Born in 1989, chef-patron of Signum on Salina: a contemporary Sicilian cuisine that highlights sea, garden and the island’s artisans. MICHELIN Star (2016, confirmed) and MICHELIN Green Star for sustainability; “Chef Donna 2019” by Veuve Clicquot.
Raised amidst the aromas of Hotel Signum—where her father Michele cooked from the opening in 1988—Martina chose the stove early on: hospitality school in Cefalù, then the professional course at Gambero Rosso in Rome, and her first “real” summers in the home kitchen on Salina. Stages took her beyond the island: La Rosetta with Massimo Riccioli in Rome; London at Jamie’s Italian under Gennaro Contaldo; then benchmark Italian kitchens such as Open Colonna (Antonello Colonna), Pipero al Rex (Luciano Monosilio) and La Torre del Saracino (Gennaro Esposito).
At 23, alongside her brother Luca (today running the hotel and the dining room), she took the reins of Signum: she leads the kitchen, he leads hospitality. In 2016 came the MICHELIN entry with a star, making Martina the youngest Italian chef to receive one that year. Her cuisine draws on the Aeolian sea and land—salinity, wild herbs, ancient grains, local catch and precise cooking—often presented in three tasting paths.
Over the years, accolades have multiplied: Gambero Rosso’s Two Forks and the MICHELIN Green Star for commitment to supply chains, zero-mile ingredients and environmental practices. In 2019 she received the MICHELIN Chef Donna Award (Veuve Clicquot). Martina is also part of professional networks such as JRE – Jeunes Restaurateurs and Ambasciatori del Gusto.
Today her table is an observatory on the “smaller” Mediterranean: moray, so-called humble fish, herbs and light fermentations shape essential, bright, identity-driven dishes—an island cuisine that tells Salina in the present tense.
