fries.
People expect chefs to dream about extravagant food.
Most of us secretly dream about the dishes we grew up with.
And if it’s really my last meal…
I’d definitely ask for a second helping.
At that point, calories and abs won’t be my biggest concern.
People often ask me whether all the sacrifices were worth it. My answer is always the same: I chose this life, so I don’t complain about the price. What I hope people remember isn’t just the food, but the people behind it. A great restaurant is never built by one person. It’s built by a team, supported by families, friends and loved ones who quietly make sacrifices every single day. They’re the ones who deserve the biggest thank you.
