Gianluca Fusto: ‘All the ingredients can find a dialogue with each other’

Gianluca Fusto already has his long-expected space. A place as unclassifiable as his own personality and professional style. In its brand new Fusto Milano, in the Lombard capital, pastry products will be created and sold, events will be organized, research and development of techniques and ingredients will be carried out, and it will even be a place for recordings and television programs.

This opening is a dream come true, which Gianluca Fusto places in the third stage of his professional career and which he himself connects with the importance that number 3 holds in his life.

Fusto Milano opens its doors to the public for the first time through so good.. magazine issue #24. Its author also takes the opportunity to show us some of his latest creations, which now the final consumer will be able to try at last. That makes him happy. And once again against the tide, betting on the 18-cm cake format when the world has decidedly turned to the small format.

In the following interview, Fusto pointed out some interesting ideas, such as establishing a dialectic between the ingredients, beyond a simple dialogue. In his philosophy, pastry is like an alphabet, in which the letters are the ingredients, and if we know these letters and the grammatical rules well (that is, the technique), we can compose something exceptional. And all this while sticking to a key principle – freedom of thought and action.

In his philosophy, pastry is like an alphabet, in which the letters are the ingredients, and if we know these letters and the grammatical rules well we can compose something exceptional

Discover So Good #24

What is Fusto Milano? Could you describe it?

Fusto Milano is a project I started 4 years ago with the dream to open a private pastry lab for research and analysis, where I could carry on my activity as a consultant, while also organizing workshops and start selling my creations both to companies and private citizens. I also wanted to create a showroom which would be devoted to a celebration of beauty in the world of pastry design.

Inside Fusto Milano you can find a selection of the best Italian brands in the pastry industry, representing the highest standards in the field.

As a consequence, Fusto Milano undoubtedly represents the essence of Gianluca Fusto, but I also wanted to give the idea of a team of professionals working together on an innovative and unique project.

The team behind Fusto Milano shares with me a strong passion and a dream, helping me to make it true.

Starting from those working with me in the laboratory, to the creative minds of the press office: it is always a four-handed work. For example, the photographic project presented here on So Good for the very first time is the result of the great collaboration with Studio Brambilla-Serrani.

From our desire to tell people in Milan everything that is behind the brand ‘Fusto Milano’, we decided to start our delivery service: I personally collect the orders on the phone and the delivery itself is made by Linda, my wife and partner.

‘ The team behind Fusto Milano shares with me a strong passion and a dream, helping me to make it true’

What does Fusto Milano mean within your professional career?

Fusto Milano represents the third stage of my professional career, bringing together what I have been doing in the past years working as a pastry chef around the world. Most importantly, it is the realization of a project I have been dreaming about for years, ever since I met Linda, and she became an essential part of it.

Number ‘3’ has always had a great importance in my life. It is also represented in my logo and it has several meanings to me. As I said, Fusto Milano is the third stage of my career and it started when I met Linda, the first stage was apprenticeship and the second one represents the years I spent to learn and develop my idea of pastry.

Number 3 is also related to the fact that in my creations I always use three main ingredients, three textures, three temperatures.

Another essential element that is represented in my logo is the Yin and Yang concept of the free expression of thought and freedom creativity.

What kind of activities will be to be developed in this new space?

There will be a wide range of activities which will be developed in my new space: from production and sale, to the possibility to host events – when it is possible to organize them, of course.

In the future I would also like it to become a location for shootings and TV programs.

In early March we had presented a calendar of workshops for professionals. However, and due to the situation, we have recently decided to develop an online platform which would allow us to organize online classes both for professionals and gourmets.

Last but not least, I will continue to carry on my activity as a consultant: for the first time ever, I will have my own space where to study, research and create.

‘When people find their own balance, most of the times they tend to stop. On the contrary, my idea is to always find new connections between the ingredients and to do a bit of soul sourcing’

Gianluca Fusto is one of the most creative pastry chefs around the world. Where are the limits of creativity in pastry?

Creativity in pastry could be potentially limited by the fact that a pastry chef gives up on feeling emotions when he cooks. Inspiration can be found every day in the ingredients one handles and in one’s willingness to explore new concepts and push his/her boundaries.

When people find their own balance, most of the times they tend to stop. On the contrary, my idea is to always find new connections between the ingredients and to do a bit of soul sourcing.

All the ingredients can find a dialogue with each other, they just need to find a dialectic.

In my opinion, ingredients are like the alphabet: you can compose an infinite number of words if you find the right way to put them together, but there will always be just 21 letters.

Freedom of thoughts: this is the idea behind all my creations.

‘Ingredients need to take center-stage: a pastry chef should learn to respect them in order to transform them into a cake using his/her own stylistic skills’

Where are the creative trends in pastry for the coming years?

It is not easy to identify, and predict, the creative trends that will happen in pastry in the future. Covid-19 has certainly shaken the national and international situation, and everything will be different from now on.

As we have been forced to stop, people had a chance to get to know themselves better: their tastes and their capability to feel real emotions is what we should focus on right now. Essentiality and authenticity! In my claim I have used the word artisan, instead of industrial, together with the concept of contemporaneity as I want to go to the core of pastry: no fats, no sugar… I have decided to take off all the ingredients that could compromise the lightness of the final product.

Ingredients need to take center-stage: a pastry chef should learn to respect them in order to transform them into a cake using his/her own stylistic skills.

Discover these creations by Gianluca Fusto in sogood #24