I was born 38 years ago on a late summer day on a small island of the Campanian archipelago called Procida. I am the last (and unexpected) of three sons.
The fate of those who are born on an island not so much touristic, as it was Procida several years ago, is already marked, usually the inhabitants dedicate their whole life to the sea. Seafarers, fishermen and all jobs that revolve around the world of seafaring.
I have never been a good fisherman, and to tell the truth I also suffer from seasickness. All the fishing trips organized with my father ended with me on the rocks to sunbathe and he in the sea undeterred in fishing.
My passion for food precedes the one for cooking, I was the most coveted granddaughter at the tables of grandparents and various relatives that, as good Neapolitans, used to eat in five and cook for twenty.
My ideas were more than clear, I would have been a cook. I decided to enroll in a cooks’ school and, during the summers of my adolescence, I started working in the fish restaurants on the island of Procida, where I learned the quality of exceptional raw materials and the basics of traditional Procida’s cuisine.
After graduating, finally free from chains, my thirst for knowledge has led me to restaurants located both in Italy and abroad, and in the kitchens of great starred chefs who have me taught rigor and technique.
In Spain I collaborated with Ramon Freixa (1 Michelin star Chef), one of the experiences that I remember with the greater affection, both from the human and the professional points of view, a place where you can work at the highest levels but with the lightness that only Spanish people can have.
Then in Geneva I had the honor of working with Philipphe Chevrier (2 Michelin stars Chef), a master of life who with Swiss rigor has me taught the basics and the cult of the French cuisine.
I discovered the world of vegetarian cuisine with Pietro Leeman (1 Michelin star Chef) and South Tyrolean cuisine with Karl Baumgartner (1 Michelin star Chef).
After years of training and hard work I arrived in Rome and, casually, I found myself as a teacher at Gambero Rosso, experience that I remember with joy thanks to the students who joyfully participated to my amateur courses thanking me for the friendliness and lightness with I had to teach them about cooking.
Now, for a few years I have been leading the kitchen of Adelaide Restaurant, inside Hotel Vilón. Adelaide Restaurant, thanks to the confidence that I received, allowed me to fully express my ideas through thick plates characterized from the flavors and scents of my land, contaminated by the notes of journey that I have learned during my working experiences.
In these four years there have been many satisfactions, transformed and shared always with so much desire and determination to grow and improve.
Passion and hard work have allowed me to realize some of my professional projects; but this is only the beginning, because as they say “who stops is lost”.