Chef
Niko Romito
Chef & Owner, Reale
- Discipline
- Chef
- Based in
- Castel di Sangro, Italy
- Venue
- Reale · Restaurant
Known for
- Three Michelin-starred Reale restaurant in Castel di Sangro, Abruzzo
- Self-taught chef developing personal cuisine from family trattoria
- Culinary ecosystem at Casadonna including school, hotel, and labs
i. Biography
Vegetable-led Italian cooking is the central problem in Niko Romito’s work: how to carry heritage, reduction, and contemporary service formats without treating plants as a secondary category. His cooking is framed by Italian roots, haute cuisine, and plant-based gastronomy, with creativity used as the working method rather than as decoration.
Formation
Contemporary Italian cuisine at Reale has been tied to Niko Romito since 2011, with the restaurant serving as the primary site for his approach to precision, restraint, and reworking tradition. That same year, formal training became part of the practice through the founding of Accademia Niko Romito, extending the work beyond service into instruction for young chefs. The same vocabulary also carries into Il Ristorante Niko Romito, where traditional Italian dishes are interpreted through a refined, contemporary register.
The Work Today
The current work at Reale continues to test vegetables as a complete tasting-menu language rather than a supporting element. Niko Romito’s fully plant-based tasting menu is presented as a creative decision as much as an ethical one, in his words: “I have always said that the fully plant-based menu was not just an ethical choice but primarily a creative one.” The broader system connects haute cuisine with catering formats and products for home consumption, keeping the restaurant’s research in contact with other modes of eating.
Signature
Signature dishes include Roast Artichoke and Rosemary.
Distinctions
Recognition for the cooking includes Michelin stars in 2007, 2009, and 2014, followed by European Chef of the Year in 2020. For Niko Romito, those awards sit alongside the restaurant, academy, and plant-based menu as public markers of a practice built around Italian cuisine, vegetable research, and contemporary formats.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Niko
What recognition has Niko Romito received?
Michelin star (2014).
What is Niko Romito known for?
Obsessed with vegetables.
