- Written by: Mona Biedrzycka
Yesterday I heard the news: La Rei Natura had been lifted to three Michelin stars, the only new top-tier award in Italy this year. I couldn’t help grinning; the announcement simply confirmed what dinner there had already told me this summer. I do not have to think twice about the reasons. Precision that never felt stiff. Emotions and restraint in the same spoonful. Flavours that celebrate the product and open up further with adventurous, well-judged pairings. The unforgettable journey led by Chef Mammoliti's long study of memory and perception.
My memory instantly took me to the day when we left Torino for the hills. The autostrada gave way to tight switchbacks and vine rows. The Langhe came into view: terraces stitched with Nebbiolo, pencil-straight service roads, hazelnut groves easing the slopes. Bend after bend, the road takes a while, but I could never be bored with those views. After the last one, the view opened: terraced hills on all sides and the Serralunga castle fixed on the skyline. Finally, we turned into Il Boscareto, the Dogliani family’s project – a hotel built among vineyards, gardens and stunning views.
I passed through the internal road, cutting through the carefully designed landscape, to pull into the parking lot. The engine ticked down, and the valley fell to a hush. The walk from the car park was short but required using the lift to take us to the ground level; the glass frontage reflected the meticulously planned greenery right up to the entrance. As I stepped inside, the mood shifted to cosy and calm.
On first look, the hotel showed a little wear at the edges, the sort that comes from use rather than neglect. The rooms were comfortable and quiet, kept in the reddish wood tones, but the view was doing most of the talking.
My room opened onto a balcony over the vineyards; rows of Nebbiolo ran as far as I could see. Hard not to enjoy a glass of champagne on the balcony, taking in the view for a minute before a quick refresh, change, and walking to the restaurant.
Stepping into La Rei Natura, the palette shifted: pale walls, clean, minimalist lines, art on the walls, light underfoot. Built by the Dogliani family so as not to overshadow the vineyards, to keep the resort rooted.
The Chef and the Study
Mammoliti does not hide that it took quite a route to cook like this. He was born in 1985 in Giaveno and grew up in Almese at the foot of the Western Alps, where seasons still set the pace. His route ran through Marchesi’s kitchens at L’Albereta and Il Marchesino, then five hard years in France with Ducasse, Gagnaire, Alléno and Meneau; a spell with Frédéric Lalos sharpened his hands for bread. He returned to Italy in 2014, earned his first star in 2017, and his second three years later. Identità Golose called him Chef of the Year in 2021. In 2022, he took the stove here, and the project gathered speed.
He started with dough and ovens; those early years taught his hands texture, timing and heat. Before the garden, there was gluten. Training ran through Gualtiero Marchesi’s kitchens at L’Albereta and Il Marchesino, then five years in France with Alain Ducasse, Pierre Gagnaire, Yannick Alléno and Marc Meneau; back in Italy, he spent time with Stefano Baiocco. France gave him management and rigour; Italy shaped the flavour and appreciation of product quality. What you meet now is the adult version of that journey: a cook who trusts his method and his people.
His long study of memory and perception, done with Dr Maria Francesca Collevasone, stays under the surface. The point is to nudge recall with scent, temperature and texture. One exemplar from his repertoire is BBQ, a spaghetti cooked in Prosciutto di Cuneo extract that carries the smoke and sweetness of Sunday lunches from his childhood. But more about that in a moment.
Lounge
The welcome was warm, full of playful Italian repartee, a smile, a quick read of our pace, then space to breathe. We started in the lounge: low tables, soft light, minimalistic service kitchen in front of me. Sommelier Alessandro Tupputi started us right away on Brandini Alta Langa Blanc de Blancs 655, a chalk-bright local Chardonnay with a fine bead and citrus–bread-crust lift.
The outline of the menus was brief. Emotion looks at flavour through memory and the useful parts of childhood smells and familiar textures. Voyage cooks what he has lived elsewhere into dishes with their own structure rather than borrowed costumes. MAD 100% Natura unfolds as ten free-form creations shaped by the garden and greenhouse; it is the present tense of the place, written daily. Our dinner was the best of the three.
The first tray set the terms of the night: vegetable charcuterie - first the house vegetarian chorizo with peppers for body, avocado for fat, cured for three to six months and served plain with pepper condiments. Next, a lentil and smoked eel cotechino followed, topped with smoked-eel mayonnaise and a line of horseradish for lift. Modern version of farinata came hot and thin, folded like taco, filled with the cream of chickpeas and a thin slice of lamb lardo laid over the top. A panzanella closed the set, tomatoes, cucumber and onion against shards of crunchy bread.
Alessandro Marcialis, maître d’, has worked with Chef Mammoliti for years and knows where the vegetable world sits in the house logic. Service was lively, not stiff. He kept the room moving with easy reads and quick humour. Glasses stayed topped, and the pacing left our chatty party room to talk.
Dining Room
We crossed into the dining room where tables sat with space to breathe; stemware caught the last of the light; and the vines held the horizon through the glass. Sound stayed soft, conversation travelled, and the service moved quietly.
The first hot plate set the pace. Monkfish arrived in a light, crisp coat, lifted with ume-kōsho, and rounded with a sauce meunière served separately. Soft and warm Focaccia followed, making the meunière sit rounder. Beetroot and raspberry came next. The beetroot had been cooked en papillote, a reduction pulled the root into focus, fresh raspberries gave it a lift, and a light sauce was added to steady the balance between acidity and sweetness.
