Making Wilden | Alfio Ghezzi

Start again from simple things and revolutionize the way we live. Behind every small cultural act lies a passion. It is first and foremost respect for nature that moves researchers and practitioners close to Wilden.herbals. The common thread that binds them is the desire to see the world with renewed eyes, and this is their story.

Alfio Ghezzi is an artist, in the true sense of the word. And it is precisely from art that he has chosen to start in 2019, opening SENSO, a restaurant that is anything but taken for granted inside the MART museum in Rovereto.
Those who know him know that this is not just a museum, it is a magical place immersed in a geography far from the clamors of the limelight that inspires Nordic thoughts and reminiscences. And Nordic is also the vein of chef Alfio Ghezzi, who at SENSO offers a double menu, strictly of the territory, with a surprise: a “reduced” version of the menu, inspired by the current exhibition in the rooms of the Trentino museum. This is because if it is true that food is art, declining it in the spaces of a museum seems the most natural completion for the result to be a true masterpiece. We interviewed chef Alfio Ghezzi and this is his story.

Alfio Ghezzi in brief: tell us about your vision of cooking.

I think wellness is an extraordinary combination of simplicity, beauty and history of a place like our restaurant inside the Museum. This is where we try to give life to our ideas, to our cuisine because this is where we have found our reference points. Everything we need is encapsulated in these spaces and in the landscapes that surround us, which are essential to bring to life what we want to offer our guests.

The cooking we do is what we like to call La Cucina del Senso born to offer the best quality possible. We observe the seasons conscientiously, we strive to make raw materials travel as little as possible, all ingredients are Italian apart from spices, chocolate, coffee, stockfish and smoked herring, where possible local, sourced from farms that work the land consciously.
We have also developed the same thinking for beverages; we serve mainly wines from artisan winemakers, local beers, infusions, juices from our own production, and fermented products such as kombucha and Kefir.
We are all at the restaurant to give our guests the best possible experience, and we put our hearts into it because that is what we like to do.

Plants and Nature: an anecdote in your life/profession.

I was born and lived most of my life in the mountains, since I was a child I would often experience the mountains either to make wood or to take walks or to collect mushrooms and wild herbs together with my grandmother. The first thing she taught me was to recognizeoxalis sorrel, which she had us pick in bunches of five, hold by the stem and eat, but only the leaves, as if it were a refreshing, thirst-quenching snack.
Nowoxalis, like other wild herbs are often found in our dishes.

How did you discover wilden.herbals?

I met Wilden.herbals through a mutual friend, Andrea Paternoster nomadic beekeeper (go to interview), a person capable of seeing beyond the most obvious things, and a brotherly friend who came to visit us one evening at the restaurant with Nicola [ed. Robecchi, one of the founders of Wilden].

What similarities do you see between your cooking and infusions?

Ours is a simple way of cooking, where the ingredients and scents are easily recognizable, this involves being essential, trying to extract the most out of the taste of the product, and I think this is the same principle as infusions.

When do you feel “Healthy and Wild?”

It is wild everything that is not been “touched” by man and most of the time this ensures a pristine and pure environment. I feel healthy and wild after a few days returning to experience the little-known mountains of my valleys.

Photo © 2021 Alfio Ghezzi
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