A cuisine rooted in the land

Meet our Chef · Veronica

There are places you choose. And then there are places that, from the moment you discover them, make you feel as though you have come home.

For me, Cascina Cipressa was one of those places.

I still remember how I felt the first time I walked along the driveway leading to the estate. The cypress trees, the lavender, the olive groves, the silence of the countryside. Even before stepping into the kitchen, I knew that this place had a story to tell me.

And, more importantly, something to help me rediscover.

My name is Veronica. I am a chef, and I come from a farming family. My connection to the land is not the result of a professional choice. It comes from my roots, from childhood memories, and from the simple gestures of people who understand the value of what they grow and know how to wait patiently for the right moment to harvest it.

Over the years, I have shaped my identity as a chef through study, experience, experimentation, and the exchange of ideas. I have learned that truly understanding an ingredient means appreciating its nature, respecting its seasonality, and recognising its potential, without feeling the need to turn it into something it is not.

My cooking is rooted in tradition, but it goes beyond simply reproducing it.

I love rediscovering recipes, flavours, and preparations that are part of our culinary heritage, interpreting them through the knowledge and techniques I have acquired, and giving them a personal, contemporary touch while keeping their essence recognisable.

I do not seek to impress by making something simple unnecessarily complicated. Instead, I strive to bring out its true qualities, because I believe that genuinely understanding an ingredient also means knowing when to let it speak for itself.

For me, seasonality is not a trend. It is a form of respect.

Nature should guide what we bring to the table, not the other way around. And this is precisely the philosophy I want to express in the kitchen of Cascina Cipressa, where the vegetable garden, olive groves, vineyards, and the work of those who care for the land become an integral part of my creativity.

Here, I have found something I had been searching for: the opportunity to be part of a project that truly reflects who I am, to connect directly with the people who grow and produce our ingredients, and to follow their journey from the land to the plate.

But above all, I have rediscovered the joy of imagining, experimenting, and creating.

Because you can also fall in love with a place, an idea, a project.

And when that happens, work stops being simply something you know how to do and becomes something you genuinely love doing.

Today, my wish is for everyone who sits at our table to rediscover the pleasure of honest, heartfelt cooking, made with recognisable flavours, ingredients treated with respect, traditions carefully preserved, and fresh interpretations.

I would like every dish to be an invitation to slow down, to savour, and to take the time to truly appreciate what is on your plate.

Because food is so much more than what we bring to the table. It is the work of those who cultivate the land. It is memory, culture, and sharing.

I did not come to Cascina Cipressa simply to lead a kitchen. I came because I recognised a place where my own roots could continue to grow.

And that is the story I want to share with you, one dish at a time.