La Rei Natura by Michelangelo Mammoliti
Serralunga d'Alba, Italy
⭐2 Stars
The Experience
From Michelin Guide
At this restaurant, the young yet already experienced Piedmontese chef (who also has Calabrian origins) offers three tasting menus. Dishes are also available à la carte style on two of these – “ Emozioni” (which features creative dishes inspired by childhood memories and flavours) and “Voyage” (ingredients, recipes and influences from the chef’s experience working around the world, including a delicious mango and coconut dessert). The third, Mad100% Natura, is a blind tasting menu on which the chef demonstrates his love and passion for his ingredients with real creativity. Most of his vegetables are sourced from local biodynamic gardens and greenhouses. On our last visit, we particularly enjoyed the courgettes “alla beccafico”, spaghetti with tomato sauce in honour of Nonna Tita, and the vegetable pizza served as a dessert. The high quality of the cuisine is equalled by the impressive selection of wines.
Unique Things
From Visitor Experiences
Here are three unique and unconventional aspects of the Michelin-starred restaurant La Rei Natura by Michelangelo Mammoliti in Serralunga d'Alba:
1. Emphasis on Neurogastronomy and Memory Evocation
La Rei Natura offers a tasting menu called Emozione and Voyage that explores neurogastronomy—the study of how taste can evoke memories. This scientific and emotional approach to cuisine is a distinctive feature, aiming to create dishes that trigger personal memories and emotional responses in diners.
2. Integration of a Greenhouse and Extensive Vegetable Gardens
The restaurant is deeply connected to nature, with a greenhouse and vegetable gardens near the Boscareto Resort where the chef personally tends to herbs and seedlings. This farm-to-table approach includes cultivating 128 different varieties of tomatoes and using plants not only for flavor but also for creating unique elements like drinking water infused with leaves and oils, and even fibers for dish presentation cards.
3. Highly Coordinated and Discreet Service Team
The dining room team at La Rei Natura operates with surgical precision, moving silently and discreetly to enhance the dining experience without intrusion. This teamwork is emphasized by Mammoliti as essential to making the restaurant experience "perfect and unforgettable," reflecting an unconventional focus on the harmony between kitchen and service staff.
These elements highlight La Rei Natura's innovative fusion of nature, science, and service artistry, setting it apart in the Michelin-starred dining world.
Ingredient Stars
From Visitor Experiences
The most honored or signature ingredients at the Michelin-starred restaurant La Rei Natura by Michelangelo Mammoliti in Serralunga d'Alba include:
Santena asparagus: Cooked to perfection and served with a Parmigiano Reggiano extract, sweet mountain lard, fermented yellow kiwi, chipotle powder, and a cacio e pepe reduction. This dish exemplifies the chef's meticulous preparation and balance of flavors, with the kiwi requiring about six hours of preparation.
Red Tropea onions: Cooked in their own molasses and paired with Cévennes and garden onions pickled in vinegar, citrus-marinated anchovies, and a French anchovy sauce, topped with traditional Nice focaccia. This dish reflects the chef's French culinary experience and highlights the elegance of garden produce.
Crusco pepper: Used in a risotto cooked in crusco pepper extract, combined with alpine butter from the Cuneo valleys and Maldon salt, showcasing local mountain flavors and rich textures.
Yellow pasta ravioli: Stuffed with creamy falafel, cumin and mint yogurt, lamb, crusco chips, pepper caramel, basil, and sorrel, blending Italian and Eastern influences in a sumptuous single-ingredient-based dish.
Garden vegetables and herbs: The chef cultivates a greenhouse and vegetable garden near the restaurant, using fresh herbs and produce extensively, including 128 varieties of tomatoes used to create a unique drinking water infusion, emphasizing nature and freshness as central themes.
These ingredients are significant as they represent a fusion of local Piedmontese tradition, French influences, and innovative vegetable-forward cuisine, with a strong emphasis on freshness, meticulous preparation, and balanced flavors that define the restaurant's avant-garde approach.