A natural journey

My journey towards cooking was a natural one, an almost genetic vocation that certainly is originated in the gastronomic passion of many members of my family. Starting from my grandmother. She taught me how important it is to understand what you’re eating, the choice in raw materials, the recipe changing these.

I have an “aromatic” memory of her, linked with the summers spent in Calabria, with tomatoes, basil, courgette flowers and ricotta that was still warm. Another memory that was linked to her origins in Milan, with butter, fried cutlets, saffron risotto.

From my mother, a veterinarian, I inherited a different passion, linked to the understanding of flowers, of their scents, of trees, of the vegetable garden and the garden she lovingly grows. My father, a journalist, one day decided to change everything and fulfil his dream of opening an inn with a restaurant in Chianti. I decided to follow him and arrived at Ristorante Pietrafitta, between Castellina in Chianti and Panzano. I first worked in the dining room and then in the kitchen.

This first, essential experience in the kitchen was followed by the need for a technical understanding of cooking and wine. I enrolled in a professional course for cooks at Gambero Rosso and in the meantime I became a sommelier with AIS. Right after Gambero Rosso, I became an intern at Convivio Troiani and stayed there for a few years. Angelo Troiani was a great master. I also worked with Cristina Bowerman when she opened Glass in Trastevere. From her, I learnt the constant need for research and commitment that has to together with the hard daily work in the kitchen.

My first chance to run a kitchen arrived in 2008, together with Maurizio Santin, at Cuoco nero, also in Rome. This hard and troubled experience gave me the strength to run a staff in general, and has made me surer of a precise, organised work in the kitchen. I started to create my first menus at Satollo, a small restaurant in Testaccio where I cooked with passion.


I then met Niko Romito, and that was when I understood that I could have learnt very much and find a role of my own behind the many developments of his cuisine and ideas. I started with the Unforketable project. Meanwhile, I collaborated with Niko Formazione, his cooking school, and took part in the beautiful progress of creative ideas that later resulted in the opening of Spazio in Rivisondoli. I then took on a journey I had no idea where it would have taken me.

Today I can say my dream is here, at Progetto Casadonna, and in particular at Spazio, which I think of as something of mine too, next to Niko Romito, a demanding and essential chef, who expects a lot and gives even more. It is in this team in which training, diffuse cooking, continuous study and the continuous evolution of a cuisine that aims for the essential merge - from its simplest expression, represented by the cuisine designed for Spazio, to its highest level, represented by the cuisine at Reale.

See also
Working twice as hard by Sabrina Tuzi
Respect as a goal by Caterina Ceraudo
Tenacity, love and quality by Patrizia Corradetti
Liberty in the dining room by Anna Sala
Pamela’s Passion by Pamela Filomeno
Dishes to chew by Teresa Buongiorno
Love is a raw material by Alba Esteve Ruiz
The art of never giving up by Deborah Corsi
Becoming a restaurateur by Patrizia Maraviglia
In search for passion by Anneke Van Sande
Challenging oneself in Norway by Lucia Tellone
I want to make bread by Roberta Pezzella
So young for everything by Rosanna Marziale
Rigour and cheerfulness by Serenella Medone
The chef from Northern Naples by Marianna Vitale
In the team with my mother by Serena D'Alesio
Men, what a disaster by Marzia Buzzanca
A total vocation by Antonella Ricci
A full life by Maria De La Paz
Mind and heart by Marta Grassi
Effort with a smile by Nadia Moscardi
Nothing is impossible by Emanuela Tommolini
Giving value to differences by Viviana Varese
The other half of the dish by Elisa Arduini