Matteo Manzini

Born in Savona in 1984, he's sous chef at Azurmendi in Larrabetzu, in the Basque Country, 3 Michelin stars. He presents himself thus: "My experience at Azurmendi starts in January 2013. It all began with the typical two-month internship. The goal was to experience first-hand the reality of the Basque Country. It was my first time in Spain and in Italy we've always been fascinated by the country; besides, this area (which they feel is a nation) is very unique. The Basque country is a bit like the heart of gastronomy, just think of names like Martin Berasategui, Juan Mari Arzak, Hilario Arbelaitz, Pedro Subijana, Josean Alija… Eneko Atxa of course! And many other “celebrities” that form an incredible reality. What's surprising is that they're all connected by one fil rouge, Basque culture, which urges them to act as a team, to move together. Euskal Herria above everything else: they are united by the idea of preserving flavours, traditions, memories… Yet on top of this they also express an incredible desire not to stop in the past, but to project this heritage that is so important for them into the future; in other words they want to innovate, to surprise the world, to always be one step ahead. They want to be fresh, modern".

And also: "It is no coincidence if, as soon as I arrived, for sure the first thing that struck me so much was the average age of those who work at Azur (that's how we call it), and I'm not just talking of the kitchen but of all the departments, from the shop to the winery to the marketing office, dining room, gardens, vineyards, vegetable garden. By living here, I realised how they really want to invest in the future, not just in theory, but with facts".