i. Biography
"I want the COVA tradition to continue." For Eduardo Gadda, Executive Pastry Chef at Pasticceria Cova Montenapoleone in Milan, Italy, continuity is not a static idea; it is something handled, mixed, guarded, revised, and served. His pastry work begins with inheritance, then asks how precision and care can keep that inheritance alive without freezing it in place.
The Idea
The central object in Gadda’s kitchen is the COVA Panettone, a product tied to a recipe described as guarded for more than 200 years. Its endurance gives his role a particular pressure: the work is not only to make pastry, but to carry a tradition that customers recognize before the first slice is cut. Made by hand with superior-quality natural ingredients, the panettone is presented as an emblem of the house’s artisanal excellence. That phrase matters less as a slogan than as a discipline: ingredients, touch, and repetition are the visible parts of a longer chain. Gadda’s own words return to that material clarity. "I will use fresh eggs, free-range, natural products that I will try to express, and all their flavor, in my recipe." The sentence is simple, almost procedural, but it reveals the belief underneath: flavor is something to be expressed, not covered.
The Execution
Since 2021, Gadda has served as Pasticceria Cova Montenapoleone’s Virtuoso representative for LVMH Métiers d’Excellence. The title places his pastry craft inside a wider conversation about métiers: technical knowledge, hand skill, and the passing-on of methods that survive only when they are practiced. His range is not limited to one inherited form. In 2019, Il bonet rivisitato was presented as a recipe by Eduardo Gadda, pastry chef of Pasticceria Cova Montenapoleone 1917 in Milan. The name itself points to revision: a classic brought back through a specific hand rather than treated as untouchable. Gadda described another revisited classic this way: "I present my recipe: it is zabaione, a revisited classic. I am going to compose it using a Marsala wine aged in barrels for 30 months." The detail is exact, and the verb “compose” suits the work: pastry as structure, sequence, and proportion. In 2025, a Sacher revisited for Valentine’s Day appeared at Cova in Istanbul, Turkey, with Chef Eduardo Gadda’s special touch. It was heart-shaped and crafted with love, a seasonal form that still belonged to his larger pattern of returning to known references and adjusting them with care. Another contemporary expression came through the nano cake collection in Hong Kong: a trio of palm-sized cakes designed for “Me Time,” developed with Chef Chiu and the Hong Kong team. There, the scale changed, but the governing idea remained close to Gadda’s broader style: Italian craftsmanship joined with contemporary elegance, with concepts and recipes refined through precision and care.
On the Record
The through-line is handcrafted pastry using superior-quality natural ingredients. That is the plainest description of the work, and also the most demanding, because it leaves little room to hide behind decoration. Gadda’s philosophy is concise enough to hold in one sentence: "I want the COVA tradition to continue." Around that sentence gather the panettone, the revisited bonet, the zabaione with Marsala wine aged in barrels for 30 months, the heart-shaped Sacher, and the palm-sized cakes made for a private moment. What links them is not nostalgia, but maintenance with movement. A guarded recipe can remain alive; a classic can be revisited; a small cake can carry the same seriousness as a festival bread. In Gadda’s hands, continuity is a daily act.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Eduardo
What is Eduardo Gadda's philosophy?
Eduardo Gadda says, "I want the COVA tradition to continue."
How does Eduardo Gadda describe their work?
He describes a revisited zabaione made with Marsala wine aged in barrels for 30 months and natural products such as fresh free-range eggs.
What is Eduardo Gadda known for?
He is known as Executive Pastry Chef at Pasticceria Cova Montenapoleone in Milan and for signature work including COVA Panettone, Il bonet rivisitato, a Valentine’s Day Sacher, and the nano cake collection.
