i. Biography
“I like changing dishes every week, based on the ingredients we find. But also every day if necessary.” Antonio Altamura, the Italian chef-owner of Marzapane in Rome, turns that willingness to revise into Modern Italian cuisine that can simplify, shift, and still stay precise.
The Idea
At the Rome restaurant, his cooking is simple and avant-garde Italian cooking beyond borders, between well-executed bistronomy and unpretentious fine dining. The useful tension is not category but behavior: a kitchen light enough to move with ingredients, disciplined enough to make restraint feel intentional. “We started with complicated preparations, then we realized that we needed to simplify a bit, otherwise we go crazy and do not have fun.” In that sentence is a working method, not a slogan. Complexity is allowed to leave the plate; pleasure, in the kitchen and at the table, is allowed to stay. Altamura’s sourcing philosophy is just as unforced. “I do not like forcing things; I use ingredients that come from the best surrounding farms, but I do not want to harass diners with the names and surnames of the artisans of the ricotta or the chicken.” The point is not anonymity, but ease: a diner can taste care without being made to study it.
The Execution
His career history includes chef de cuisine at Chateaubriand and sous-chef at Passerini, along with chef at the Roman restaurant, the role that now carries the fuller title of chef-owner. Those roles outline a cook attentive to both structure and looseness, a useful pairing for food positioned between bistronomy and fine dining. At the Roman address, Modern Italian cuisine is the specialty, but the work does not sit still. The menu can respond weekly, or daily, to what comes in; that variability is part of the restaurant’s grammar rather than a special occasion. In Arles, France, Altamura also cooks as chef of Hôtel Nord-Pinus and chef of Restaurant du Grand Hôtel Nord-Pinus. At Nord-Pinus, his cuisine is sensitive and open, with Italy in dialogue with France. At the restaurant of the Grand Hôtel, the Italian cuisine is precise and understated, built from well-chosen, expertly prepared ingredients on a concise menu.
On the Record
Italian by nationality, Altamura works across Rome and Arles without turning border-crossing into spectacle. One address gives him a chef-owner’s room for simple, avant-garde Modern Italian cooking; the French work sharpens the dialogue between Italian instinct and French setting. His own language keeps pulling the food away from performance and toward clarity. “I really think we need to take ourselves less seriously, enjoy it and be a bit carefree.” For a chef moving between weekly change and careful preparation, that lightness is not casual; it is a discipline.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Antonio
What is Antonio Altamura known for?
He is known as the chef-owner of Marzapane in Rome, where his specialty is Modern Italian cuisine shaped as simple, avant-garde Italian cooking beyond borders.
Where does Antonio Altamura work?
He works at Marzapane in Rome and in Arles, France, as chef of Hôtel Nord-Pinus and Restaurant du Grand Hôtel Nord-Pinus.
What is Antonio Altamura's philosophy?
His philosophy favors change, simplification, and ease: “I really think we need to take ourselves less seriously, enjoy it and be a bit carefree.”
