Mario Gamba

The Climb

The early path through Hotel Palace in St. Moritz, Alain Chapel in France (Mionnay), Tantris in Munich, Tristan in Puerto Portals, Mallorca, and Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan shows the kind of progression that comes from repetition, exposure, and exacting kitchens. At each stop, Mario Gamba absorbed a different register of professional cooking: the alpine precision of Hotel Palace in St. Moritz, the French discipline of Alain Chapel in France (Mionnay), the rigor and pace of Tantris in Munich, the Mediterranean setting of Tristan in Puerto Portals, Mallorca, and the Italian perspective of Gualtiero Marchesi in Milan. Read together, those posts show an apprenticeship built on standards, not shortcuts. Since 1994, Acquarello has been the place where that experience has been consolidated into a single working language. As chef and owner, Mario Gamba has kept the restaurant aligned with the same measured approach that shaped his earlier years: controlled, composed, and grounded in long practice.

Today

Italian cuisine remains the signature craft note in his work at Acquarello. The food is rooted in tradition, but it is rendered with restraint and precision, which is what gives it clarity on the plate. Mario Gamba’s approach is not built on flourish; it is built on control, balance, and a steady hand developed over decades.

Signature

Mario Gamba’s signature dish pairing of pea risotto topped with scallop saltimbocca and Amalfi lemon foam points to how he constructs flavor: vivid ingredients, clear contrasts, and a finish that lifts the whole plate. The dish suggests a kitchen attentive to proportion and texture, where the parts are held in balance rather than allowed to compete. It is the kind of composition that makes a signature legible without becoming heavy-handed.

In Their Words “Cooking is connected with ethics; without ethics, one cannot cook.” “I think of myself more as a host, that suits my path better.” Taken together, these lines frame the work as both craft and duty. One centers ethics inside the profession; the other places hospitality at the front of it. For Mario Gamba, the two are not separate positions but linked responsibilities that shape how he cooks and how he receives guests.

Recognition

The Michelin star in 2000 marked Acquarello as a restaurant of weight, but it also confirmed a pattern already visible in the work itself. Mario Gamba had already built a career on consistency, discipline, and trust earned over time; the recognition simply named what the kitchen had been doing for years.