i. Biography
In Saronno, Italy, the menu at Sui Generis treats bread, hazelnut, rice, eel, and onion as working materials rather than decoration. Since 2023, Alfio Nicolosi has been chef patron and chef there, and the kitchen has been built around reflection, precision, and a clear sense of what the guest is meant to carry away from the meal. The question underneath the cooking is direct: what should be remembered, and how should it be built on the plate?
Coming Up
Training at Università Bicocca di Milano and Accademia di Alta Cucina gave Nicolosi a formal base in the craft, and that base has stayed visible in the way he handles ingredients as a language rather than a list. The schooling matters here not as biography padding, but because it shaped a method: reading texture, history, and feeling through technique. A later period as executive chef at Un ristorante in un relais in Provincia di Como added authorship to the work. Since 2023, Nicolosi has held both chef patron and chef at Sui Generis, where that authorship is expressed with tighter control and a more intimate register.
Where They Are Now
Running a kitchen and holding its point of view are not the same task, and at Sui Generis Nicolosi does both. The menu reads as deliberate and steady, with modest materials handled in a way that keeps the restaurant’s identity clear without forcing it into display. The stale bread ice cream with hazelnut cream is the clearest example of that method. Something usually treated as surplus becomes dessert, but the point is not novelty for its own sake; it is the shift in value. Thrift is worked into delicacy, and familiarity is preserved inside the transformation. The rice mantecato with smoked eel and bittersweet onion follows the same logic. Humility here is a working principle, not a lack of ambition, and the dish is described as deep in flavor and graceful in presentation. Grain, smoke, and bitterness stay legible, with no element pushing the others aside.
Signature
Alfio's signature dishes include stale bread ice cream with hazelnut cream, rice mantecato with smoked eel and bittersweet onion, Ianus, and Neptunus.
In Their Words “Our cuisine is memory, emotion and journey.”
Honors
Alfio's honors include Michelin Guide, one Michelin star.
Profile updated August 2026
FAQ
Asked of Alfio
What is Alfio Nicolosi's current role?
As of 2026, Alfio Nicolosi is chef patron.
Where did Alfio Nicolosi train or study?
Alfio Nicolosi trained at Università Bicocca di Milano and Accademia di Alta Cucina.
What recognition has Alfio Nicolosi received?
Michelin Guide, one Michelin star (2023).