By Isabella Ceccarelli
At Conte Fabiani you ‘eat’ the history and culture of the area and gain high-level professional experience.
The noble origins of the Conte Fabiani Restaurant, in Gubbio, can already be breathed from the entrance of the building of the same name located in the main square of the city, the view is breathtaking, both inside in the large rooms obtained from the cellars, and in the garden, an external courtyard that opens its door to the alleys and bridges of the Abbondanza; You always see someone passing by and you are immersed in the daily life of the medieval town. A building that also knows how to tell many love stories, first of all that of Countess Eleonora Fabiani who, wife of the entrepreneur Fagioli, loses her status of nobility.
It is Gaetano Esposito, Il Moro di Gubbio, owner of the restaurant – young and for 25 years in the restaurant business – who has found many letters from the two lovers, and an old handwritten cooking recipe book, which have become a source of inspiration for him that has prompted him to bring to the table a choice of menu that also knows how to remember the noblewoman and not just tell about a territory.
Here we don’t just tell Gubbio, but many territories, united in every dish, where matter, technique and culture are the main ingredients and each dish is carefully told by Maria Concetta, to highlight all the peculiar value, made up of substance.
The chef is the soul of the restaurant, but not the protagonist: the strength is given by the synergy and flexibility of all the staff, his whole family who is essential to welcome and pamper guests and give impeccable service every time, even towards regular customers, whose tastes Gaetano knows and always gives the choice something new.
At the Conte Fabiani restaurant, Gaetano respects tradition in all its literal and etymological meaning: tra-dire, that delivering beyond, keeping intact the deep roots of meaning and expression of social value, bond with the land; never disregarded and betrayed in the actions, in the techniques that give innovation.
The combinations of the raw materials that make up the dish are always studied by Gaetano and must make a result very precise in every detail; Its secret ingredients are renowned, one for each preparation that must give that touch of particularity, to be there without being noticed, a signifier that enhances the dish sometimes in contrast, others in combination. A sensory journey through the world, through carefully chosen products: there are many local ingredients that see those of other regions or nations as co-protagonists: not only proposals of local meats, carefully seasonal truffles, but also fish, shellfish, often accompanied by salted butter from Brittany.
Cooking has become a real passion for him infiltrated in his blood, which leads him to become a point of reference for companies operating in the restaurant industry at an international level, with which he has collaborated for several years in the training of chefs for the Italian gastronomic tradition, traveling through the kitchens of the world, in hotels, restaurants and luxury resorts, which give him the opportunity to acquire an important cultural and culinary baggage. It reveals a maturity that is immediately perceived, right from the names of the proposals. If the Countess Fabiani is the protagonist of the menus of the conceptual tavern, the Capricci del Conte tell the story of the Gubbio people’s travels around the world proposed through a sliced Umbrian Chianina with lobster and butter sauce with truffles; The Moor of Gubbio, on the other hand, is Gaetano’s alter ego. The choice of the wine list falls on labels that are not only strictly local, but both regional and national, with bottles that know how to travel between Umbria and Italy, with their hearts turned to Campania.
Before starting to cook, he must know the history of the place, the origins of traditional dishes, including regional ones, which he betrays through continuous innovations, incursions of customs and ways of doing things that come from afar. And they take Gaetano far: In 2022 Count Fabiani was chosen by Alessandro Borghese for the broadcast 4 Restaurants, where the Moro di Gubbio stands out and is called for other programs.
A lively and bubbly, perfectionist mind, always at work in the kitchen to create proposals that are an expression of his personality and all his experience, which always know how to be remembered, but above all, are able to mediate a culture with a broad and open scope, capable of going beyond a tradition in the strict sense and only local, without ever losing sight of the territory and the seasons that become the basis on which to forge the inspiration of each proposal.
Info: Conte Fabiani Restaurant, Piazza Quaranta Martiri 24, 26B / Gubbio (Pg) / Tel. 075 842 5542 / Closed on Tuesdays
