Fabrizio Marino

Born in Ponte a Elsa in 1979, so far he's spent over half of his life in the kitchen, starting very young in catering school and then continuing his experience in Italy and abroad. After the crucial eight-year-long experience atJoia with Pietro Leemann in Milan, a few seasons in his Tuscany working at Paolo Fiaschi's restaurantPapaveri e Papere and many trips to Japan, in March 2019 he opened his first restaurant: Maggese. 

“A few years ago, when I first started to think of a place of my own – not too soon, since I've always felt great in other people's homes – I immediately thought of a vegetarian restaurant. And not only for ethical reasons, but for the freedom that this choice allows: the freer art is, the more beautiful it is”. And finally the right moment and the right place arrived: Maggese is in San Miniato – in the province of Pisa but close to Florence – and it is inside a small very typical place, which has had a bar licence since the late 19th century.

The watchword in the kitchen, according to Marino, is codifying and accessibility, so that the experience of a meal can become for all the guests an authentic meeting and not a expedient. The lesson from Japan is clear too: “Over there, chefs are less famous, they don't act as stars. Nobody is an expert of everything, but one of the main goals, through a work of concentration and dedication, is to become better in some aspect. There's such intensity in the air, when you learn, an exercise in concentration we're no longer used to”.