IN 2023 THE ENOTECA REGIONALE PIEMONTESE CAVOUR IS READY TO WELCOME INTO THE RESTAURANT THE STARRED CHEF FROM TURIN

There has been a change at the top of the Castle Restaurant in Grinzane Cavour: after an eight-year collaboration with Chef Marc Lanteri and his team, in mutual agreement with the Board of Directors of the Enoteca Regionale Piemontese Cavour, it has been decided to explore alternative paths, with Chef Lanteri ready to embark on an experience elsewhere, starting on January 1 in the new year, and a new chef coming to work in the kitchen of the “Al Castello” restaurant.

Born in Turin in 1984, a Michelin Star chef since November 2018, Alessandro Mecca is the new chef of the restaurant located in the castle that is home of the Enoteca Regionale. Starting in 2023, with partner Marco Ceresa at his side, the new adventure will thus begin, after the seven years spent at the helm of “Spazio7,” the restaurant hosted by the Fondazione Sandretto Re Rebaudengo in Turin.

Born into the profession, after taking his first steps in the kitchen of his family’s restaurant, the historic “Crocetta” in Turin – where he learned the basic fundamentals of cooking and discovered a passion for traditional Italian cuisine -, his resume speaks of a long apprenticeship with experiences in the restaurants “L’Estate di San Martino” in Villanova d’Asti, “Guido da Costigliole” in Santo Stefano Belbo, “Al Sorriso” in Soriso and “La Ciau del Tornavento” in Treiso, enhanced by experience at “D. O.M.” in São Paulo with Alex Atala, among the leading exponents of contemporary Brazilian cuisine, up to “Spazio7.”

In the venue’s medieval setting, in the rooms that once hosted Count Camillo, with an extraordinary view of the Langa hills, from next year the majesty of the place will intermingle with a classically based cuisine featuring a contemporary approach. Inspired by the great masters of Italian cuisine, Chef Mecca’s is a “cuisine of gestures, made with love and beauty“. The act of cooking, the skillful use of hands as well as ingredients, is thus matched in Langhe peasant cuisine, with a solid foundation rooted in Piedmontese tradition.

“I am looking forward to starting this exciting new adventure – said chef Alessandro Mecca –. The Castle of Grinzane Cavour has always enchanted me: it is one of the most beautiful venues in Piedmont. This is an important opportunity for me in an area where I will also have to do my best to be welcomed, as a Turin native, who is for the first time in the Langa. I hope the local area will give me a hand in this journey, helping me to grow and develop my cooking project.  I like to think of myself as a cook trying to live and be part of the place where I work: the latest visit to the Langhe Museum was a source of inspiration for the menu I will offer, with a product-based, classic cuisine, but adapted to our times”.

“We thank chef Marc Lanteri for his work and valuable collaboration – comments Roberto Bodrito, President of Enoteca Regionale Piemontese Cavour –. Likewise, it is with great enthusiasm that we are getting ready for the arrival in the restaurant of chef Alessandro Mecca, for a change that we hope will be the bearer of major innovations and the engine of new initiatives, continuing to present the Castle as a point of reference and excellence in the whole area”.