Vegan by Choice, After a Past as an Omnivore, Marzia Riva Now Transforms Garden Produce into Multisensory Experiences for Those Who Seek a New Way to Embrace Culinary Excitement (Even in Their Own Homes) with a "Tailored" Vegan Menu. The Inevitable Ingredient? Celebrating Beauty.
The project
More than just a restaurant, more than a creative lab, cooking course venue, cooking shows, workshops, team-building events, photoshoots, or a hub for catering, home dinners, or other private kitchen formats: since 2012, Taverna degli Arna (Arna’s Tavern) is not only a place to eat "vegetable" or to learn to treat garden products in a new and respectful way. It's primarily a space designed to welcome people, make them feel good, and at home; a space to share the passion for cooking and conviviality, to introduce the history and culture of food, and to promote (with a smile) the importance of conscious eating.
A counter facing the kitchen, a table for up to 12 people, and a homey backdrop of books, photographs, flowers, and other familiar objects: everything is spontaneous, joyful, and comforting, meant to recreate the atmosphere of a familiar, cozy, and reserved place where one can feel at ease. Plus, the advantage of seamless and ongoing interaction between the chef and the diner, the teacher and the learner, in a casual environment where rigid roles and physical-conceptual boundaries between the dining area and kitchen dissolve, and where everything is connected and interacts seamlessly. No stage and no "behind the scenes." Here, everything is genuine and open, clean and authentic: from Marzia's welcoming smile to the mosaic of colors, flavors, and textures that define each of her dishes.
Choosing to settle in “Niguarda” was not a coincidence. According to the chef, "this peripheral area of Milan allows to stay in touch with city reality while recovering the reassuring intimacy of a 'neighborhood' dimension, where it's easier to get to know each other, forge bonds, meet, and share moments of togetherness, sociability, solidarity, and inclusion." These values form the basis of her culinary project. But that's not all: this off-center location relative to the city's bustling heart enables Marzia to source her raw materials directly from a nearby shared garden. It's one of the many plots of land that the Municipality of Milan makes available to the public, managed by elderly residents: "The neighborhood grandparents have 'adopted' me and my cooking project, actively contributing by allowing me to directly access the fruits of their attentive caring, harvesting the vegetables from their garden that I then use in my dishes."
The cuisine
Whether at Tavern or delivered to your home, Marzia's gastronomic offerings always revolve around the concept of "personalization," creating an "exclusive," intimate, immersive, and unique experience through crafting a "tailored" menu. A precious opportunity to dive into the chef's magical atmosphere, be pampered, and guided through the discovery of her natural cuisine filled with love, passion, dedication, and courage. It's also a chance to actively participate in dish planning and witness their creation in real time. "In fact, I don't have a preset menu: each customer is unique, and each occasion is different from the other, and only through dialogue - yes, you can still call me to make a reservation! - where can I define combinations of ingredients and a sequence of courses that align with the needs, tastes, and expectations of those who will savor them."
Eating (and Cooking) "With" Marzia is a 360-degree experience filled with stories, sharing, and multiple sensory experiences. It starts with the aesthetic attention to the dishes (always exquisitely beautiful and colorful) and continues with the perfect balance of flavors and skillful pairing of ingredient textures, all innovatively worked to bring out each ingredient's pure and authentic taste. It’s about obtaining the utmost digestive advantage, through an alternation of raw and cooked elements, acidity and spiciness, savoriness and sweetness, bitterness and spiciness. "In creating dishes, I draw inspiration from nature, the seasonality of ingredients, and the preferences expressed by the customer. I try to connect each course to the previous and the following one to construct a coherent and complete tasting journey. Through the arrangement of the dishes, I define the plating, garnishes, the position of each ingredient, and critically assess the contrasts, pairings, shapes, and volumes to ensure everything is harmonious and dynamically coherent."
But that's not all: despite being one-of-a-kind and spontaneous, once defined, each menu receives attention that turns it into an unrepeatable work of art. Each menu is physically handcrafted by the chef, composed with refinement, and made dreamy by names that evoke fairy tales and poetry. It's adorned with the delicacy of watercolors and enriched by the frequent presence of phrases or mottos that celebrate life, beauty, and the fullness of existence.
