Cuisine: Modern with strong focus on local ingredients
Chef: Stefano Masanti
Address: via A. De Giacomi 39, 23024 Madesimo, Italy (Google Maps)
Phone Number: +39 034356120
Website: http://www.sporthotelalpina.it
E-mail: info@sporthotelalpina.it
Guide Michelin: 1 star
What I paid: €283 (Dinner for three persons having Tasting Menu)
Visited: February 25, 2011

This were our third Guide Michelin Restaurant on our ski trip. After skiing in the Piemonte Alps (Alagna), drinking wines in Barolo, skiing in the Dolomites, skiing in Switzerland we were back in Italy for some more skiing and went to Madesimo. Since we did not have any advanced booking for a Hotel we had a hard time finding one available but after some hours we were able to find one. When one of my friends were in checking the Hotel we finally got, I spotted a restaurant from the car (were I was waiting) which I for some reason thought looked interesting.

After check-in at the Hotel we went to the next door Restaurant I previously saw from the car and asked for a table. We had no idea what kind of restaurant this was but noticed that they had two different tasting menus., one “traditional” and one “experimental”.

We went for the “experimental” tasting menu. Remember that we during the dinner discussed that we really thought this restaurant was aiming for a Guide Michelin star, but we were really not sure if they really had one. It it turned out that they did…

We did not like all the dishes fully, and actually one of them we did not like at all (even though we thought it was interesting, it had a much to strong fish taste for us).

I will most certainly return for some skiing in Madesimo in the future and I will then also return to Il Cantinone but then have the “traditional” menu.

What really highlighted our dinner experience was that chef Stefano Masanti passed by our table and talked to us for at least 20 minutes. This was a very interesting discussion and he really showed his passion and knowledge for food.