Chef Andrea Selvaggini brings modern Nordic food to Hyderabad

Guess what happened when Chef Andrea Selvaggini came to Hyderabad from Oslo’s Michelin-starred restaurant Savage for Nordic Flavour Adventure? His maiden visit to India, to Hyderabad, is making him think about ways to successfully take back biryani to his country.

Andrea is in Hyderabad at The Leela for pop-up by Conosh. After having eaten in the city at various joints, from idli and dosa to nihari, I enquired if his gut is doing well. Andrea’s response made me happy. He says, “The misconception about Indian food being unsafe must be done away with. One can fall ill due to various reasons. When we travel, our gut microbes change due to the weather, long-haul flights and what not. Eating safely is about what you are offering to the body, according to how you are feeling that day. I have fallen sick in Korea. But I am not blaming the food.”

Andrea says his family’s response to travelling to India was ‘you have to get a couple of shot.’  

Born in 1995, Andrea, after spending time learning and working in important restaurants of the world today, went on to start Savage in Oslo and proudly holds 1-Michelin star rating.

Nettle Pasta
| Photo Credit:
Prabalika M Borah

His journey as a chef started in his homeland, Italy, at the city of Tarquinia in the Lazio region. It is his Italian Nonna that inspired him to cook. He says, “Being surrounded by great Italian cuisine, my love to cook was pushed forward by my desire to travel the world. As a result, I was sure about my future: unite two of my passions – cooking and travelling and make a job of it.” 

He decided to dedicate his life to cooking and after completing his education at the culinary school he went to France and then Luxembourg to gain his first professional experience. After working in some bistros, he discovered a strong passion towards the fine dining scene.

“That was the real breakthrough in my life. I went back to Italy and worked in Metamorfosi restaurant (1 Michelin), which completely blew my mind in terms of creativity and style of cooking. This made me understand that fine dining was the right space for me,” he added.

Before he started off with Savage, he worked at Pascucci al Porticciolo restaurant (1* Michelin). Andrea continued to fulfil his desire to travel, and from Italy he headed to Spain to work with the Spanish chef Quique Dacosta in his 3 Michelin-starred restaurant in Denia. “Finally, I moved to Mexico to work at Quintonil restaurant by chef Jorge Vallejo in Mexico City (listed number nine in The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list). Then Norway happened where I worked at 3-Michelin-starred Maaemo, as chef de partie. My second and the last Norwegian experience was at Kontrast (1 Michelin star) restaurant.” 

After a couple of stints here and there, learning and unlearning, in 2022, Andrea became a part of Revier Hotel and opened Savage.

Chef Andrea Selvaggini at work at The Leela
| Photo Credit:
Prabalika Borah

Andrea feels the experience of having worked at various places have made him pick up the fine nuances in cuisine. The most important of which is taking care of the team. Food comes next, which, according to him, should be honest. “Presentation is important, but that’s not going to satisfy a diner’s hunger. We, as a team, take care to procure ingredients from small farmers who farm for a living. It can be their backyard farm. The quantity of the produce doesn’t matter. Quality does.” 

Personally, what is Andrea’ preference for food? Bland, spicy or modern? “Spice for sure, I love working with all kinds of spices. Modern food is nod. I like my food to reflect the tradition of technique and ingredients. Fusion foods should be able to tell me the roots and let me enjoy the flavour of ingredients used; desserts should not be too sweet,” he adds.

To explain what he meant, he served Nettle pasta, savoury doughnuts with a topping of raclette, parmesan and truffle shavings with black currant. 

Andrea will be at Raen — the Chef’s Studio, The Leela, on Sept 19 and 20, dinner only.