Executive Chef at Il Fagiano, Grand Hotel Fasano (Gardone Riviera), awarded 1 MICHELIN Star (Guide 2024; confirmed 2025). He brings an ethical, seasonal Mediterranean cuisine, from Garda citrus to lake fish. Previously at Lefay Resort and Villa Giulia, where he earned a star in 2017.
Originally from Molfetta, Bufi knew early on he wanted to become a chef. After culinary school, he built a grounded career path: first seasons on Lake Como, then cruise ships, followed by Switzerland to refine his technical discipline. In 2008 he was called to Lake Garda for the opening of Lefay Resort & Spa, where he embraced a wellness-driven approach to dining and honed a marked sensitivity for citrus, herbs, and lightness.
In 2012 he took over the kitchen at Villa Giulia in Gargnano, shaping a Mediterranean matrix that converses with the lake—Brescian shore produce, freshwater fish, oils, and citrus—culminating in a MICHELIN Star in 2017 (MICHELIN Guide Italy). The accolade sealed both his balance of technique and flavor and his professional bond with the Garda territory.
In 2021 he joined Grand Hotel Fasano in Gardone Riviera to lead Il Fagiano. In November 2023—at the “Star Revelation” for the MICHELIN Guide 2024 (14 November, Teatro Grande, Brescia)—the restaurant received its first star; the star was confirmed in the 2025 selection. Within the hotel, he also oversees breakfast service, a strategic pillar of the guest experience.
His culinary idiom is explicit: rigorous seasonality, product-first thinking, and a personal grammar of taste weaving Puglia with Garda. “I started from the ingredients I knew best, with my Mediterranean style… over the years, some oriental influences arrived, but with solid roots,” he explains, underscoring a cuisine attentive and clean in its lines, calibrated in acidity—with lake citrus and freshwater fish to the fore.
Alongside restaurant work, Bufi appears at Garda-area festivals (Fish&Chef) and shares know-how as a visiting chef, passing on to students an approach that privileges technique, palate memory, and operational sustainability. His name also features within the Teritoria/les Collectionneurs community, a network promoting hospitality and dining rooted in place.
