“The contemporary chef has taken the place of the mother,” Pino Cuttaia introduces his new restaurant in Palermo

Uovodiseppia, the restaurant by chef Pino Cuttaia, awarded with Tre Forchette Gambero Rosso and Two Michelin Stars, has now arrived in Palermo. An ambitious project in the heart of the historic centre, on Via dei Candelai, just a few metres from the Teatro Massimo. It was born from the already established collaboration between the chef of La Madia in Licata and the Borgia Group, led by brothers Vittorio and Saverio Borgia. The venue is located within the newly opened boutique hotel Locanda Santamarina, managed by the Gargiulo brothers, who have restored the old Hotel Firenze as part of a regeneration plan for one of the city’s busiest streets—now also a new reference point for lovers of fine dining.

The terrace

A historic dish in the name

“We specialise in hospitality and our clientele is high-end,” says Giuseppe Gargiulo, “therefore, our pursuit of luxury couldn’t fail to begin with a Michelin-starred chef. But this is just the beginning of a much broader project to revitalise Via Candelai, which we envision as a street of artists—understood in a broad sense—made up of excellent workshops, from ceramic makers to wine producers. We are working in this direction to add value to this part of the city, which has a 20th-century feel and a very modern structure.”
Uovodiseppia, named after one of the signature dishes of the two-Michelin-starred La Madia in Licata, is the second restaurant to open following the first venture in Milan with the Borgia brothers. Fifty seats on the terrace and another forty in the panoramic rooftop lounge bar. “Our partnership with Pino Cuttaia,” explain brothers Vittorio and Saverio Borgia, “is solid and successful. For us, this is the completion of a circle: the idea of offering Palermo residents and visitors alike a broad, complete, high-level choice, without ever turning our backs on quality, staff training, and excellent raw ingredients. All our venues offer a kitchen that’s straightforward and without excess. We speak directly to those who visit our restaurants through our dishes, just as Chef Cuttaia does: a contemporary cuisine based on seasonal ingredients that bring together different regions and cultures—just like Sicily and Lombardy.”

Flavours of home

Pino Cuttaia places emphasis on the chef’s responsibility: “The contemporary chef has today taken the place of the mother. This idea comes from the need to protect our gastronomic tradition through everyday domestic dishes. In an age when people almost always eat out, customers need a place where they feel loyal, where they recognise themselves and feel at home. The chef therefore becomes a guardian of tradition, of those domestic gestures that belong to us, of those smells that fill the stairwell on a Sunday; a reinterpretation, yes, in aesthetic terms—but starting from memory. This is how professionals in the trade, who understand the raw materials, make them available by creating simple dishes, accessible from every point of view—because a dish is understood as the result of a supply chain of small producers, and seasonality benefits the seller, the buyer, and the one being nourished.”
Thus, the menu includes dishes that recall the warmth of home: baked anelletti, rice with tenerumi cream, mussels, anchovy sauce and bottarga, or fava bean purée, beef pizzaiola, and the ‘cannolo of the Two Sicilies’.