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Domenico Marotta

Marotta

As Domenico Marotta often likes to repeat, he “was born” in a restaurant. Playing with pans and joking with the clients of his parents’ pizzeria, in Castel Campagnano, a tiny little village in the Caserta province, was an everyday entertainment during his childhood.

Discipline, precision, minimalism, expertise for plant matter

He has a series of experiences behind him that have formed him in an important way: Andrea Berton and Enrico Crippa, Éric Frechon in France, the internships at Kobe Desramaults in Belgium and Seiji Yamamoto in Japan, a particularly significant year as a match leader with Alain Passard who, combined with the influence of Crippa, ignited the passion and expertise for plant matter.

“What particularly hit me during my Japanese experience was the discipline, the precision and the absolute minimalism. It was the missing piece to finally shape my own style.”

“Radici&Innesti”

In 2019 he decided to return home Marotta Ristorante opens its doors, in Villa La Collinetta, the family restaurant dedicated to banqueting in the Squille hamlet. The name of the menus is as direct as it can get: “Radici&Innesti” (literally “Roots&Grafts”). It represents the impossibility of both deleting who we are and closing the eyes to the unknown. Opening yourself to other cultures, stealing consciously. Marotta’s dishes are a hymn to curiosity, they emit energy and a sense of community.

The chef insists on how lucky he feels by living in such a naturally rich zone: think about the outstanding Costiera, about the hills and mountains around Caserta, stuffed of high-quality ingredients.

Studying, understanding, and applying. Being tremendously Italian. Italian as that population who enjoyed the highest number of changes and influences throughout its history. That’s how precious alliances come to life. Between reassurance and stimulation, memory and discover.

“You need to be local but with intelligence. Nobody should limit creativity. If I find an stimulating ingredient I need to use it. Obviously in a responsible way.”

There’s an obsessive attention to the cooking process, to textures and single elements centrality, respected in their soul. Pairings, flavors and aesthetic finishes are essential but alive, perfectly mirroring the attitude of a great measured chef, never exuberant.