Septus, the wild asparagus, cut into ribbons, was lightly cooked. Yakitori-grilled lettuce brought gentle smoke, and XO added depth. A spoon of caviar sat on top, and a sauce made from septus tied it together. Tupputi set Paolo Berutti Blanc Mosé 2020 beside it. The wine’s straight, mineral line held the caviar’s salinity and kept the lettuce smoke from overrunning the plant; the asparagus stayed vivid to the last bite.
Chiang Rai: a captivating reinterpretation of Thai papaya salad. A see-through, thin squid veil gave silk; cuttlefish tagliatelle carried the body; tapioca ribbons brought chew; the centre held in a shrimp-head consommé scented with galangal. Lime mayonnaise, chilli paste, coriander and peanut praline drew contrast; heat sat inside the aroma. Tupputi switched to Enos I from Tenuta Montauto, flint and quiet tropical lift on the nose, fresh and savoury through the finish; it brightened the broth and kept the heat legible so peanut and coriander stayed distinct.
The next dish, Total carrot, came as an ode to a vegetable. Three baby root varieties from a garden that cycles fourteen varieties through the year, each bringing a different fibre, sweetness and use. At this time of year, the chef serves White Satin, Jaune du Doubs, and Deep Purple varieties. They were cooked en papillote with herbs and spices, then glazed with oils scented with cumin, garlic and coriander. The leaves were smoked for an extract; elderberry vinegar and elderberry caper pickles tightened the edges; almond yoghurt finished the plate. Perfume and warmth. Sweetness and spices.
Ravioli arrived next, glossed with lamb jus, with pacoras - small lentil croquettes on top. Compact, neat, exact. Tupputi opened Michel Littiere Blanc de Meunier from Oeuilly; it had the breadth to carry the gloss without dragging it heavy.
Finally, the dish I was waiting for, Spaghetti “BBQ”, was brought to the table by Chef Mammoliti, explaining why this dish means so much, while Tupputi kept the Blanc de Meunier in play to reset neatly for smoke and prosciutto.
"It's my manifesto. We're in the field of neurogastronomy, a study carried out over many years with specialists in the cognitive sector that brings to mind, through a dish, distant memories carved into our past. Like a barbecue on a summer Sunday.
In this new, evolved version, this spaghetti by Pasta Mancini, my favourite artisanal producer is served with an extract of Cuneo ham to drink, as well as a hydrolate to spray, a fragrance based on rosemary and thyme to further emphasise the barbecue aroma.
One of the dishes I am most attached to, precisely because it has to do with the most intimate part of me."
Michelangelo Mammoliti
From the Voyage path, Gado-Gado spoke Indonesian by way of sea bass: cooked in coconut oil with coriander pesto, peanuts, fresh coconut, and a shellfish and coriander sauce. The textures stacked; the spice level stayed clean. Batasiolo Barolo Briccolina Riserva 2012 was the most surprising pairing of the night, adding an extra ingredient. Fine tannin combed through coconut and peanut; the age kept sea bass and sauce articulate.
The duck brought a measured flourish: shown whole among herbs and flowers, then returned cut and composed. Skin wore a fine lacquer that crackled neatly; the meat kept a steady density. The line and sauce followed the French school; the shine and finish came from the Chinese. Área Pequeña Rioja Alavesa, Vino de Labastida No. 114, took the place Burgundy would normally sit. Bright fruit and tight tannin trimmed the lacquer and kept the sauce speaking.
A tidy cheese selection bridged the room change to desserts. We finished back in the lounge, near the pass, with quieter light and a soft murmur of the brigade closing their work. Someone laughed behind the glass, a gentle, tired sound you only hear when a night has gone right. A small tamal closed the meal with balance and warmth; mignardises and infusions followed with the same calm assurance as the savoury courses.
Closing the Loop
Mammoliti calls his kitchen natural, memorable and instinctive. I call it “crazy for nature”, where the garden and greenhouse do real work and anything not grown on site is chosen close to home because it belongs. The plate is meant to speak for both the cook, the place and the produce. He told me one line that fits the dining room better than any slogan. “To be a good cook, you have to get your hands dirty.”
After the announcement, I ran the night back, course by course. What stays with me isn’t a single fireworks course but the way everything locks together: garden work you can taste, technique and focus on taste, pairings that widen the flavour rather than decorate it, a young and energetic team dancing in sync in the kitchen, and a room run with human ease. On top of that, a focused, humble and hard-working chef full of brilliant ideas. That coherence is the claim the restaurant makes. That is the standard this kitchen keeps; the stars formalise it.
Practical notes
Address: La Rei Natura, Il Boscareto Resort & Spa,
Via Roddino 21, 12050 Serralunga d’Alba, Italy.
WebsiteTelephone: +39 0173 613 042
Opening days and services: Wed–Fri, dinner 19:30–22:00; Sat–Sun, lunch 12:30–14:00, dinner 19:30–22:00
Services: Vegetarian and vegan tasting menus on request.
Awards:
Michelin: ★ 2017; ★★ 2020; La Rei Natura ★★ 2023; ★★★ 2025
Gambero Rosso 2018 Emerging Chef
Identità Golose 2021 Chef of the Year.
3 knives at The Best Chef Awards.