Timeless classics.....evolving
Within Marzia's heartful menu, there are several signature dishes that reflect her personal history and her perception of beauty and cuisine, achieved through a meticulous combination of selected elements meant to stimulate the senses and evoke suggestions. Among the "openers," we find "Alice, Did You Hide the Wonder?", inspired by Lewis Carroll's novel. Here, marinated daikon veils symbolize the skirt of the protagonist from the chef's favorite fairy tale. Creamed artichokes and "kanpyō" strawberries with fennel, accompanied by a hint of ginger and lemon, reveal wonder even before tasting. "Nothing Is Wrong If It Makes You Happy" represents a "vertical" exploration of cabbage and its diverse shades, accentuated by pairing it with beetroot sauce flavored with beer vinegar. Lastly, "Zen Among Abruzzo Valleys'' showcases a of Tondini del Tavo beans "pâtè" with wasabi, roasted artichoke, and umeboshi radishes, accompanied by fennel veils, puntarelle, contrasted with medlar, and wild garlic oil. In this dish, the contemplative Japanese attitude melds with the gastronomic excellence of Southern Italy.
Among the "interludes," "Speak, Do, and Thank" features a slice of roasted savoy cabbage with herbs, crispy monococcum wheat and red lentils, alongside "Medieval Porrata," contrasting teriyaki, and parsley oil. This takes its name from Assunta Corbo's book title, honoring the Mediterranean Diet and its anti-waste philosophy. "Connections'' offers a creamy asparagus risotto with roasted tempeh, yogurt, fava beans, and parsley. (Its name signifies the continuum among ingredients, characterized by herbal notes that bridge cooked cereals, legumes, and vegetables, as well as flavors, textures, cooking methods, plant parts, and nutrients that intertwine.)
Among the dishes positioned between the pinnacle and the start of the menu's descent is "Do What Makes You Feel Good." This presents a durum wheat shell infused with purple cabbage, filled with lentil, mushroom, and hazelnut "ragù," accompanied by koji-infused "béchamel" (a vegan take on the classic "Sunday baked pasta"). "Alchemy," a pre-dessert, based on pea "ganache" and "mascarpone" cream with marinated beetroot, hibiscus sauce, salted almonds, and orange aroma.
To conclude, "The Entire Universe Obeys Love" offers a chocolate and salt shortcrust cookie with "namelaka" cream infused with tonka bean and lemon curd. It's a not-so-sweet dessert with bitter, salty, and acidic notes, to be enjoyed by hand, providing a sensory delight and memories to take home. This name draws inspiration from Franco Battiato's song and aims to convey the complex simplicity of balance, both in dishes and in each person's life.
Passion on the table and science in the kitchen
In her creative and experimental pursuits, Chef Marzia is not alone. Alongside her in the kitchen is partner Ferdinando A. Giannone, a nutritionist biologist and researcher passionate about global culinary traditions. Through their collaboration, Marzia has succeeded in making her dishes not only flavorful and satisfying but also nutritionally balanced and complete, despite the absence of animal or animal-derived proteins. But that's not all. Ferdinando's scientific contribution has allowed Marzia to view each ingredient in a new light, breaking them down into their individual elements and highlighting certain sensory characteristics based on the moment's needs. This involves discovering sweetness in chicory for dessert use, creating whipped cream from cauliflower, or infusing artichokes with a gentle maritime saltiness, giving them the essence of veal tonnato. Some of these experiments have been crystallized into "Arna patents."
Furthermore, this partnership gave birth to the Arna Food Lab project in 2017: a series of collective and private cooking courses, workshops, personalized plant-based tasting experiences, and active educational activities. The goal is to promote a healthy lifestyle starting from conscious eating and a food culture that respects people and the planet.
More than a Chef
Graduating from the Joia Academy of Haute Cuisine under Chef Pietro Leemann (where she also served as a lecturer and head of school and external relations) and collaborating with Simone Salvini for the Ghita Academy and Funny Veg, Marzia Riva is not only a cook and personal chef but also a fine cuisine educator and raw food artist. She is also a mother, a wife, and a woman engaged in important causes such as environmental respect, local enhancement, and the promotion of well-being for all. This is why, in addition to her choice of ethical and sustainable cuisine, her notion of cooking as a tool for caring for people also takes shape in her collaboration with the DCA department of Niguarda Hospital, a place where transmitting the idea of food as a positive means of communication, emotion, astonishment, and love is more vital than ever, to give (even to oneself) and to receive each day.
Ultimately, whether it's a dinner among friends or strangers who meet at the Tavern, a team-cooking event, a workshop, a lecture, or a private function, Marzia's culinary manifesto centers around the intention of offering something beautiful and moving to others (and herself), transforming the table into a place of joy, serenity, astonishment, and gratitude. It's from this foundation that her enthusiasm to continue following inspiration, studying, and designing emerges—turning each creative spark into something concrete, achievable, and enjoyable. It's a journey ticket to go far, to find herself exactly where she desires to be.
Address
La Taverna degli Arna
Via Vincenzo da Filicaia, 4, 20162 Milano MI
Tel: 345 784 6026
