“I was totally in love with the idea that I could do anything I wanted,” she says. “Especially in Rome, because Rome [is] very much rigid in its tradition. Basically, you could take like 10, 15, 20 restaurants, put them all right next to each other, and they’re all the same. And still, nowadays, a lot of people come over to my restaurant, they say, ‘Finally, I can have something different!’” One could see that her American experience has left a huge impression on her cooking. “America gives you strength to believe in yourself and the means to realize your dreams,” she says. “The American Dream is still very much alive… and I wish for all the people to experience such an amazing energizing power within yourself to say, ‘I am going to do it, I am going to actually get what I want to get.’” In the European culinary world, food from the United States is often viewed negatively, but Chef Bowerman thinks differently. “You see that probably 70-75% of the restaurants here in Italy–for the new openings–have huge influences from American cuisine. Just think about hamburgers, for instance. Or now the trend of smoking and grilling.”
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