‘Latex chef’ of Michelin-star restaurant in Italy offers extreme menus that push limits
Giuliano Baldessari of Italy’s Michelin-star Aqua Crua restaurant wears a catsuit that dampens his senses so he can focus on flavour

Italian chef Giuliano Baldessari likes to wear a rubber fetish suit in the kitchen. The skin-tight shiny black latex covers him from head to fingers to feet, leaving only his eyes and mouth exposed.
He does not wear the rubber for kicks. It is, for him, a sort of therapy.
Since childhood, Baldessari, now 47, has struggled with hyperactivity. A difficult upbringing only exacerbated his inability to process complex emotions and focus on tasks in front of him.
When a girlfriend mentioned a technique described in her friend’s university course on sexual deviance, it struck a chord. She explained how BDSM practitioners block certain forms of sensory information to heighten others.

He decided to try it, hoping it would help him focus. When he pulled on a latex suit for the first time, it felt entirely natural, he says.
“I can’t really hear anything, can’t smell anything and when I’m wearing the gloves, my sense of touch is minimised. I can focus entirely on flavour.”