Born in Casatenovo, north of Milan, the Penati brothers have all dedicated their
working lives to the Italian food industry. Alberico decided he did not want to follow his brothers into food production so branched out, at the age of 14, to follow his culinary dream by beginning his apprenticeship in Lecco in a Venetian family-run restaurant. It was here that he discovered new ingredients and tastes and realised that the pursuit of culinary excellence would be his future.
He followed this vocation with placements in the grand-luxe hotels: Palace and Galia in Milan,
Excelsior in Venice, Villa d’Este in Como and the Grand Hotel in Rimini, all the time
developing his talents towards an international career.
In 1983 Penati moved to Paris to work with celebrated Italian Chef Angelo Paracucchi in
his restaurant Le Carpaccio at the Royal Monceau Hotel. This was an exciting and formulative new chapter in his life – an introduction to the grand traditions of Parisian haute cuisine which he pursued with dedication and vigour. He rounded off his French experience by working with the Troisgros brothers in Roanne, in the Lenotre laboratories, then to Cologne and as consultant chef in Antwerp, Belgium.
Then it was off to London for 25 years where he worked as Chef and Executive
Chef in the rarefied atmosphere of the ultra-exclusive private clubs, Harry’s Bar and Annabel’s, under the ownership of Mark Birley, their close collaboration only drawing to a close upon the death of Mark Birley in 2007.
During these intervening years, Penati had undertaken various consultancies: Flavio Briatore’s Club Billionaire on the Costa Smeralda in Sardinia, Hotel Amigo in the Grande Place in Brussels and back to the Carpaccio at the Royal Monceau, which was awarded its first Michelin star in 2000.
2010 saw the opening of his eponymous restaurant “Alberico at Aspinalls” at
the exclusive casino in London’s Mayfair, followed by his collaboration with Robin Birley, son of Mark, in the preparation and launch of the exclusive private club 5 Hertford Street, once again the haunt of royalty, aristocracy and high society as with his father before him.
Alberico was keen to re-establish his presence and his cuisine in Paris and so, in collaboration
with his friend and associate, Venetian businessman Pier Silli – founder of the Carpaccio at Royal Monceau – he returned early in 2014, opening Penati al Baretto in April of that year.
