Luca Zecchin leads the restaurant Coltivare in La Morra, adjacent to the Agricola Brandini winery. His cuisine is a combination of his experience in the area and contemporary influences.
Luca Zecchin began his career in the kitchen after graduating from the hotel management school in Agliano Terme in 1996, with a season at Chuflay in Portofino, before the restaurant became the Cerea family's restaurant. A year later, an internship at Miramonti l'altro in Concesio introduced him to the techniques and rhythms of a more structured kitchen. The following years at the Asta Hotel in Asti saw him grow from assistant chef to head chef.
In 2001, a decisive moment arrived: the Alciati family called him to work on the San Maurizio and Pollenzo projects. After his last season at the old Guido da Costigliole, he moved to San Maurizio as chef de partie under Lorenzo Secondi. But when Secondi left, Zecchin, just 22 years old, found himself taking on responsibility for the kitchen. This step marked the beginning of a journey that led him to build his own identity, combining technique, curiosity, and a desire to experiment.
The following twenty years were marked by the retention of the Michelin star at Guido da Costigliole's restaurant in the Relais San Maurizio.
During the Covid pandemic (2020), he received a phone call that would change his life once again: the Bagnasco family offered him the opportunity to transform the gastronomic offering of the Brandini winery in La Morra into a haute cuisine restaurant. After some initial hesitation, he accepted, convinced that this was the right opportunity to finally put his vision into practice.
The name of the restaurant itself is already a manifesto: Coltivare (to cultivate) is not just about growing vegetables. The meaning also extends to friendships, professional relationships, love, and conversations. All of this takes place around a table, with a meal that becomes a shared experience. “People go to restaurants to enjoy a different kind of experience, not just to eat,” says Zecchin. This vision permeates every aspect of the restaurant, from the dining room to the menu, from the welcome to the presentation of the dishes.
The cuisine at Zecchin da Coltivare has acquired an important vegetable element, without forgetting Piedmontese tradition, interpreted in a contemporary key.
