Chef Liberatore leaves Le Bistrot at Villa Cora: summer news in Florence
From a farewell after nearly 12 years to a Michelin-starred "comeback horse," to changes of allegiance along the Arno River.
After nearly 12 years, Chef Alessandro Liberatore's tenure at Le Bistrot, the restaurant inside Villa Cora in Florence, has come to an end. For the Tuscan expert from Lido di Camaiore, born in 1975, this marks the end of a journey that began in late 2014. In his place, the restaurant has announced the handover to Chef Mattia Nesi, formerly Liberatore's sous chef, presenting Le Bistrot's new culinary direction. The new chef trained at the Four Seasons Hotel in Geneva and the two-starred Guy Savoy in Paris.
After turning over a new leaf following the departure of its longtime chef, Villa Cora has officially unveiled its new gastronomic vision. Leading the team at this exclusive 19th-century hotel overlooking the Boboli Gardens is Chef Mattia Nesi, who has recently designed the new menu for the restaurant, Le Bistrot, offering simple, precise, and contemporary cuisine that combines modern techniques with seasonal rhythms and a deep connection to the Tuscan region. The true innovation of Mattia Nesi's course is the focus on plant-based dishes: no longer just alternatives, but true pillars of an inclusive and modern culinary experience.
Among its signature dishes are appetizers like salmon trout with marinated red cabbage, kefir with ponzu sauce, cucumber, and fish mayonnaise, or a seasonal vegetable collection with vegetable jus, black truffle, and lentil brittle, demonstrating the growing focus on distinctive plant-based cuisine. Among the first courses, standouts include risotto with raw red shrimp, shiso oil, cashew cream, and charred spring onion, as well as vegetarian ravioli with goat cheese and leek, accompanied by daikon cream, saffron, sour cream, and walnut oil. Among the second courses, cod is served with creamed cannellini beans, green beans, capers, and grilled lettuce, while the duck offers a play on textures, including roasted breast, leg croquette, Florentine zucchini, and black pepper raspberry.
After leaving Gunè, chef Mirko Margheri seemed destined to leave Italy. But after a stint at Innocenti Wines, he found a home at the Porta Rossa hotel restaurant, where from September he will manage the kitchen with the consultancy of Argentine chef Paulo Airaudo, who already designs the menus at the nearby—just 210 meters away—starred Luca's inside the La Gemma hotel. And Gunè? A few weeks ago, Nicola Langone's restaurant welcomed the young chef Vincenzo Gaeta, a thirty-year-old who trained under chef Giovanni Luca Di Pirro at La Torre del COMO Castello del Nero.
Just a few months after opening, Claris—the restaurant located in the former Harry's Bar on Lungarno Vespucci—is once again transforming its kitchen, entrusting its kitchen to Ivan Mitelli, a young chef from the Marche region, born in 1996. After the end of their partnership with Vincenzo Martella, the Galati family—already active in the Florentine hospitality industry with Villa Tolomei—had initially focused on Niccolò Timpanaro, a chef from Prato, born in 1993, who has worked in Florence and Paris, including a stint at Alain Ducasse's Parisian bistro. He was tasked with overseeing the restaurant's debut, along with a team led by bartender Christian Pampo for the cocktails. For some time now, however, Claris has chosen to take a new gastronomic direction, focusing on a more international profile. Mitelli has experience in some of the most prestigious luxury hotels and restaurants: from the Quisisana in Capri to Cipriani, and the Italian restaurant led by Alessandro Miceli at the Kempinski in Dubai.