This Michelin-starred restaurant in Tigullio offers a radical dining experience: a menu that takes you by surprise, where dishes and non-alcoholic pairings engage in an uncompromising dialogue with the Ligurian region. The result is a vegetable-based narrative that blends the wild, the garden, and memory.
The restaurant
Impronta d’Acqua in Liguria isn’t a “hyped-up” spot, nor does it try to please everyone. Perhaps this is because Ivan Maniago—who has led the project since 2017 and has shared it with Madeleine Sophie since 2020—possesses a reserve and a seriousness that may not sit well with public relations. Yet theirs is a story of brilliant careers (Marchesi, Leveillé, Bottura, Alajmo, and Vivalda for him; wine and premium ingredients trade for her), a Michelin star earned in a short time, menus awarded the highest recognition by the We're Smart® Green Guide, institutional accolades for promoting the local area, and even a leg of the Milan-Cortina Olympic torch relay representing Liguria.
There is a certain reluctance to showcase their work, almost a fear of trivializing the elusive, the ineffable. I do not want to betray the trust placed in me to serve as the voice of Impronta d’Acqua’s story today. So I won’t dwell solely on flavors, pairings, and plating; instead, I’ll try to capture the atmosphere at Impronta d’Acqua, which—in short—is a certain magic. Because in that intimate restaurant in Cavi di Lavagna, in the province of Genoa, there’s something special.
There’s a sparkle in Chef Ivan Maniago’s eyes as he talks about the flame, and it bursts onto the plate. There’s something in every single story Madeleine Sophie tells—she might tell you at the table that she went out to pick herbs in the rain the day before because the flavor changes when it rains, about salt harvested in France that she’s been aging for five years, about the color of a glass chosen to evoke the memory of a field of flowers next to where she gathered one of the ingredients, and about a time she went to visit a herb grower deep in the woods, just like in a fairy tale.
Listening to her stories is pure enchantment; so is watching him work as he barely looks up in the open kitchen.
At Impronta D’Acqua, you can choose from three tasting menus:
Altitudine, dedicated to game during the winter months and to rediscovering the culinary heritage of the hinterland and mountains the rest of the year;
Profondità, dedicated to the sea;
Vege-table, dedicated to vegetables.
They are complementary but, at the same time, converge in telling the story of Liguria in all its forms.
My Dining Experience
I tried the “Vege-table” menu, one of the very few Michelin-starred plant-based dining experiences in Italy and around the world, and the only one that combines foraging in the woods with ingredients sourced from vegetable gardens. The chef describes it as “an exploration of the ‘fifth quarter’ of plants,” which highlights the seasonal bounty of Liguria’s fields and woods. It can be served in two versions, vegetarian or vegan, and there’s often quite a difference between the dishes in each. It can also be paired with a selection of non-alcoholic beverages, crafted by Madeleine to interact with the dining experience—either complementing or contrasting with the dishes. By “carefully crafted,” I literally mean that behind every choice lie months of research into infusions, extractions, aromas, refinements, processing techniques, and combinations. My visit took place in winter, so I was prepared to encounter cruciferous vegetables, root vegetables, and artichokes. I wasn’t prepared to confront their essence in such an uncompromising way.
I was also ready for the non-alcoholic pairing experience. I wasn’t ready to encounter rich, complex, entirely homemade drinks—some with as many as 10 ingredients each—with varying textures and temperatures, or perhaps savory ones, with oil in suspension, or even chewy ones. The welcome course, “Punto zero—tastings representing the current season,” makes it clear right away that this is serious business: the vegetables served are all raw and are neither hidden nor embellished.
The wild radicchio, osmotized with olive brine, mustard, and seeds adds a tangy and crunchy touch.
The cold soup is more refreshing, thanks to the freshness of kiwi and celery and the subtle savory note of an extract from a (rare) local avocado. The radish marinated with star anise, a tribute to the 5 radishes received from the Green Guide, is glossy and crisp like Snow White’s apple. No filling, no seasoning. Proud. The paired beverage, infused with aromatic herbs and house-made elderberry vinegar, is equally red and vibrant, with a mild acidity that balances the earthier notes of the dishes. The moment the bread is served is perhaps the only part of the meal that plays on comfort. Fragrant, artisanal, natural, and eco-sustainable: the restaurant’s baking philosophy is based on a decade-old sourdough starter and high-quality local grains. Focaccia, bread, and breadsticks are a fragrant delight.
