THE PAPAL VISIT : ‘Unknown’ Chef Passes Muster: He’ll Cook for the Pope in L.A.

Early in July, a dozen local officials of the Roman Catholic Church gathered at St. Vibiana’s Cathedral, the official residence of Los Angeles Archbishop Roger M. Mahony.

They arrived with an unusual, if altogether pleasant, mission. The group segued to the dining room, took their seats and settled down to the evening’s business: checking out the chef chosen to feed Pope John Paul II during his upcoming visit to the city.

Back in the kitchen, Ruggero Gadaldi began a performance that had been planned weeks before. He churned out salads with mozzarella olavine , a rack of veal in wild mushroom sauce, baby vegetables, puff pastries, cheeses and fresh fruits. At 29, Gadaldi is the respected chef di cucina at Cardini restaurant in the downtown Hilton. But he is not--not yet, at least--recognized as one of the high priests of the Los Angeles culinary scene, and he had no illusions about the judgments being made in the outer room.

“They had never heard of Ruggero Gadaldi,” the young chef said recently, grinning. “And this was a meal intended for the Pope, after all. They had to know if I could do it.”

By all accounts, Gadaldi could. He is now the official chef for the pontiff during the Los Angeles portion of his visit to America next month. As the tour moves across the country, Gadaldi will be joined by chefs in New Orleans, Miami, San Antonio and other cities who face the same question: What do you feed the Vicar of Christ?

It is a question that now looms larger in the minds of those planning the tour than it did in 1979, when the Pope last visited the United States. In the intervening years, a kind of culinary revolution has struck many of the nation’s cities, and food is now often regarded as a central feature in regional culture. At several stops on the tour, serious thought is being given to what the Pope should eat, and when, and how.

In New Orleans, for example, an estimated 20 restaurants called the archdiocese with offers to prepare the five meals that the Pope will eat in that city. Since New Orleans is known for its near-obsession with Cajun and Creole cuisines, the decision was a tricky one. To avoid hard feelings, archdiocese officials say, they chose one of the city’s best-known restaurants, Antoine’s, simply because it was the first to make the offer.

Anne Milling, a member of the church’s planning committee in New Orleans, made a trip to Rome earlier this summer to inquire about the special needs of the Pope and his entourage.

“We love our food, and this was a priority for us,” Milling said. “When I was in Rome, the Vatican officials kept saying that the New Orleans cuisine was the thing they were looking forward to when they got here.”

No Spicy Food

According to Milling, the Vatican requested only two dietary restrictions for John Paul: no spicy foods and no cold or iced drinks. In New Orleans, known for its hot peppered dishes, the no-spicy-food rule posed a problem for Antoine’s chef, Randy Guste.

“We talked about it and decided to make some changes,” Milling said. A seafood gumbo, normally made with cayenne pepper and hot andouille sausage, will be offered to the Pope sans either ingredient. “We have tasted every dish and I don’t think the changes hurt the food at all,” Milling said. “Everything is delicious.”

Other cities on the papal tour also plan to offer their regional specialties. In San Antonio, the menu will be southwestern, although diocese officials say they will emphasize dishes that could be found in the homes of parishioners rather than fast-track restaurants.

In Los Angeles, the fare will be urban and sophisticated, influenced by the style known as California cuisine; and in Monterey, the meals will feature items from early Spanish and Indian cultures, such as corn chowder and mission bread.

No Special Arrangements

The rush to culinary delights for the Pope has not been universal, however. Miami and San Francisco, for example, plan to offer him only simple meals prepared by the housekeepers at the residences where he will be staying. In San Francisco, church officials say the austere approach was dictated by the brevity of the pontiff’s visit to that city.

“He arrives late and leaves early the next day. There wasn’t much opportunity,” said a spokesman for the San Francisco archdiocese.

In other cities, officials have privately criticized the elegant approach to feeding the Pope. The Detroit diocese refuses to discuss the subject at all. “These (cities offering special dishes) are trying to impress the Pope with food,” said a priest in one city, who spoke on grounds that he remain anonymous. “We will try to impress him with our people.”

