Davide Caranchini

The Climb

Cooking school in Como gave Caranchini his base before he moved through Le Gavroche in Paris, Apsleys in London, and Noma in Copenhagen. Those stages point to a cook shaped by different European registers: classical technique, formal kitchen discipline, and the more exploratory pace of modern gastronomy. The sequence matters less as a résumé than as a way of reading the work that followed — each stop adding another layer to the vocabulary he would later use at Materia. Since 2016, Materia has been the place where that training has been put to use most clearly. Caranchini’s role there has defined a kitchen that is deliberate without being rigid, and exact without losing movement. The restaurant’s identity sits in that balance: a refusal of excess formality, paired with enough control to keep the work sharp.

Today

Caranchini’s current work at Materia in Cernobbio, Italy, is expressed through a kitchen that treats naming as part of the craft. The dishes carry clear markers of texture, contrast, and composition, and the menu language itself suggests a steady attention to how flavor is built rather than simply announced. Two dishes show that approach in public view. Linguine al garum di agone has been highlighted by the restaurant as one of its dishes featured in the news. The name sets a familiar pasta format against a more particular expression of garum di agone, which gives the dish a firmer identity on the page. Cavolo rosso con midollo affumicato, latte di mandorle amare e caviale follows the same logic: red cabbage, smoked marrow, bitter almond milk, and caviar put together in a deliberate sequence of richness, bitterness, and salinity.

Signature

Davide's signature dishes include Linguine al garum di agone. As a signature, it reads as a direct statement of the kitchen’s priorities: clarity, specificity, and a willingness to let a single dish carry the restaurant’s position without overexplaining it. At Materia, that kind of dish functions less as decoration than as working evidence of the chef’s method.

In Their Words “We would like to do fine dining, but a bit different pop fine dining.” The line is plain, and that plainness helps define the room’s stance. It points to a kitchen that accepts the rules of fine dining but does not want to be bound by its usual tone. The emphasis is on precision and control, with enough looseness to keep the work contemporary.

Recognition

Davide Caranchini has received Michelin Guide | Michelin star (2018). Davide's honors include Michelin star (2018) and 30 Under 30 - Europe - Art & Culture (2018). In the same year, those two recognitions placed Materia inside a formal standard of culinary distinction while also signaling wider cultural attention. Michelin star (2018) marks the restaurant’s technical standing; 30 Under 30 - Europe - Art & Culture (2018) records the broader reach of Caranchini’s voice at an early stage of his career.