Just before a jolt called Camomillati: Chiavari root prepared like angel hair, in an infusion of chamomile and Taggiasca olives. It looks like an invigorating winter herbal tea, but it’s cloudy, intense, and tactile. For those who, like me, have the Taggiasca as the archetype of the olive in their sensory memory, the familiar home-cooked memory balances out the initial surprise. The pairing is partly a continuation: a chamomile infusion with Chiavari roots and olives. It’s golden in color, with tiny droplets of oil on the surface, ready to offer a sweet foundation as a counterpoint to the dish. I peek into the kitchen and see the chef busy frying whole artichokes, and immediately my mind turns to the sense of well-being that comes with enjoying carciofi alla giudia in Rome.
But the artichoke that arrives at my table as part of this traditional dish shares only its appearance and crunchiness. It challenges your palate at first, then coaxes you with a hint of caramel, inviting you to dip it into the licorice-flavored mayonnaise. Finally, it strikes you with the accompanying sip: a hot broth as bitter as the iron-rich stems used to prepare it—a bitterness we rarely venture to experience today. A bitterness unique to the artichoke, in fact, but one that has been all but forgotten. Next comes a pasta dish, whose freshness resets the palate thanks to fermented lemons with capers and the rich, enveloping richness of butter. It is pure sourdough tagliatelle, an invention from Maniago: no one else makes it. On the bite, they are firm and substantial; their elasticity reacts to the fork with movements that pique curiosity. It is accompanied by an infusion of their lemons, wild apple, and dried capers, over which a scent of lime and citron is vaporized at the table.
Risotto with coffee grounds and Lavagnino cabbage, a native variety of the Tigullio region, is almost creamy. The flavor is powerful; it’s savory yet sweet. It feels distant, yet familiar at the same time. It evolves on the palate with a blend of peppers and delights the senses with almond butter. The ground coffee beans add an astringent note and an aroma that’s almost reminiscent of cocoa. It was my favorite dish. It’s paired with a glass of wine that echoes its ingredients and color, prolonging the experience.
Stuffed Lettuce Leaves appear to be an elegant take on a Ligurian classic, but they are anything but.
Where tradition calls for a meat filling, there is instead a homemade hazelnut and Chiavari herb curd—intense and creamy. The subtle sweetness of the lettuce leaves adds a touch of refinement; the broth made with savory and marjoram evokes the flavors of Liguria. It’s an award-winning dish that you eat, drink, and then remember. You also eat and drink the accompaniment: an infusion made from the same wild herbs as the broth, hazelnut oil, and chopped toasted hazelnuts. It’s served at the same temperature as the dish—lukewarm—as if to showcase the course from a different perspective.
The final course before dessert is a symphony of Jerusalem artichoke textures, which, prepared much like a demi-glace, achieves the same depth of flavor. There are toasty notes and a hint of sweetness, with a texture reminiscent of marron glacé. It pairs perfectly with a beverage created by skillfully blending a vegetable stock with lavender and rose petals, and a pinch of Camargue salt aged in a glass jar.
After a pre-dessert that offers a preview of the spring menu currently in development—which will feature salt and fermentation—a convivial dessert is served: the stroscia, a traditional treat from the Imperia region. Naturally vegan because it’s made with extra virgin olive oil, it’s thin and ready to be broken into pieces and dipped in a plant-based pastry cream. Even the petit fours explore pairings with beverages: the limoncello cream—aged for two years inside the choux pastry—highlights the mandarin notes of the paired Ethiopian specialty coffee.
After the meal, I want to learn more: I stick around with Ivan and Madeleine, who tell me they work with nearly a hundred wild ingredients they’ve gathered themselves, and more generally with 90% Ligurian ingredients, sourced from all along the coast and up to an altitude of 1,200 meters. There’s the deep flavor of a region “as rich as a playground,” says Ivan, a native of Pordenone who has made Liguria his home. There’s dedication, science, but also intuition, poetry, and philosophy—two complementary personalities who inspire each other to always push further. And the courage to offer experiences that won’t necessarily appeal to everyone’s taste. The feeling that lingers after spending a few hours in the world of Impronta d’Acqua is one of fascination.
Contact
Impronta d’Acqua Restaurant
Via Aurelia, 2121
16033 Cavi di Lavagna (GE)
Hours: Friday through Monday for lunch and dinner; Wednesday and Thursday for dinner only. Closed on Tuesdays.