In fact, the subject of the Pope and food is one that virtually all church officials approach with some delicacy. In Los Angeles, inquiries to the archdiocese were made for more than a week before officials decided to reveal that Gadaldi had been chosen as the chef for the city. Requests to photograph the dining room where the Pope will eat his meals were turned down.

Papal Traditions

This reluctance appears to stem from certain traditions surrounding the Pope. By and large, he does not eat in public and most likely will not be seen consuming any of the American chefs’ creations during his visit here. On occasion he will share meals with as many as 200 other church prelates, but all meals will be off limits to the press and the general public. This policy against eating in public was described by various officials as a longstanding rule for all Popes.

Exactly why is difficult to answer. A question about the policy was passed through the press office of the church’s national headquarters in Washington, but without success. “I cannot find anyone willing to discuss this subject,” said Robert Wonderly, a church spokesman.

Since the Pope will not be dining in public, the meals will be served at the residences of bishops and archbishops in the various cities. Most meals will be small affairs involving no more than eight or nine people, although some will be attended by up to 40.

Virtually all the dining costs will be borne by the establishments providing the meals. In New Orleans, the archdiocese discovered that it lacked the place settings for a dinner planned for 24 people and persuaded Lenox China to donate a 225-piece set embossed with the Pope’s coat of arms. As with the Pope’s dining policy, just who attends these meals is a matter the church would rather not discuss. At St. Vibiana’s in downtown Los Angeles, the Pope will preside over a U-shaped table that will accommodate about 16 people. One official said Archbishop Mahony would be present at most meals, with the remaining guests to be suggested by Mahony or the Pope himself.

“The meals are not intended for heavy-duty business,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. “They are small breaks in a very crowded schedule, a time when the Holy Father can be out of the public eye and relax with friends.”

Good Reputation

Three months ago, Ruggero Gadaldi had no idea he would be thrown into the midst of a papal visit. But when the archbishop asked Hilton Corp. to supply the meals for the Pope here, Gadaldi was picked from the crowd. The reason, Hilton officials say, was simple: Gadaldi, the founding chef at Cardini, had built the restaurant into a notable establishment and had attracted favorable notices from customers and restaurant critics.

Effervescent and confident, Gadaldi says his plan is to create meals with a simple elegance rather than sumptuousness. “This is the Pope, a religious man, so you must resist the temptation to overdo it,” Gadaldi said.

Since the Pope takes his main meal at mid-day, the banquet for 40 people will be planned as a lunch, Gadaldi said. That meal, featuring a rack of lamb, is the same that Gadaldi cooked for archdiocese officials at the test dinner in early July.

A la Northern Italy

Suppers will be lighter and will clearly reflect Gadaldi’s northern Italian upbringing. Items on those menus include black ravioli stuffed with lobster, and crepes with fontina cheese and white truffles. Breakfasts will be more eclectic, offering a selection of items that can be chosen by the various diners, from scrambled eggs with air-dried beef to hot porridge.

The official menu describes Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon wines being supplied by Gallo Winery for the mid-day and evening meals. Gallo, the largest winery in the country with headquarters in Modesto, has built its business largely on the sale of jug wines.

When asked about the selection of Gallo, Gadaldi looked dubiously at the item on the menu. “We are checking on the wines,” he said. Several telephone calls to Gallo officials about the wine selection were not returned.

On each day of the Pope’s stay, Gadaldi will arrive at St. Vibiana’s at 8 a.m. along with his executive chef, three kitchen helpers and six waiters. For reasons of security, the group will not be permitted to leave the archbishop’s residence until the final meal has been served late that night, 14 or 15 hours later.

But Gadaldi said the grueling days will not be the largest challenge. For reasons known only to the Pope’s schedulers, the mid-day meal for 40 people, featuring four courses, has been limited to 45 minutes’ duration. Given only 11 minutes for each course, Gadaldi is not sure just how he will pull it off. A second test meal was conducted last Wednesday night and served as a speed drill.

All in all, Gadaldi says, he feels little anxiety about the pressures that will bear on him for those two days. “For myself, I am confident,” he said. Realizing that this may seem complacent, he smiled and added, “But my grandmother in Italy, she is worried. She is praying for me every night.”