The restaurant at Country House Valle Rita

The chef: memory and contemporaneity

The rest is done by our cook, Carmine Chiarelli, who recently turned 25. He bears the name of his paternal grandfather and was born in Acquaviva delle fonti, the city devoted to the fat, red and sweet onion and to its patron saint Sant'Eustachio. The chef's sentimental education is the fruit of the teachings of Michele Rotondo and Salvatore Amato, the cooks alongside whom he learned to select and manipulate raw materials without compromising their flavor and nutritional properties. His are clear dishes, laden with memory and illuminated by counterpoints of acidity but without intrusiveness, like him. Before arriving at work it can happen that he stops by his grandparents' vegetable garden, to steal fresh broad beans and dried figs, and perhaps a visit to the trusted baker in Laterza to plate the dessert dedicated to grandmother Elisa, with Borsci gel and vanilla and coffee ice cream on a thick slice of bread to be licked clean even though it comes last of ten dishes. The rest he draws directly from the immense estate of Borgo Valle Rita, a dwelling of profound quietness, authentic and genuine as only Puglia, sometimes.

Opening hours:
Lunch: 13:00 – 15:00
Dinner: 19:30 – 22:30