Mark Ruck and I are trying not to crack up. The wonderfully named chef-proprietor of Osteria del Castello in Brolio - one Seamus de Pentheny O'Kelly - where Ruck has been doing a week-long stage as part of his prize for winning the 2002 college final of the Gordon Ramsay Scholar competition, is indulging in some after-dinner entertainment.
With a sidekick on the mandolin who resembles a Spinal Tap version of Manuel from Fawlty Towers, the South African O'Kelly, eyes shut and caressing his bongos, is in full crooner mode. "Imagine you are high up in the hills of Chianti," he drawls, "dining on zucchini flowers, staring into the eyes of your lover..."
The mostly American diners love it. Perhaps this is the romance they expect of Italy. Or perhaps they all ordered the Aphrodisiac tasting menu - starting with the aforementioned fried zucchini flowers in a citrus sauce with tarragon and balsamic, but with no mention of oysters - just one of the selections O'Kelly offers in the Osteria del Castello, the much reviewed (if the website is anything to go by) informal restaurant attached to Chianti's famous Castello di Brolio wine estate.
Twenty-year-old Ruck, though, can't believe it. Despite the experience of winning what is fast becoming one of the premier competitions for trainee chefs in the UK, he is used to rather more decorum at Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons in Great Milton, Oxfordshire, where he works as a first commis. Could he see its renowned proprietor, Raymond Blanc, coming out after service and giving a rendition of Je Ne Regrette Rien? "Can you imagine?" he laughs.
For Ruck, one of the pleasures of winning the competition - for which he also received a £1,000 cash prize - is the chance to get away from the hard graft back home and learn a little more about different styles of cooking, as well as taking a tour around one of Chianti's most noted vineyards with its aristocratic owner, the Barone Ricasoli.
"I want to take a bit of everything from everywhere," says a confident-sounding Ruck. "In the future I'd like to work abroad, maybe in Italy, a year in France. Learn as much as I can and keep the standards high."
Singing aside, the stage here has certainly opened his eyes to what's on offer in Italian kitchens. The produce has particularly impressed him. O'Kelly has a rich kitchen garden stuffed with basil (starring in the sumptuous home-made gnocchi with green pesto and basil oil), sage (think rabbit rolled in sage leaves) and cherry tomatoes, among countless other herbs and fruits. Ruck says in the space of just a few days he has seen litres of the best extra virgin olive oil ladled over dishes.
"Yesterday the farmer came in with bulging pockets and he had 4kg of black truffles. It's on a lot of their plates and I'm thinking 'How can you afford this?'" Fair enough: in England the truffles would be worth about £500. "But he has just gone over to the chef and given them to him." Ruck can't believe it - and is even more astounded when O'Kelly gives him some to take home.
Ruck is not only confident, but also very focused. He has plans, like most talented young chefs, to open his own place but, unlike some others, he doesn't want to rush it. At Le Manoir ("I have learnt a hell of a lot about taste there") he has just been promoted to first commis, but won't let any of this go to his head: "I'm there to learn. That's what it's about. It's all about attitude. You have to keep your head low as if you know nothing - and that's the way you learn."
Ruck is quite tall, so he may find this hard, and the fact that he's also pretty talented may mean staying out of the spotlight is even less likely. "A brilliant future ahead of him" is what Ramsay said after the college final last year, when from a mystery box of ingredients, with 30 minutes to plan, Ruck served fillet of beef with a morel and Madeira sauce on a celeriac pur‚e with wilted spinach and almonds. Ruck, who finished the competition with a blackberry crŠme br–l‚e with blood oranges with a sugar twirl, says: "It just went so fast. I never expected to win."
Despite this display of modesty, he has plenty of ambition. But as quick as he is to show his enthusiasm - "My restaurant will have everything, it will be awesome" - he is very careful to remember his place. "You've just got to work hard."
The Story So Far
Born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Ruck began his career at 13 with a Saturday job in a local pub. "If I ever wanted anything special, I had to buy it - my mum wouldn't get it. If all my mates were wearing those wicked Reebok trainers, I had to have some too and save up for four weeks."
Soon he had moved on to a golf club, then his best mate was going for a job at nearby Warwick Castle as a chef - and wanted someone to go with him. "So I pretended to be 16 and I put my name down. A week later Ed and myself had a phone call back saying that out of 40 applicants we were the only people that they wanted to come back for an interview - for this one job. I ended up getting it!"
He started off there as a barbecue chef, then he moved into the kitchens and after a year was given the banqueting operation to run. "I was about 17. Knocking out 120 dishes, just three of us. Simple food but it was all about speed, that's what I learnt there. That gave me the biggest buzz."
While attending Stratford-upon-Avon College, he gave up his job at Warwick Castle but went to help at Prym's restaurant in Warwick in the evenings and at weekends. "It was only small but the head chef Rudi Prymaka really brought it to life for me. All fresh fish, sea bass and monkfish fresh every day, and you'd get a whole leg of lamb and bone it - something you can't always afford to do at college." He still goes back on the odd free night to help out.
From college he went to Claridge's in London for five months before joining Le Manoir aux Quat'Saisons. "I need the best background experience. I knew nothing about cooking and in the world of cooking now I probably still know nothing," Ruck says. "But one day I want to be creating dishes. I love the glamour end of it. I love the excellence, the perfection."
Vineyards with history
Castello di Brolio is one of the oldest wine estates in Chianti. The family of the present Barone Ricasoli have been making wine there since 1141, when the state of Florence granted them the land to defend against warring Siena. Peace was signed in 1478, but the Ricasolis stayed on in what is now the family estate, and in the 19th century the most famous family member made an everlasting contribution to Chianti Classico wine.
Bettino Ricasoli was not only the second prime minister of the newly united Italy, but was also very keen on viticulture. In 1874, after plenty of experimentation, he devised the modern day formula for Chianti Classico - the Sangiovese grape softened by a small amount from Canaiolo vines.
But after the Second World War, the estate, previously one of Chianti's flagships, became more commercialised and went into partnership first with American corporation Seagram, then Aussie wine giant Hardy's. In 1993, the family bought back the estate, and in 1994 the 32nd baron, Francesco Ricasoli began an extensive replanting process. Despite conventional wisdom endorsing old vines, the Baron is replacing tired stock with new vines (including Merlot and Cabernet) planted more sparsely in the vineyards. The result is a carefully monitored low yield, producing wine which he hopes will restore Brolio's Chianti Classico prestige.
Things seem to be working, with the 2003 edition of the well-respected Gambero Rosso guide to Italian wines declaring: "Barone Ricasoli has gone, in less than 10 years, from the doldrums to a position as one of the glories of Italian oenology."
n Brolio's wines are available in the UK through Enotria Winecellars (020 8961 4411), which sponsored the college side of the Gordon Ramsay Scholarship along with the Savoy Educational Trust, and organised Ruck's trip to Brolio.
What's in it for you?
Ruck says winning the college final "opened lots of doors." As if that and the glory weren't enough, Ruck was awarded his week-long stage in Italy, including a tour of the vineyard, the chance to compete in the grand final, a magnum of wine, a personally signed menu, a Villeroy & Boch commemorative plate and (the icing on the cake, of course) a year's subscription to Caterer & Hotelkeeper.
If you fancy your chances of emulating Ruck and winning the Gordon Ramsay Scholar 2004 College Final - or taking the main Gordon Ramsay Scholar 2004 title - check Ramsay's website, www.gordonramsay.com for details on how to enter. The college final takes place in May, while the grand final is held in November.