Pastry chef and co-owner of La Valle in the hills above Fidenza: she oversees desserts and bread with an essential, seasonal, terroir-driven approach. ALMA training, artisan and fine-dining stops; today she signs a pastry style of balance, where taste remains both starting point and destination.
Born in 1994 and raised in Fidenza, Serena’s path begins after her pastry diploma at ALMA – The International School of Italian Cuisine: a solid technical base shaping method and sensitivity. Her first role in an artisan lab in Padua sharpened timing, manual skills, and texture control; back in Emilia, she helped open Gelateria Banchini in Parma—an historic bean-to-bar reality—deepening her work on ingredients, temperature, and crystallization.
She then joined Antica Corte Pallavicina in Polesine Parmense—country restaurant with one MICHELIN Star—entering the rhythm of a large brigade, between dining-room bakes and desserts dialoguing with noble cured meats and riverside gardens. There she met Dimitri, with whom she would also share a formative stint at The Fat Duck in Bray (3 MICHELIN Stars), an experience that broadened her vision, organization, and attention to detail.
In 2020 they opened La Valle together on Fidenza’s first hills: a gastronomic home where they personally look after both kitchen and hospitality. Serena leads the entire pastry and bread program: naturally leavened loaves, measured viennoiserie, desserts built on seasonality and local produce. A clean lexicon, restrained sugars, precise textures: the sweet course becomes a hinge between Emilian memory and a contemporary sensitivity focused on equilibrium.
Her philosophy revolves around three pillars: careful sourcing (fruit, dairy, local grains), process precision (mixing, maturation, baking), and the centrality of taste. On the menu, clear pairings—crunchy/soft, lactic/fruit, hot/cold—shape readable, complete desserts designed to close the journey with measure rather than fireworks.
