Lele Usai

Lele Usai moves through the kitchens of Fiumicino with the quiet assurance of a chef who understands that a place can be both anchor and inspiration. At QuarantunoDodici, where he is chef, his cooking feels rooted in the rhythms of the city and sharpened by a personal instinct for refinement. He also carries the title of chef and patron at the restaurant, a role that suggests not only authorship in the kitchen but a deep, guiding presence in the room beyond it. The same is true at Il Tino, where he serves as chef and patron as well, extending a culinary identity across two addresses in Fiumicino, Italy. There is a sense of balance in the way Usai’s work is presented: attentive, measured, and shaped by a clear point of view. His own words hint at the emotional pull behind that viewpoint, and at the way memory can steer a culinary life as powerfully as technique. “I chose France because I was missing it; it has always been a thing of mine.” The line reads like a confession and a compass at once, suggesting a longstanding affinity that has lingered beneath the surface and found its way into his professional choices.