Freshness, lightness and incisiveness: these are the terms used by the chef to describe his dishes
by Paolo Picciotto
I have known Flavio Costa since 2001, when he had just started his career as a chef-patron in Savona, or rather, in the Lavagnola district, as he likes to point out. I then had the opportunity to work with him again at 21.9 in Albissola Marina: the dishes were always excellent and the Michelin star was confirmed. Finally, the big step: the whole family moved to Roero to manage hospitality at a large winery, Tenuta Carretta.Flavio has moved his Ligurian roots to Piedmont. To borrow the title of the book we recently wrote together, I could say that he has brought Un Mare nel Roero (A Sea in Roero).
Flavio Costa brings to the table the traditional ingredients of Liguria, his region of origin, enriched in his dishes with techniques and preparations acquired over his long professional experience, which led him to earn a Michelin star in 2003.
Someone once described his cuisine as one of subtraction, and I believe he likes this definition because it reflects his idea of combining very few elements per dish. It is a philosophy that allows him to maximise the value of the ingredients through specific processes and techniques. Emblematic in this sense is one of his classics: cream of trombetta courgettes, cuttlefish in black sauce and candied lemon peel.
His dishes are a perfect blend of modern cuisine, innovation, freshness and tradition. At the same time, the ingredients often combine the best of the two regions that have played a key role in his life: Liguria, where he was born, and Piedmont, his adopted home. While the crougettes cream dates back to 1999 and the red mullet, foie gras, caramelised shallots and sweet and sour coffee sauce was created over twenty years ago in 2003, other dishes mark more recent milestones: from the ever-present caramelised onion Tatin, with its sorbet and alpine fondue, to the very recent Sanremo purple prawns, watermelon, Aperol and basil, and Ligurian snails with Cervere leeks and potatoes.
The Michelin star also followed the chef to Tenuta Carretta, and it couldn’t be otherwise. The book by Paolo Picciotto and Flavio Costa,
Un Mare nel Roero, is published by Trenta Editore and available
at www.trentaeditore.it/portfolio/un-mare-nel-roero.
(Flavio Costa – Un Mare nel Roero – Barchemagazine.com – Excerpted from Barche, January 2026)
