When a chef becomes an entrepreneur: the Davide Oldani cas

The basis for success in a new company in a creative industry is very often the genius of a creative entrepreneur. The exceptional talent of this person becomes a trademark for extraordinary creations that win rave reviews from critics and the public alike. People identify the creative entrepreneur, the brand and the company almost as one and the same. This represents a guarantee of quality and authenticity to be sure, but when the time comes to grow the company, it’s critical to find the right solutions in terms of governance and the organization itself. Managing this process effectively calls for managerial competencies, not creativity alone.

Haute cuisine is one of the sectors where we can see the biggest overlap between the history of a company and the personal and professional story of the entrepreneur. If the reputation of the restaurant is a reflection of the chef’s, how can we imagine replicating the same formula at the same time in several different restaurants? To complicate matters, what if the restaurant has a deep connection with the local area, an identity – and a supply chain – enmeshed in the community? (How can you source the same high-quality ingredients anywhere else?) These are just a few of the quandaries that faced Davide Oldani, the talented Milanese chef and entrepreneur, and since 2003 the owner of D’O, a restaurant in his hometown of Cornaredo (near Milan).

Oldani’s ties with his hometown indelibly marked his training as a chef. In fact, once he decided on his career path, he enrolled in the Carlo Porta Hospitality Training Centre in Milan. A defining moment came when he was just 16: Oldani met one of the top Italian chefs, Gualtiero Marchesi, the then undisputed master of innovation on the high-end culinary scene in this country.

So Oldani went to work in Marchesi’s starred restaurant, first as an apprentice and later as a chef – a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to launch his career. His professional growth continued with more experiences working with world-class chefs: Albert Roux in London, Alaine Ducasse in Montecarlo and Pierre Hermé in Paris. The years to follow were filled with intense work abroad, which enabled Oldani to perfect his skills, but also created a disconnect with his roots. He was losing touch with his identity. So when in 2003 a trattoria near his hometown in Cornaredo became available, he jumped at the chance: and so began his entrepreneurial adventure.

This was a relatively out-of-the-way location (the city center of Milan was eight kilometers away), but it was the perfect choice for combining quality and sustainability. And by saving money on rent he could keep his prices reasonably low while offering high cuisine. As for the corporate structure of the business, Oldani opted for a limited partnership, convinced that this is the most responsible formula both toward his collaborators as well as his suppliers and other stakeholders.

A no-frills mix of taste and innovation, and lying at the heart of it all, quality and respect for the customer: these are the principles that inspired Oldani’s POP kitchen. The dishes change with the changing seasons; ingredients are sourced from a handful of carefully-vetted suppliers. To preserve a sense of harmony between the food and the atmosphere of the restaurant, the interiors exude simple elegance. After all, the customer’s attention should be focused on the food. Oldani also invented his own line of dishes and tableware, designed to be the perfect combination of refinement and functionality.

The D’O formula was an instant hit – the first Michelin star came in 2004, only a year after opening. Oldani hired on new staff, all handpicked personally (but no professional waiters, a conscious decision on the chef’s part). D’O employees were offered the chance to rotate into all the different roles and participate in training courses. Oldani handled all the bookings and tables himself. Each Saturday morning he held a staff meeting to talk over operational issues, but this also was a vital opportunity to reaffirm and share core values and basic principles. As chef-entrepreneur, in light of his experience and seniority, Oldani was well-aware of his leadership position; he knew he represented a source of inspiration for his collaborators, and much more.

The creative genius of Oldani won him more and more fame over the years, even outside of Italy. In 2014 his restaurant was the subject of a case study by Harvard Business School; in 2015 he was nominated ambassador for the Milan Expo; the following year he was selected as chef for Italy House at the Rio Olympics. At the same time, Oldani decided to go beyond D’O: in 2014 he opened his own café in Milan’s Malpensa Airport, and then a restaurant in Manila in 2016 called FO’OD, also the brand of his own line of products used in his restaurants, sold through large-scale retail channels.

In 2016, D’O moved to a new location in Cornaredo, with the same subdued, functional elegance that’s become signature Oldani. His latest venture in 2017 was to open a Hospitality Training Centre in Cornaredo. Thanks to all his efforts, the school immediately launched a series of top-notch national and international projects. This goes to show the entrepreneur’s ties to his hometown, and his desire to give something back to the community where he laid the foundations for his success.

Fifteen years have gone by since the grand opening of D’O, and business is booming. The chef has earned a great reputation both in Italy and abroad, success that can represent a springboard for the new entrepreneurial adventures that await, with Oldani playing the part not only of the chef, but the CEO.

• In creative industries, to guarantee a sustainable future for a business, the creative entrepreneur must have a hand in training quality human resources, people who’ll be prepared to carry the torch in the future; the entrepreneur also has to take on a leadership role, transferring his or her knowledge and values to collaborators and teaching them to activate the mechanisms that form the basis for creative success.
  
  

• In creative industries, like any other sector, to effectively run a business and handle human capital, managerial principles are indispensable. And the farther the company goes on the path of growth and internationalization, the more critical they become. Maintaining intact the same levels of originality and quality on a broader scale: this is without a doubt the biggest challenge facing any creative company.