Getting new perspective is the foundation for innovation. If we want to create something new we need new ways to look at the issues at hand. On of the best ways to get new perspectives is to talk with experts. Expert insights can help us make all sorts of new connections throughout the whole innovation process. They are a powerful way to bring stimulus to our innovation efforts and are a good foundation for creating new ideas and, ultimately, WOW moments. Plus, it is just fun to get to know people.

To help spur more conversation and connections with experts, this blog will highlight guests in a variety of different areas of expertise.

Today’s Guest: Owner and Executive Chef at Via Emilia in New York City – William Mattiello

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Chef William with a pan to make Borlengo, a bread traditionally made in Modena

2. One thing that is very special about Via Emilia is that it specializes in Lambrusco, a fantastic Italian wine of Modena. Most people don’t seem to think it is very good. The world is wrong about Lambrusco – why?
One major reason Lambrusco hasn’t had a high profile is the lackluster marketing efforts made for US consumers in the 1970s. Over in Italy, we had the great stuff that I sell today in Manhattan, but here (the US) at that time was getting some sickly sweet wine-cooler type stuff. That effect made Lambrusco a “prom night” drink and the impression stuck. I started importing Lambruscos in order to change perceptions about it, to really show the range and complexity of this particular region’s wine.

3. What should people look for in a good Lambrusco? What is your favorite?
I prefer, in general, traditional style Lambrusco: earthy, dry, and dark. One of my favorites is a complex one made by Vittorio Graziano, the Fontana dei Boschi. It tastes like the vine grew down into an old wine cellar, very gritty. Not for beginners!

4. When you create a new dish, where do you look for inspiration? Your Modenese Italian roots? Are there other places you find it?
Inspiration happens different ways. Sometimes it’s just going to the Union Square farmer’s market and seeing what’s fresh. We have some interesting dishes based around fresh figs. I also never get tired of exploring the history of noodles, which came to Italy from the Orient. My wife’s family is Japanese, and dishes like the Spaghetti Neri con Calamari reflect the link across cultural tastes for noodles with seafood, which she says the Italian got from the orient. Let her think that way….

5. What is the latest new dish you are offering at the restaurant? How did you come up with it?
Tagliolini pasta Renaissance style. I was reading about the feasts that Modena had when it was a dukedom and I came up with an idea for sweet and salty. My daughter was eating figs and after a few tries, with butter and parmigiano I added lemon zest…and that’s it.

Via Emilia specializes in Lambrusco, wine from the Lambrusco grape gown in the Emilia Romagna region of Italy.

7. Do you resent Chicken Parmesan?
We had a table one day, two couples from Staten Island, who crossed the Verrazano just to have Italian food in Manhattan. They were livid that we did not have chicken parmigiano, and I explained to them that it just was not a dish that reflected my own culinary experience and taste. But we have a chicken and eggplant parmesan Panini on the lunch menu, so come for lunch if that’s what you want. After 5pm, it’s my way or the highway!

8. Who were your food inspirations growing up?
My mother never really liked cooking, and she is from Naples, in the south. I was born in Modena and I loved the modenese cuisine since I can remember. So when I was lucky enough to go eat at a friend house I would always love their grandmothers cooking. So to answer your question it was the Modenese old ladies, with their fresh pasta making and the closing of the tortellini. That is what I remember most.

9. What is your favorite non-Italian food?
Chinese food. Chinatown NYC. Not the crap you find in Europe, except London. I find that Italian and Chinese food is very similar. Somehow I don’t feel the same with Japanese food.

10. What is next for Via Emilia?
We set up an Instagram account a few months ago and try to keep it current. Our fall/winter menu is being drawn up right now, and I’m excited to bring back a few heartier favorites along with some new ideas. And we’re redesigning the interior, a little more “taverna degustazione” than “MoMA minimalist”.

Via Emilia is a great restaurant and worth a visit. Both the food and the Lambrusco are fantastic!

Via Emilia can be found at 47 East 21st Street in New York City. For reservations call 1-212-505-3072. www.viaemilianyc.net – www.facebook.com/via-emilia – Twitter:@viaemilia .

Have you eaten at Via Emilia? Do you have another question for Chef William? Have you experienced Modenese cuisine or Lambrusco? Tell us in the comments or in the contact form!