The menu
Balzi Rossi – A Contemporary Tribute to Ligurian Heritage
At Balzi Rossi, the menu is a journey through Liguria – not as nostalgia, but as memory reimagined.
Here, tradition meets fermentation, fire, time and instinct. Each dish is rooted in local history, yet shaped by modern technique, experimentation and a deep respect for raw ingredients.
The kitchen works with wild herbs, smoked fish bones, mountain hay, fermented vegetables, garum, seaweed, citrus preserved in salt, pine, juniper, olive ash and black tea. Nothing is decorative. Everything has purpose, function and meaning.
Seafood is central: red prawns from Sanremo, sea urchins, mullet, meagre, squid, amberjack. Fish is aged, smoked, wrapped in vine leaves, opened at the table, and finished with broths and sauces poured in front of the guest. Each service becomes a ritual, each plate a story told live.
Meat dishes are equally expressive. Fassona tartare with heart katsuobushi, duck lacquered with vegetable molasses, foie gras with black tea and pine oil, rabbit prepared in multiple interpretations – from Ligurian style to pâté, tomahawk and pinoli coffee. Nothing is wasted. Every cut has a second life.
Pasta and risotto follow the same philosophy: Benedetto Cavalieri spaghettone with sea urchins and Taggiasca olives, smoked rice with garcinia and hibiscus, rabbit lasagnetta aged under press, plin that carry the history of the place itself. Technique is precise, but never cold. Comfort and depth are always present.
Fermentation, drying, smoking and aging are not trends here – they are tools of flavour. Garum of pigeon and mushrooms, fermented tomatoes, preserved lemon, lacto-fermented zucchini, sea fennel, wild nasturtium, mountain cheese from Cabannina cows – all form a complex, layered language of taste.
Balzi Rossi is not about showing technique.
It is about emotion, memory, territory and time.
This is a cuisine that does not shout.
It speaks – slowly, deeply, and stays with you.
The wines
Ligurian wines play a key role in the sommelier's wine list. The Ponente region is represented by the most recognizable grape varieties: Pigato, Rossese di Dolceacqua, and Lumassina, while the Levante region boasts the rich agricultural heritage of the Cinque Terre and Vermentino dei Colli di Luni. The main goal is to promote and present Ligurian wine in all its splendor and beauty.
As Ventimiglia is a border town, the study could not ignore neighboring France, the Riviera, the Côtes de Provence, and Corsica. Particular attention was paid to Champagne—a versatile wine that pairs harmoniously with the chef's cuisine—as well as Burgundy and the Loire, which lend additional prestige to the wines with their combination of power and elegance.
