Manuel Tropea

The Training Tropea’s earliest coordinates are precise: Catania, 1993, and Picanello, the neighborhood that marks his origin. Rather than a public chain of named teachers, the formation that can be traced is geographic and personal, beginning with the place that made him before the restaurants did. Tropea has put it this way: “Conception is the evolution of simple ideas that, over time, trace a path… it is the result of the interaction between personal evolution and that of the ecosystem around us.” The sentence reads like a method: start with something plain, let time work on it, and allow the surrounding world to alter the result.

The Lineage The lineage around Tropea is not presented as a roll call of masters; it is carried through origin, movement, and craft. Catania gives the first branch of the family tree, Picanello narrows it to a neighborhood, and the Catania restaurant gives it a contemporary form through conceptual tasting menus. Then the line travels. Alongside his Sicilian work, Tropea holds the role of executive chef at Tuk Tuk Noodle Thai in Seoul, where his specialty in Thai noodle cooking has been recognized by the Michelin Guide. The restaurant received a Bib Gourmand in 2024 and again in 2025, an honor tied not to grandeur but to the kind of cooking the guide singles out for quality and value.

The Table At Concezione Restaurant, the table is built around concept: tasting menus shaped by the evolution of ideas over time. The name itself sits close to Tropea’s own language of “Conception,” a way of thinking in which a simple starting point changes through contact with the ecosystem around it. In Seoul, the table takes another form: Thai noodles, worked through the discipline of an executive chef. The two roles do not need to be collapsed into one cuisine or one city. Read together, they show a cook moving between Catania and Seoul while keeping formation visible: birthplace, neighborhood, idea, ecosystem, bowl, menu.

Signature

Manuel's signature dishes include Good Morning in Catania, Passeggiata in via Plebiscito, 5 febbraio, and L’Asina e la lattuga.