Inside the Boscareto Resort & Spa, you will witness a culinary spectacle worthy of a standing ovation, combining flavors and knowledge of vegetables with gastronomic certainty. Nature, technique, and skill come together to reveal the visionary thinking of Piedmontese chef Michelangelo Mammoliti.
Photos by Marco Varoli
The chef
“Over the years, I have come to understand that to be a good chef, you need to have your hands dirty. I couldn't imagine my kitchen without the vegetable garden or the greenhouse.” In the words of Michelangelo Mammoliti, it is easy to see how the chef has achieved total maturity since his arrival at the Boscareto Resort & Spa in 2022. And not because, just one year after arriving at this splendid hotel in the heart of the Langhe, he earned two Michelin stars in one fell swoop—a milestone he had already achieved during his time at La Madernassa—but because, during our experience at La Rei Natura by Michelangelo Mammoliti, we savored and admired the chef's philosophy in every dish, from the amuse-bouche to the dessert.
The vegetable garden and greenhouse—with its 200 square meters of space and more than 150 different varieties of seeds—are the direct result of his gastronomic thinking, a culinary vision that sees raw ingredients as the first step in a journey that is then articulated through gestures and techniques. Ultimately, nature and man are the values around which Mammoliti's entire philosophy revolves. “Nature will always guide my actions and choices, and it couldn't be any other way. I am at its service,” says the chef. Yes, because Michelangelo Mammoliti is one of the pioneers of vegetable cuisine (now more relevant than ever) and at Rei Natura he finds his peak in Mad 100% Natura, a ten-course tasting menu prepared freehand.
“I approach vegetables in the same way I cook meat and fish,” says the chef. Before cooking asparagus, for example, I think: how can I extract all its flavor?“ However, this vision does not exclude animal proteins, which are always present on his menus. ”During my years in France, I mainly prepared meat and sauces," explains the Piedmontese chef. For me, cooking these ingredients is always a joy!"
The restaurant
La Rei Natura is the material translation of Mammoliti's philosophy. The chef had no limitations (either financial or in terms of furnishings) in creating the restaurant that bears his name and overlooks the UNESCO-listed vineyards of the Langhe. A terrace suspended between enchantment and devotion to a land admired by the whole world. The architectural design is by Stefano Guidotti, who brought to life the shared vision of the chef and Valentina Dogliani, owner, together with her family, of Boscareto, whose recent renovation has made this modern castle nestled among hills and vineyards even more charming.
The restaurant, covering an area of 500 square meters, has 42 seats and a kitchen staff of 20, while eight people provide masterful service in the dining room, led by maître d' Alessandro Marcialis and sommelier Alessandro Tupputi, who have been working with Mammoliti since 2016.
“I share the same approach as the chef when it comes to choosing producers,” explains Tupputi. "When I select a label, I first evaluate the working method, starting with what happens between the rows of vines to discover what's in the glass. There must be respect for nature, for the land, for the grapes, for the people who transform those grapes into wine—a personal ethic as well as a professional one. Nothing good can come from those who do not treat their resources fairly. In this respect, the chef and I are perfectly aligned."
The young team in the dining room moves in unison: their movements are surgical, silent and discreet when they need to intervene at the table. When a dish is explained, you can sense the teamwork shared with the kitchen brigade, and Mammoliti himself emphasizes their merits: “They are doing an excellent job. If we get a third star, it will be thanks to them because it will mean that they have made the restaurant experience perfect and unforgettable in every way.”
The gastronomic story of La Rei Natura is completed by two other tasting menus, Emozione and Voyage, both consisting of eight courses. The first recounts the chef's work on neurogastronomy (a study conducted together with Dr. Maria Francesca Collevasone), i.e., the ability to evoke a memory through the taste of a particular dish, a subject that has always emotionally involved Michelangelo Mammoliti. The second is a “travel diary” of the chef's work experiences and travels around the world.
“One of my dreams is to open restaurants that showcase different cultures such as Thai, Lebanese, or Japanese. But I would also like to open a real trattoria where people can taste traditional Italian recipes,” reveals the chef, and we sincerely hope that these dreams come true so that we can enjoy them as much as possible.
