Davide Guidara

Perhaps we’re biased, because Davide Guidara – born in Cerreto Sannita, in Campania  - struck us incredibly already in 2016, when he was only 22  (he was born in 1994) and was wearing the chef’s uniform for the first time at Eolian in Milazzo; since then – though with the reasonable ups and downs of this business – we’ve considered him one of the brightest rising stars in the Italian fine dining of the future, a crystal clear talent with incredible technical skills, a good awareness and an extraordinary creativity. Only one problem, we noticed at the time. Here are the words used then: «His approach to products is still strongly influenced by Redzepi: marinades, brine, fermentation, smoking, dehydration… He’s looking for a point of balance between technical approach and pure valorisation of local raw materials», because right then he had just completed his experiences at Nino Di Costanzo’s, Alfonso Iaccarino, Michel Bras, and, the most important of all in terms of training, at Renè Redzepi’s Noma in Copenhagen.

That sole doubt was dispersed, and now the chef has taken with determination and inspiration the helm of the new  Sum, the nice gastronomic restaurant opened on the 27th of July  2019 inside hotel Romano Palace in Catania.

Guidara loosens his stylistic knots one after the other; he continues his career path with increasing assertiveness and having clearly found the goals he wants to meet. First: taste, leaving more space for the product than for the chef. Second: minimalism. Third, a strong philosophy: «The Mediterranean area is evolving. We’re experiencing a new phase of influences. We young generation are the protagonists; we’ve emigrated to other places around the world to learn new cultures, new ideas, new techniques which we now express through a common concept, mixing the old influences with the new». Perfect.