The director and chef of the META Restaurant are well aware of the trends related to food and wine: in August 2023 the term "sustainability" had a 500% increase in searches on Google in Ticino, becoming what is defined as a trend. Of course, we are talking about a word that has countless declinations and which, unfortunately, is often the excuse to divide us in controversies and discussions, when it should instead unite us, also in consideration of the global challenges we are facing as individuals and as a society. Above all because, sometimes, to better approach an uncertain future it would be enough to look at the cornerstones of our past.

The food sector, in particular that for the production of meat, has an important environmental impact and there are many people who in this period are changing their diet precisely for this reason: the personal challenge of Bellanca - chef of the META Restaurant was therefore to being able to bring these people back to gastronomic restaurants with a charter that does not make them feel at fault, abolishing the word "renunciation" and replacing it with "opportunity". «When I created this tasting journey I realized how the history of Italian gastronomy is made up of many typical vegetarian delicacies, which enhance the taste of vegetables and legumes. I integrated them with some truly exquisite recipes that I discovered on my travels abroad, revisiting everything in a gourmet key, playing with flavors and contrasts."
Here is therefore a menu where the raw materials become the absolute protagonists, avoiding processed products such as seitan and tofu: from the reinterpretation of the cucumber salad with tzatziki, fennel and mint, paying homage to Greek cuisine, to the salmorejo, a typical Valencian soup based on tomato and bread.

A simplicity that is only apparent, but which in reality hides a thousand nuances of taste and a great search for the best ingredients, such as purple carrots or Parmigiano Reggiano Vacche Rosse. But, given that cooking is above all emotion, what surprises is the egg with aubergine foam and onion fondant: a "homage to mother" which is also one of the chef's great classics. «A recipe that my mother always prepared for me and my brother and which takes me back to the past – she says, with a hint of emotion, Bellanca-. It represents the roots of my cuisine, it is a pride for me to present it to our guests in a gourmet context."

Right from the start, the customers' response to the new proposal from the Michelin-starred Lugano restaurant was exciting: «The greatest satisfaction is seeing how many "omnivorous" people try the vegetarian path out of curiosity, breaking down all prejudice and skepticism, and then telling me to end of dinner who absolutely didn't miss meat." «This was precisely our goal: to propose a new vision of gastronomic tasting, which meets everyone's needs – echoes the director of the HALF, Evelyn Mantegazza –. We want to open the doors of our restaurant to anyone, whatever their food choices or intolerances." It is no coincidence that one of the great innovations of the starred restaurant in Riva Paradiso is a reduced price menu, one day a week, dedicated to the under 30s. Because one of the many declinations of sustainability can also be financial.

«I think back to when, as a young man, I began to have a passion for haute cuisine – comments Bellanca -. Going to a starred hotel was a fascinating experience, but also challenging from an economic point of view. I am therefore aware that there are those who struggle to approach this world: we would like to make them understand that not only can it be worth it, because behind the cost of a dish there is research and the work of an entire team, but that it can open the doors to new tastes, new sensations and new experiences that it would be a real shame not to try at least once. And if even just one of them became curious and began to be passionate about cooking, it would be our greatest victory."