This is one of those occasions, when it is a pleasure to tell the story of a family, which we hope can serve as an inspiration for other foreigners in Bulgaria who would like to realize their dreams in this beautiful country.
And we also want to thank very much to Gianfranco and Anna Chiarini, who opened for Foreigner BG and all of us, their house, restaurant and heart. And share their ideas and learning during these years living in Bulgaria
You Must watch the video interview!
Name and nationality:
Gianfranco Chiarini – Italian (Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna) January 8th, 1966.
Tell us a bit about you and what you do
I am originally born in Italy and moved to the United States (NYC to be more specific) at 8 years of
age. Spent my childhood and teenage years between the U.S, Venezuela and Italy.
My father is Italian and my mother is Colombian. My father was an important Advertising Director for important agencies around the world and that’s mainly the reason why we moved so much.
But all that moving made me strong and teach me to rely on myself and not to settle roots too quickly
anywhere as our time in some countries was often brief. This made me flexible, adaptable, and
friendly to change. Qualities that are very useful especially in the kitchen.
I am married to Anna Chiarini (Nutritionist Chef) and I am a professional Chef and a Food
Engineer. I started this noble profession at the early age of 15 years old.
I went to the Pittsburgh Culinary Institute and later I moved back to Europe and realized my dream of attending Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
When I was younger I had the chance to work under great masters and great teachers like Alain
Dutournier (Carré des Feuillants – Paris **), Heinz Beck (La Pergola – Rome ***) and Sigmund
Leypold (The Pirsch Mühle – Hamburg *) Note: some of the star ratings have changed through the
years. I am just stating the rating of the restaurant at the time of my engagement.
Afterward decided to expand my language, culture, and culinary profile by traveling and working in
several properties around the world. The Middle East, the rest of Europe, South America, Asia and
Africa.
And I had the honor to served many great personalities that range from Politicians, Artists,
Music and Sports Celebrities.
Back in 2011 my wife and I decided to become independent and we founded Chiarini Culinary
Consultants. a company dedicated to the design, making, and development of restaurant concepts around the world. We have to date work with 200+ restaurants in 114+ countries.
Anna and myself we started a dream 10 years ago of building our own small, exclusive space where
we could take very in detail of high profile customers and give them the result of all the above
aforementioned experience. But the lack of time and other reasons prevented us from settling and
delayed the dream. Until we moved to Bulgaria and we sensed that this was the right place. Still
virgin when comes to certain culinary ventures, untapped, amazingly beautiful, lots and lots of
products to transform, nice people, and the perfect weather for us. It reminded me of the Northern
Italy of my childhood several decades ago.
So here we are! we bought a 100 years old school in a small, pure and quiet village called Devino in
the Targovishte region and a few minutes away from the Municipality of Antonovo.
We remodeled the entire property inside and out, but we managed to keep its soul and history, to be
known and appreciated by foreigners and locals alike. And created a concept named: Dieci
Boutique Restaurant, Dieci means 10 in Italian. Ten as per the number of inhabitants of this small village, ten as per the number of guests per night, also ten as per the number of dishes served in our seasonal tasting menu, and finally ten as per the number of great Bulgarian wines served in our wine pairing tasting menu. All wines as I mentioned are 100% Bulgarian and made by Villa Melnik Wine State (strategic partner) number 36 in the ranking of the Best 50 Wineries in the world and the only Bulgarian wine state in this list.
We have decided to partner with the best to only provide the best to our exclusive customers. The
restaurant opened on the 14th of May and the acceptance of our concept has been one of embracing
especially by the Bulgarian population. I am short and out of words when I say that the pride and the
support of the locals to our concept have been incredible and unexpected.
Why and when did you come to Bulgaria?
We came for the first time back in 2015, when I was invited as a Guest Chef by a Bansko hotel that
used to celebrate every November, gastronomy festivals.
This is how we ended up meeting and liking Bulgaria. We kept on coming for several months after the event, in the search of an initial location, and spent 3 years in Bansko. Afterward sold our place, went to New York for a while to attend to personal business affairs and after a long search, we found this place.
What do you like about your country of origin?
Of Italy, I love the creativity, the passion we put into everything we love to do. I call Italians the
Masters of Transformation…. Why? because we did not invent cars, but we transformed them
into beautiful sport and speed pieces of art, food, wines, music, clothing, jewelry, watches,
furniture, architecture, paintings, sculptures, etc….. and the list goes on and on, nothing that we
have initially created, but we brought it to the highest level of expression and emotions. That; and
the good-hearted spirit and hard work of my people are what I love about Italy.
What are some differences between your country and Bulgaria?
