Three cities, one soul: the gastronomic journey of Campania chefs Ciro Sieno and Roberto Di Pinto spans 700 kilometers, with the aim of bringing Milan, Naples, and Reggio Emilia together on the plate. All in a single four-handed dinner.
Reggio Emilia, Milan, Naples: over 700 kilometers separate these three cities, but on November 30, the distances were symbolically eliminated. They were united by a four-handed dinner featuring chefs Ciro Sieno and Roberto Di Pinto, interpreters of two complementary gastronomic visions. The venue for the event was Enigma, the restaurant inside the Hotel Astoria in Reggio Emilia, which for one evening was transformed into a crossroads of flavors, techniques, and culinary identities.
FOUR HANDS FROM NAPLES TO MILAN VIA REGGIO EMILIA
Ciro Sieno, chef and owner of Enigma, a restaurant that has been included and reconfirmed in the Michelin Guide for 2026, welcomed Roberto Di Pinto, chef and owner of Sine by Di Pinto in Milan, a restaurant that already boasts a Michelin star, to Reggio Emilia. The menu created for the occasion offered a variety of dishes that showcased their culinary identities: a dialogue between two voices that united their shared city of birth, Naples, with their respective cities of adoption, in a culinary journey through memory, technique, and modernity.
But where did the idea for this four-handed dinner come from?
“I have always held him in high esteem, and after dining at his Sine restaurant in Milan, I realized that it would be interesting to offer our guests a four-handed culinary encounter,” says Ciro Sieno; “at the same time, for me it was the ideal opportunity to spend a day in the kitchen with him and share a valuable professional experience.” Roberto Di Pinto adds: “Ciro always expressed this desire to me, seeing me as a point of reference, and I was delighted to accept his invitation.”
THE MENU
Six courses were created from the combination of techniques and expertise of the two Neapolitan chefs: Emilian-style scallops, a tribute to Emilia by Ciro Sieno, raw scallops served sashimi-style, complemented by a fried dumpling mousse, culatello oil, and cooked culatello that envelops each bite, creating a natural balance between sea and land. This is followed by Parmigiana espressionista, an out-of-season eggplant harvested in August in Naples. With the help of technology and collaboration with the University of Naples, chef Di Pinto has managed to preserve it raw in a jar, keeping it intact in its original state: when opened, it is exactly as it was on the day it was harvested. This work required a year of research. The eggplant is fried using a Japanese technique that makes it oil-repellent and incredibly light, served with tomato miso, 30-month Parmigiano, buffalo mozzarella sauce, and toasted sesame seeds.
To complete the dish, a thin layer of eggplant peel adds a bitter note designed to enhance the sweetness of the tomato. These two dishes alone are enough to understand how the cuisines of chefs Sieno and Di Pinto, with their unmistakable Neapolitan touch, have managed to perfectly dialogue with the gastronomic culture of the territory that has adopted them, giving life to a common and recognizable culinary language. Next comes Mescafrancesca with potatoes and lobster: here a clarification is necessary: “'N'ammesca francesca” is a Neapolitan dialect expression that means a disorderly mixture, a mixture of different things; this is where Mescafrancesca comes from, which involves the use of different types of pasta to make soups and broths. For the occasion, chef Di Pinto has proposed it with lobster and potatoes, reinterpreting tradition in a contemporary key. A large Neapolitan pasta, accompanied by potatoes cooked exclusively in lobster bisque, then served with lobster, candied lemon, fennel, and basil, and a mayonnaise prepared with shrimp heads, which enriches the dish with flavor and depth.
Among the dishes on the evening's menu was “Milan–Reggio Emilia–Naples My rice bomb,” a dish that fully represents Chef Ciro Sieno's identity, both in terms of his professional vision and as an expression of the territory, because it combines and blends traditions from north to south. A Milanese risotto that dialogues with the Emilian and Neapolitan traditions: cooked culatello, tosone foam, Neapolitan-style genovese, lemon pulp, and basil oil.
Next comes “Sea bass with provola cheese and Neapolitan escarole,” another main course created by Ciro Sieno: the fish is seared using traditional Japanese techniques and seasoned with provola cheese sauce and parsley oil. The dish is completed with grilled Neapolitan escarole, anchovy sauce, and black olive powder, which together create a balance between delicate and intense flavors. Off the menu, “Capitone with foie gras, green apple gelato, and almond air,” “a dish that, together with the expressionist parmigiana, fully represents who I am and my idea of cuisine that is both traditional and modern,” says Di Pinto. Capitone: one of the symbolic dishes of Neapolitan Christmas cuisine, it is paired with a foie gras escalope and cooked using a technique reminiscent of Japanese yakitori. The glaze combines saba and balsamic vinegar, paying homage to Emilia, while the dish is completed with green apple, fennel, and cucumber ice cream, burnt onion powder, and almond air.
FRESHNESS AND TRADITION IN DESSERTS
We have almost reached the end of this journey, in which two culinary traditions that have shaped the history of Italian cuisine come together. An evening in which Ciro Sieno and Roberto Di Pinto become ambassadors of this new dimension of taste, where technique, territory, and creativity merge into a unique story. To conclude, the desserts showcase two different approaches to tradition. Ciro Sieno's revisited version of “Lo Sgroppino” features a faux yuzu soil, lemon sorbet, and grated lemon peel, ending the journey with freshness and lightness. The iconic dessert, symbol of Naples and Campania, is “Tiè-Semifreddo di pastiera napolatana”, which Roberto Di Pinto has decided to serve as a Neapolitan cornetto, with candied orange cream on the side, combining aesthetics and taste in a finale of great impact.
THE GASTRONOMIC DIALOGUE BETWEEN CIRO SIENO AND ROBERTO DI PINTO
The inspiration behind the menu is clear: a meeting of culinary traditions, in particular those of Naples and Emilia-Lombardy, reinterpreted using contemporary techniques. "My culinary philosophy is based on the fusion of traditional Italian recipes, with a particular focus on the Campania tradition, which is reinterpreted in a modern key and combined with the Emilia-Romagna tradition. Similarly, chef Di Pinto brings the Campania tradition to Milan with a contemporary approach. This gave rise to the idea for the ‘4 hands, 3 cities’ evening: Reggio Emilia, Milan, and Naples, but with a single soul, that of Campania, which unites and gives coherence to the entire gastronomic journey," says Ciro Sieno. On the other hand, Roberto Di Pinto echoes these words, confirming that the spark of inspiration is a ‘Neapolitan spirit’ that is expressed in a different way: “Through my new Neapolitan cuisine, I am aware that I am inspiring new generations of chefs to work on their own identity. I see Ciro Sieno as a great professional, capable of bringing out his essence day after day, with dedication and authenticity.”
The collaboration between the two chefs is characterized by mutual respect. When asked what they appreciate most about each other, Di Pinto says: "I like Ciro's attention to bread. My cuisine is very much based on the moment when bread is served at the table, and I have noticed that Ciro also values this aspect, which is so important to us in the South.“ Ciro Sieno replies: ”I think Chef Di Pinto has been able to represent our tradition in an innovative and contemporary way, fully respecting the flavors and evoking memories of our childhood in every dish."
In this journey, each dish represented a bridge between territory and technique, and even between memory and tradition, telling the story of two chefs who, despite their different backgrounds and careers, were able to honor their roots by finding a common language, making the event a true meeting of cultures and gastronomic identities, and transforming it into a source of inspiration for new interpretations of Italian cuisine.
