FLORENCE, Italy--It would be pure speculation that Michelangelo ("Mickey") Buonarotti would recognize this scene, even though he had a hand it its creation. (Just as he and his pal Leo were single-handedly--ambidextrously?--repsonsible for the Renaissance.) Point being that even here, at the epicenter of Italiian high culture, McDonald's is part of daily life.
What you have to understand is that Italy is a country with a strong street-food tradition. Not fast-food, but food you buy on the street and eat from your hand. Arancini (deep-fried, stuffed rice balls) and cannoli (yes, cannoli) to name but two. Pizza, only rarely. Coffee, never. American-style fast food in the land of slow simmered ragù has been a long, hard sell. Not to mention that it's expensive! A Big Mac goes for $8, a McBacon for $8.25, and that's without fries or soda.
So the challenge facing McDonald's in Italy isn't price resistance but concern that the product doesn't measure up to Mamma's homemade pasta.
Enter Gualtiero Marchesi, at the venerable age of 81 Italy's reigning voice of culinary authority. (We crossed paths with his kitchen crew last year in Franciacorta, when we stayed at the Albereta Hotel, where his three-star-Michelin restaurant is located.) Concerned that young Italians no longer know what good food tastes like, Marchesi struck a deal with Mickey to upgrade the entire menu. "Haute Cuisine comes to McDonald's" is the tag line. I tried the entry-level Bavarese ($2.50); it tasted like a Whopper Junior, without pickles.
"Begin to Believe," the in-store display says. In small print, you can also read another tag: "The surprises never stop at McDonald's."
The real surprise (to your wallet) would come at Marchesi's flagship restaurant in the scenic Alpine lake country, where international celebrities like George Clooney dine and the seven-course tasting menu runs just under $300 without wine. "But why should the rich be the only ones to eat well?" Marchesi asked in a magazine interview. He sees his work with McDonald's as a public service. "Children especially are at risk of obesity because of industrial food." Take that, you Slow Food whiners, who complained that Italy's most famous chef was promoting Fast Food.
Funny thing, LATimes.com reports this week that Mickée is also the subject of a makeover in France. More architectural than gastronomic, however.
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