The mountain under the cook's command

Michele Lazzarini has embarked on the project of his life, creating a high-altitude cuisine restaurant on a working farm in the heart of the Italian Alps. The mountains were once inhabited by man. He lived in them, and off them, for centuries. Then he abandoned them. Progress lies in the city, it was said, and so the inhabitants of the small rural communities went, leaving behind empty villages and traditions that faded into oblivion.

This was the story of Contrada Bricconi, a rural hamlet dating back to the 1400s in the heart of Val Seriana, in the Bergamo Alps. This hamlet was gradually losing its identity until four young people decided it was time to bring it back to life.

With training in agricultural and architectural restoration, they took back the reins of this enclave to create an agricultural farm focused on agritourism: the animals arrived, they planted, they started producing cheeses, sausages... Until their dream of reviving the mountain began to receive recognition.

Michele Lazzarini went on with his life, but a few years later he decided to visit the place: “The first time I came was mid-December, in winter, with quite a bit of snow. Just arriving, the place impressed me, and even more so when I saw all the work they had done. From there, a friendship was born, and we started talking about the idea of creating a restaurant on the same farm,” recounts Lazzarini, who, in fact, is originally from Gandellino, a village just ten minutes by car from Contrada Bricconi. “It was time to go back home, to fulfill my dream of creating something there.”

No sooner said than done. Michele Lazzarini is leaving St. Hubertus (a three-Michelin-starred restaurant with one green star) and joining the Contrada Bricconi project. “It was a leap of faith because the project is in a valley with few tourists and few restaurants, but I don't regret it at all. The decision was well thought out, and we've worked to reach the level we wanted, and honestly, so far it's been worth it,” he confesses.

Undoubtedly, the challenge was great; the place is located in a valley that was only frequented by a few hikers and mushroom pickers. But the truth is that values are changing – “now people are looking for projects that add value to the territory” – and that helps to make a strong commitment, as they have done in Contrada Bricconi, where they continue to dream, now with “being able to offer accommodation in a few rooms, so that people who come to see us can breathe in the atmosphere and we can explain our entire philosophy to them in detail,” Michele tells us enthusiastically.

Orchard, forest, memories and ancestral tradition

Upon arriving at Contrada Bricconi, the landscape is breathtaking, but the experience doesn't end there. On the contrary, Michele Lazzarini's cuisine is an extension of its surroundings, from the forest to what the estate itself offers.

And indeed, in the Contrada they are almost self-sufficient: “We produce milk, butter, cheese, cream… We also have some farm animals (like chickens, lambs, rabbits, and quail) and we’ve created a vegetable garden that supplies us with produce.” Furthermore, in keeping with their philosophy of restoring the mountain environment, they work with native breeds like the Grigio Alpina cow and in the near future they will begin “the recovery of a mountain pig breed with the breeding of the Suino Nero degli Alpi.”

They are not 100% self-sufficient – “and I don’t know if we ever will be,” Lazzarini admits – but it is something that does not worry them since the main objective is to “give value to the territory in which we are located,” something that is also achieved through interaction with local producers.

“The relationship with local producers is also important because it gives a voice to these small producers who can be rediscovered in our valley,” says Lazzarini, illustrating the interaction by working side-by-side with them, visiting their projects, and inviting them to Contrada Bricconi. “It’s more than a business relationship; it’s growth, it’s friendship,” he asserts.

Lazzarini loves mountain products. We see it in his grilled trout, his pumpkin risotto with saffron and buttermilk, or the Scarpinòcc (a ravioli originating from the Bergamo village of Parre).

But of all of them, what fascinates him most are "those offered by the mountains, their wildest part, the part that hasn't been manipulated by man: mushrooms, wild herbs, wild fruits...". Perhaps his memories of his grandparents going mushroom picking have something to do with it.

“I come from a strong mountain cooking culture, passed down by my grandparents and also by my mother, who cooked in a small traditional village trattoria,” Lazzarini explains to us so that we understand where his cuisine comes from: a daughter of tradition, of his valley and his mountains, but one that he has enriched with his own experiences in other countries.

And with all this, Michele Lazzarini manages to create a cuisine true to the philosophy of Contrada Bricconi: a cuisine driven by passion, vibrant, and a daily challenge. “Here we have problems every day. Our cuisine is in contact with nature, based on seasonality, and that means you always have to adapt. A simple change in the cows' pastures alters the fat content and sweetness of their milk, and that completely changes a recipe,” and that's why Lazzarini and his team are attentive to any changes in the raw materials and how to adapt them to the recipe.

“Here, nature is in charge, it guides us. We don't decide. It's the course of nature, and we have the challenge of showcasing the value of these products,” says the Italian chef, one of the speakers at the 2nd International Meeting of High Mountain Cuisine Andorra Taste, which will be held from September 13 to 15 in El Prat del Roure (Escaldes-Engordany).

And to all these challenges is added that of sustainability, but not only in what is strictly related to the kitchen. For the young people in charge of Contrada Bricconi, sustainability has a very broad meaning, “it refers to the staff, to energy management, to the project itself as an agricultural experience, to the fight against food waste…,” explains Michele, while assuring that “we are on that path, in a global sense, although being so implies working day by day, understanding it and constantly improving.”

It's a path they're currently advancing along with a firm and steady step. Probably because they're people who believe in what they do, love it, and know how to convey that.

Registration is open, you can register for FREE HERE.