What happens when a chef stops trying to define a territory and starts listening to it?
On September 25, at 7Pines Resort Sardinia, FoodMission brought together chefs and culinary voices to explore Sardinia through something deeper than food: its landscape, products, people, culture and the relationships that connect them.
Because Sardinia is not simply a place to cook. It is a place that asks to be understood.
For Pasquale D’Ambrosio, that understanding did not come immediately. “When I came here, I didn’t want to come,” he admits. His wife convinced him to accept the project, but during his first months in Sardinia, he remembers thinking: Where have I ended up?
Then he made a decision that changed everything. Instead of returning to Milan, he stayed or the winter.
He travelled across the island “casa per casa, ristorante per ristorante e persona per persona” — from house to house, restaurant to restaurant, person to person. What he found was not a fixed culinary identity, but relationships.
“My cuisine is not solid,” he says. “And it is not solid out of respect for Sardinia.”
By allowing the territory to influence his cooking rather than forcing it into a predetermined idea, he began to fall in love with the island. The relationships he built became the foundation of his journey — and of a kitchen whose first consideration is always the territory.
“Prima di tutto arriva la Sardegna.” – First comes Sardinia.
Learning from the territory
Francesco Stara describes a different but complementary journey. Sardinia was always part of his identity, but his international career gave him new techniques, experiences and perspectives. What he learned abroad eventually became a tool for expressing where he came from.
For him, international experience does not mean moving away from Sardinia. It means returning with new ways of seeing it.
The territory gives the story its roots. Experience gives the chef the language to tell it.
And for both chefs, the process remains open. Francesco speaks about never thinking you have “arrived”, but constantly discovering, learning and feeding yourself with knowledge.
Pasquale puts it simply: “Essere curiosi, innamorati e rispettosi.” To be curious, in love and respectful.
The new luxury
Cristian Gadau sees gastronomy as one of the strongest ways to communicate a territory and shape the future of tourism. But that future is changing.
The new luxury is no longer simply about caviar, foie gras or spending more.
“The real luxury is the work of these chefs,” Cristian explains. “It is the work of the fisherman.”
It is the knowledge behind the ingredient. The time behind the craft. The people behind the product. It is knowing where something comes from — and understanding the story behind it.
That idea came to life during the Four Hands Dinner, where Pasquale D’Ambrosio and Francesco Stara brought their experiences together through Sardinian ingredients and contemporary interpretations.
The result was not simply a dinner. It was another way of telling the story of a place. And perhaps that is the essence of FoodMission: not simply to showcase a territory, but to understand it through the people who live, work and create within it.
Speakers Instagram: @fra_stara @chef_pasqualedambrosio @foodreblex
Restaurant Instagram: @capogirorestaurant @7pinessardinia
Restaurant Website: 7pines-sardinia.com
Restaurant Address: Loc. Li Mucchi Bianchi, Baja Sardinia
