A former pro cyclist turned chef‑owner of Trattoria Zappatori, Christian Milone earned the restaurant a Michelin star in 2017 and won the Birra Moretti Grand Cru Prize in 2012, securing a place among the most original voices in modern Piedmontese cuisine.
Born in Pinerolo in 1979, Milone grew up in his father Franco’s kitchen but chose cycling at eighteen: he raced professionally through the 2002 Giro d’Italia, learning discipline and pacing. When sport ended, he returned to cook and trained with Enrico Crippa, absorbing a vegetable‑driven style and the importance of a chef’s garden.
In 2006 he took over the family trattoria; six years later he added the glass “Gastronavicella,” a creative lab where the OCNI—“Unidentified Edible Objects”—were born. Those dishes won him the Birra Moretti Grand Cru Prize 2012 and, in November 2016, a Michelin star (2017 guide) for a cuisine blending Alpine memories, beer fermentations and French technique. The dedicated room has since been dismantled, yet “Gastronavicella” survives as a tasting menu served alongside the traditional offering.
In 2019 he opened Madama Piola in Turin, a pop osteria that rewrites classic Piedmontese dishes—nitro salsa verde, egalitarian bollito—while the Pinerolo flagship shifted to tasting menus only. Milone also started an experimental garden growing rare herbs and heirloom tubers for future dishes.
His cooking rides on three key words—speed, vegetables, vertigo—and draws from a Crippa‑inspired garden: green borrage tagliatelle, Porretto peaches with lavender ice cream, venison braised in house‑brewed beer. “A dish should cut across the palate like a time‑trial descent: precise yet breath‑stealing,” he says.
Major accolades: member of Jeunes Restaurateurs d’Europe since 2012; Touring Club’s “Top Chef of Tomorrow” 2013; two L’Espresso “Cappelli” and two Gambero Rosso “Forchette,” confirmed in 2024. A serious bike accident in 2022 forced months of rehab; he returned with an athlete’s grit and is developing a rural hub merging farming, hospitality and fine dining in the Pinerolo hills.
