NEVER ENOUGH
Galetti started his career at the young age of 14, working in kitchens in his hometown Brescia, Italy, to support his family’s finances. But he admits to having had a nagging urge to spread his wings and gain experiences beyond the confines of Italy since young. At 18, he moved out of home to work at Hyde Park Hotel in London and thereafter its sister establishment in Rome. A stint at Salzburg, Austria, followed, where he met his mentor, world-renowned chef Giacomo Gallina, who was then headlining Bice restaurant in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Under Gallina’s guidance, Galetti soon became the chef of the Buenos Aires outlet. At 23, Galetti was leading a team of about 40 people and running a kitchen that served 300 customers for lunch and 500 for dinner every day. His regular customers were Diego Maradona, and The Rolling Stones and Madonna among other touring celebrities. But it would take more than their acknowledgement to contain his restless spirit—Galetti wanted to hone his skills further and train under another chef. So began his Asian sojourn, initiated by Gallina—in Tokyo first and then, Bice Singapore.
“I don’t like to live with the idea of being scared of something in my life, I like to face my fears.”
“I realised that Asia suited me well. When I arrived in Singapore, I liked it instantly—it’s small but there’s lots to do. But I never imagined it would be my last stop,” he laughs. The place would invariably also become home to his dream restaurant Garibaldi, for which he partnered with like-minded Italian expatriates in Singapore. Garibaldi opened on 21 March 2003—to coincide with the first day of spring. “I will never forget that date,” Galetti exclaims. Fair enough, since it was to be his legacy. But there was another reason. The day before the opening, they found themselves with a restaurant, but with no chairs—their furniture shipment from Italy was delayed. They found themselves making a few frantic calls to their friends—other restaurant owners—to borrow chairs. “Luckily the 21st was a Sunday, so some of the restaurants were closed and we managed to fill up our restaurant,” he says. Not just with chairs, as it turned out.
Garibaldi opened to a full house—and was able to open the next day “with our own chairs”, laughs Galetti. A memorable start indeed—and counting. By his early 40s, Galetti had almost 21 restaurants around the world to his name, either as direct owner or a franchiser. But all work and no rest was telling on him, so in 2011, he got out of the group, keeping full ownership of just Garibaldi. “I was known as the chef of Garibaldi—my name was intrinsically connected with the restaurant. It was very important for me to stay there,” he says.