Filippo Vianello is bringing a little Italian flavour to Bone Fish Bar & Grill in Dockyard. The 34-year-old head chef has spent the past few months testing out recipes and ideas; now he’s ready to unveil a menu jam-packed with local fish and fresh produce.

He shares more about his passion for cooking and the inspiration behind some of his creations ...

How did you get interested in cooking?

The passion for me started quite early. My grandmother is a great home cook. Growing up in Padua [in Northern Italy] she would make a lot of our regional foods.

We eat a lot in our culture. Every time we sit down for lunch it includes an appetiser, a pasta and then a main course and dessert. So it was a huge meal every day. We ate a lot of meat and pastas, like home-made ravioli, tortellini and gnocchi.

How did you help?

I would help her with small tasks like stuffing the ravioli and making the fresh tortellini. I also made the pasta dough.

What I liked most in those days was seeing the final product. At that age it was only for our family, but now I really like putting my passion into the food and seeing how other people enjoy it.

I love for customers to be happy with what they’re eating.

When did you decide to pursue cooking seriously?

When I was 13 I had the chance to live in a more touristy part of Italy and go to a cooking school there. It was a high school and that same year I started working in the summer time in a kitchen.

My first job was cleaning dishes for three months and then after that I started to work weekends in the same place, making pizza. I spent two years there working in the summers and weekends.

Then through the school I went to I was sent to different hotels to have experience. I went to a place called Rosolina Mare in Venice, where I was making pizza at a busy pizzeria restaurant.

From there I went to Emilia-Romagna in Rome and that’s a very popular family vacation place, especially for the young crowd, so I spent two summers there working as a chef in two hotels. Then I went to Sardinia, an island off of Italy, for one year, and a place called Canazei, which is in the mountains.

What brought you to Bermuda?

I got to Bermuda in 2003. I met someone who was a chef working at Portofino. He was looking for staff for the restaurant. I was 21 and I said, “Let’s try a different experience”.

I didn’t even know that Bermuda existed. I had only heard of the Bermuda triangle. I said, “Let’s try for one year”. So I came and the first year I was young and went to a lot of parties and really started to enjoy it.

I’ve been here for 13 years now. I got married in 2011 and met my wife here. We have a daughter together and are expecting another child in May.

What are some of your specialities?

I like to work with fresh seafood and ravioli, any kind of stuffed pasta really. I make a really great pizza as well.

What’s the secret to great, fresh pasta?

It’s really simple. The ingredients are eggs, flour and a touch of olive oil.

The trick is the stuffing. For the stuffing you need to get a good recipe with good flavours and pick something that will go well with the sauce you’re pairing it with.

My favourite is pumpkin ravioli. It brings me back to home. It’s something we do a lot in Padua and I like the sweet taste of pumpkin with the acid of the tomato sauce. It goes really well together. It’s especially good nowadays because there are a lot of vegetarians that we serve.

Another one I like is lobster ravioli. It’s a good dish because we use fresh Bermuda lobster and it gives a distinctive taste.

What sorts of things do you cook when you’re off duty?

When I cook at home for my family it’s mostly in a rush because I don’t have much free time.

I try to have a balanced diet so we might have couscous with lots of vegetables like zucchini, peppers, scallion, red onions, lemon, garlic and olive oil. Then I mix in chopped almonds and dried cranberries and diced apple; and pair it with fish or grilled chicken.

When I’m off for the day I like to challenge myself and try different things that I can use at the restaurant.

Sometimes I try recipes out at home and bring it back to the restaurant if it comes out good.

One time I made an appetiser with yucca root wrapped in bacon and was able to use that for a private party.

Have you introduced any changes to Bone Fish since you joined a year ago?

Since I’ve been here I really improved the quality of the menu. I work with more local fish and local produce and when we can we support local farmers.

I’m trying to continuously put new things on the menu and now I’m changing the menu for the new season.

My first few months here were more or less spent testing the waters to see how things were going. Now I know more about what customers in Dockyard are looking for and will change the menu to fit their needs.

People have started noticing a difference — and like it. I hear a lot of positive feedback so I’m very happy with the end result.

One of my ideas that we are considering is introducing pizza sold by the foot. It would be served on a wooden board and a great way for people to share and get together.

In Italy we have a long table and people will get six feet of pizza with different toppings and all the people at the table can try it and try out the different flavours.