Alfonso Caputo

Coming Up

Training at Gualtiero Marchesi gave Alfonso Caputo a working foundation in precision, restraint, and exacting technique. That apprenticeship reads as the point where disciplined habits were set: the kind of training that shows up later in a kitchen as consistency rather than display. Today, as chef of Taverna del Capitano, and a member of JRE since 1993, Caputo stands in a line of steady practice, with continuity carried as part of the craft itself.

Where They Are Now

Regional cuisine, in Caputo’s hands, is not treated as fixed repertory. It is described as traditional regional cuisine with a personal modern twist, and the balance matters: the base remains recognisable while the treatment stays alert to change. Alfonso Caputo’s dishes are highly colourful, creative and imaginative, but the colour works in service of the product, not apart from it. Local produce and the season set the frame for the kitchen. Caputo keeps close to what the market and the calendar provide, and his own words are direct on the point: “I love and respect the local products which are outstanding. I am following the seasons and am in a deep symbiosis with them.” In practice, that means the ingredients lead the direction of the cooking, with imagination applied after the fact, not before it. The discipline is simple: respect the product, stay with the season, and let the plate answer to both. Seafood sharpens that same habit of response. “Every morning we wait for the catch. The product writes the recipe and keeps us curious.” For Alfonso Caputo, the catch is not just supply but structure: it sets the day’s terms and keeps the work from settling into routine. Curiosity functions here as method, the force that keeps a traditional kitchen mobile without breaking its own ground rules.

In Their Words “I love and respect the local products which are outstanding. I am following the seasons and am in a deep symbiosis with them.” “Every morning we wait for the catch. The product writes the recipe and keeps us curious.”

Honors

Michelin Star sits easily beside this profile of the work: a recognition aligned with precision, seasonality, and the kind of kitchen discipline that lets ingredients set the pace.