The dishes
The tasting begins in a first room where you start to appreciate the meticulous work of Mammoliti and his team. The amuse-bouches are well-paced and, in some cases, ingenious, such as the lentil and smoked eel cotechino or the double-textured farinata with chickpeas and lard scented with rosemary and black pepper. Then the vegetables come into play – those from the garden, ça va sans dire – including a splendid gelato made with turnip greens, broccoli in oil, and crispy bread, or the evocative radish with oil and salt on a base of sunflower seed praline.Next, we sit down at the table where the final welcome awaits us: a 360-degree take on the Carota (carrot), which is dehydrated and rehydrated in its own juice and finished with its own caramel, accompanied by chicken chips and pâté, brunoise of fermented carrot, and a carrot and pepper ketchup. Bright colors and crisp flavors.
Did you know that the chef started out as a pizza maker? The art of leavening is second nature to him, as demonstrated by the first course of bread, which includes spiced carasau with caper leaves and focaccia flavored with mountain herbs. The first course of the tasting menu focuses on the complexity of beans, prepared in three varieties: cannellini, borlotti, and barba di frate, a specialty of southern Italy that adds crunch to the dish compared to the first two. Adding to the complexity is a sauce of roasted squid seared yakitori-style with cuttlefish cheek, which gives it that indistinguishable smoky flavor. The work on the Santena asparagus cooked in a Parmigiano Reggiano extract and seasoned with sweet mountain lard, fermented yellow kiwi, chipotle powder, and a cacio e pepe reduction is monumental. It is a choral recipe, with the asparagus cooked to perfection and the sauces just the right amount of richness. “In this dish, it takes about six hours just to prepare the kiwi,” reveals Mammoliti—and we have no trouble believing him.
France and Italy come together in a recipe inspired by Provence. La Cipolla rossa di Tropea (Red Tropea onions) are cooked in their own molasses, Cévennes onions and garden onions are pickled in vinegar and accompanied by citrus-marinated anchovies, a French anchovy sauce, and topped with traditional Nice focaccia that envelops all of the above ingredients. More garden produce, more delicacy and elegance for a dish that says so much about the chef's French experience.
From the voyage menu, the yellow pasta ravioli stuffed with creamy falafel, cumin and mint yogurt and lamb jus with sides of coriander chickpea consommé are an extremely pleasant journey to the East, while the risotto cooked in crusco pepper extract, crusco chips, pepper caramel, basil, and sorrel gently brings us back to Italy, with another sumptuous dish based on a single ingredient. The second bread course is accompanied by a delicious mountain of alpine butter from the Cuneo valleys, creamed with only Maldon salt.
The second course opens with a tribute to Valencian paella, interpreted here as gently cooked red mullet with Iberian chorizo, puffed Carnaroli rice and a paella reduction (also served separately) and finished with a pepper extract and razor clams. "During our trip to Valencia for the We're Smart Green Guide (in which La Rei Natura ranks 15th in the world, ed.) I finally tasted Valencian paella. I have always had a great affinity with Spain and in honor of this typical dish, I wanted to offer this recipe in which I serve the paella separately to highlight the dish, as my true interpretation is inside the red mullet with the sauce that encapsulates the most authentic flavor of paella."
The savory part ends in an exemplary manner with the “simplicity” of the Agnello (Lamb): a Piedmontese lamb chop smoked and then poached, enhanced by a mountain pesto with local herbs, chimichurri sauce, and a lamb reduction scented with epazote (an aromatic herb from South America). An essential flavor with a smokiness that brings joy and a sauce that transports the mint to a barbecue with friends, thus reconnecting us to Michelangelo Mammoliti's study on neurogastronomy. We leave the table behind to take a seat in the last room of the restaurant, where the dessert ritual takes place and where we can admire the pastry chefs as they finish their preparations.
In our dessert, fermented mango takes center stage with a passion fruit reduction and a mousse made from mango sticky rice, a traditional Thai dessert made with coconut and puffed rice. Its partner? A coconut infusion that perfectly rounds off an intense dinner, imbued with passion and flavors that confirm the Piedmontese chef as one of the most daring minds in our cuisine.
Contacts
La Rei Natura by Michelangelo Mammoliti
Via Roddino, 21, 12050 Serralunga d'Alba CN
Phone: 0173 613042