The differences are many, but the similarities too, like any country. Differences perhaps the more
important in my eyes, is the need of more creativity and artistic expression in Bulgaria, and that’s
why I think Bulgarians have embraced this concept of Dieci with so much pride….. after all how on
earth some crazy chefs, will buy and move into an old school and transform it in less than a year
into something incredibly different and beautiful. Needless to say the pride of the locals to this
venture has been breathtaking.
To me, this means that the locals need this type of inspiration and true realities to see what is possible when vision, passion, knowledge, and hard work comes into play.
But the similarities are many as I mentioned. To me the points of reference between Bulgarians and
Italians are, the good heart, the peaceful ways, the deep and complex social life, the good wine, the
food, the weather, and also (and I say this with a smile); procrastination, as in Italy between one
espresso and the next we manage to make things in the most extreme clam and why not maybe
tomorrow will be the day to finish it. 🙂
What do you like about Bulgaria?
I love its people, the peace, the pure air, the small villages, the outdoors and nature, and of course,
the food raw materials. All the ingredients a chef like Anna and myself need to jump-start a great
concept.
What was the most difficult bureaucratic procedure you have undergone so far in Bulgaria?
To be honest…. nothing so far I can think of. For this dream of ours, a process that could have been extenuating and long in Italy (not mentioning expensive), remember in Italy we invented bureaucracy, back in Rome.
Here in Bulgaria, I have to say that with the undivided support of the Antonovo Municipality, the
Targovishte regional government and the help of many Bulgarian friends have made this dream come
true in a few short months.
I need to mention again, that the pride of the locals towards our restaurant proposal, has made this project in the legal and bureaucratic sense a walk in the park. As all Bulgarians that have come in touch with us have nothing but great things to say and have offered their open hands to help and make this process as painless as possible.
Mention one important experience you’ve had in Bulgaria:
I think I just did. The whole process to make Dieci come true has been the most important
experience here in Bulgaria.
If you have the chance to change something in Bulgaria, what it will be?
Maybe if I have to say something on this point will be, the working ethics and the need to
concentrate more on quality, rather than quantity. But this point may apply to almost any country in
the world.
What languages do you speak other than your mother tongue (do you speak Bulgarian
language)?
Unfortunately for now, I do not speak Bulgarian as the process of construction of the house has been
hard and required my full and undivided attention. But now that we have more air to treat, I’ll take
upon this.
Anna understands a lot more and she is able to carry on some interesting conversations. I
guess since she is in the dinning room she is more in contact with guests and this pushes her more
to learn at steadfast pace. Well needless to say; for Anna languages come very easy.
Aside from English I do speak, Italian, Spanish, German, French, Portuguese and I have a good
basic-medium command of Arabic as I lived several years in the Middle East.
What countries have you been to?
Ohhhhh. This will be a long answer. But let’s just comprise it in a simple number: 114 countries.
How is your business going ?
Business is going very well, thank God. Chiarini Culinary Consultants has slow down due to Covid
in regards to restaurant openings, but online food development has increased, also my product the
Super Mouse has also sold incredibly…specially during Covid as my product manages to reduce
staff, ingredients and time; something key on a food ingredient during pandemic times.
And now Dieci…. I have to say is booming and not to my surprise I have hosted here in four-plus weeks over
60 guests and over 90% are Bulgarians. Not bad for the local support.
What advice would you give to other people who would like to come to live in Bulgaria?
Basically, bring the best of you to this country, not the worst. Not your drinking, not your bad
business ethics, do not bring here your bad manners.
Come here to enrich Bulgaria, not to use it and abuse it for your own benefit…. Complain less and do more. Bulgarians are very accommodating if treated right. And if you put words into action, they will actually feel inspired and support you.
But endless are the stories I hear of foreigners coming here and treating this country like a shopping list.
None of us would be happy if someone will come to our country and make us feel less. Pretty rude I
must say. And treating locals like this will bring the worst of them and not the worst. I have seen the
best of Bulgarians first hand and I am happy to say, this country is my home for me.
Of course, every country has bad apples, and you do not have to put up with this either. Stand your
ground when coming in contact with some bad apples and in my experience, they will back off
immediately and you won’t see them again. But do not generalize as it is unfair to do so anywhere.
Bulgarians are sick and tired of being treated like second-class citizens all over the EU.
Do we have the need to expose them to feel the same way in their own land? I don’t think so. After all, we are guests.
And my best, last but not least piece of advice; be patient. The pace here is different; therefore why
would you complain about the pace that is slow, when you move to Bulgaria to find peace and
quietness in the first place. Don’t you think is a bit strange to search for peace and push others to
increase the pace? Just chill, but find the balance between getting things done well and not having a
liver failure. Everything is possible in Bulgaria if you lead by example.
We want to thank Gianfranco and Anna for their hospitality and for sharing with all of us their Expat Story!
