The Michelin Guide 2022 has announced its new stars. Among the novelties of the “Rossa” 2022, the southern Italy today shines more than ever. From Campania to Calabria, these are the southern chefs who have conquered a space in the Olympus of haute cuisine.

What a beautiful fresh air

Just 6 months after opening, Aria Restaurant to Naples got his first Michelin Star with the chef Paolo Barrale: «Such recognition is a source of immense joy but at the same time represents a gauntlet: we must always give our best to make a difference. A bit like it happens with children: there is a specific responsibility to follow them in everything and make them grow in a healthy and diligent way ", commented the young Sicilian chef. The Aria project, signed by the JCo Group, is a goal that Barrale shares with his entire team, from the brigade to the staff in the dining room (and in the family): "From Mario Stellato, my sous chef, to Giacomo who introduced me to the splendid family that is the J co Group, to Ilaria and Maurizio, to Letizia, Danilo, Angelo, Mario R., Luigi and Gianluigi. Thanks to Serena De Vita, our restaurant manager, to Mattia, Marcello, Chiara, Andrea, Mirko and Camilla. Finally, thanks to my friends and customers of all time but above all I want to say thanks to Marina, my only and irreplaceable life partner .

And there are those who doubles

We always stay in Campania, this time with the restaurant Krèsios from Telese Terme, in the Benevento area, which wins its second Michelin star. After the first obtained in 2013, always reconfirmed, the chef and patron Giuseppe Iannotti doubles and consolidates Krèsios among the most interesting gastronomic realities of the moment. “I'm also happy for my kids, whom I let down and who knew nothing. Perhaps this was the hardest thing for me: looking them in the eye and not being able to share all this, ”commented the chef. And he added: "We never stopped, even in the most difficult moments, we never got scared. Rather we have continued with our heads down, with the awareness of having responsibilities and we have continued to do what we know, to create new paths and invent solutions. This is the strength of Krèsios: to undertake unexplored paths and create new routes, when the known and comforting ones have closed. It is the strength of a group that for me is my family. We have cleared customs for a method: finally in Italy you can only do one tasting itinerary, ours is in the dark .

The twist

Surprisingly, the double star arrives without going through the route (i.e. without any mention) also for Giovanni Solofra of the restaurant Three Olives from Paestum (SA) that with tears in his eyes the first person he thanked is Roberta, his wife. Awarded for its sensorial and territorial gastronomic interpretation, for its proposals hyenas of surprises, the fine technique and the minuteness and precision of the combinations, often intriguing.

My Calabria

Going further south, the recognition of the prestigious guide also goes to Antonio Biafora for his Hyle, to San Giovanni in Fiore (CS) which wins its first star. And to think that the young chef has begun his adventure first in the kitchen of the family restaurant, "where I performed the first service during a graduation party, and the second in Caserta, at the kitchens of the Grand Hotel Vanvitelli. As soon as I got there I asked to start immediately, in front of me I had: parsley, potatoes and tomatoes . When the quality is recognized by the basic ingredients and by the skill with which to know how to combine them harmoniously, the rest is only a matter of time.

Fresh from the star too Luigi Lepore of the restaurant of the same name in Lamezia Terme (CZ) which, after the important experiences at the Trussardi alla Scala in Milan, at the Caino in Tuscany, at Il Comandante in Naples, among others, in 2019 began to write a new e, to do so, he chose his home, his Calabria. But with an innovative format, with broad horizons and, at the same time, with firm roots in the material cultures that characterize the territory's identity. Despite the "hiatus" of 2020, he is today celebrating his "coronation".

All the new 2022 Michelin stars in Southern Italy

Luigi Lepore – Luigi Lepore Restaurant

Hyle – Antonio Antonio Biafora

Aria – Paolo Barrale

Giuseppe Molaro – Contaminations Restaurant

Savio Perna – Li Galli

Francesco Franzese – Rear Restaurant

Nicola Somma – Cannavacciuolo Countryside

Fabio Verrelli D’Amico – Marter1aPr1ma

Alessandro Bellingeri – Osteria Acquarol

Stephan Zippl – 1908

Graziano Cacciappoli – San Giorgio

Jorg Giubbani – Orto by Jorg Giubbani

Sergeev Nikita – The Arcade

Richard Abouzaki and Pierpaolo Ferracuti – Background

Emanuele Petrosino – Bianca on the Lake

Fabrizio Molteni – La Speranzina Restaurant & Relais

Alex and Vittorio Manzoni – Osteria degli Assonica

Salvatore Camedda – Somu

Claudio Sadler – Gusto by Sadler

* Young of the Year Award to Solaika Marrocco del Primo, from Lecce

Congratulations!

Opening photo Krèsios (ph Marco Varoli)