Michela Battistel is an Italian Chef born in Feltre, a small town nestled in the beautiful Dolomite mountains of Northern Italy.
Her recipes are steeped in traditional Italian cuisine, nevertheless her diverse background (her father is Italian, and her mother is South African) influenced a unique mix of flavours and techniques, that pay homage to authentic Mediterranean cuisine with a pinch of anglo-saxon influence.
Michela initially saw in yachting the opportunity to travel and tour the world, but since 2002 boating has also represented the beginning of her new and unexpected career: Michela was introduced to the profession by joining 60 feet Jongert ‘Blue Star’, whose owner’s wife, a true passionate restaurateur, inspired her to become a Chef.
Her first professional yacht experience was originally self-taught. Subsequently while working as Sous-Chef at Unisono Jazz Restaurant in her hometown, Michela enrolled as a working student at M. Alberini Hospitality Management Institute in Treviso, Italy, which provided her an amazingly flexible, yet intense, opportunity to continue her education and graduating in 2013, while not stopping the adventure that has become her career.
Michela considers mealtimes an important sharing experience where food is meant to be simple, healthy and entertaining and the use of local, fresh produce is prepared with knowledge and passion, offering real insight into how Italians eat and feel about food.
Over the last 13 years Michela has worked on sailing and motor yachts as a sole charge Chef and Stewardess, yet now more than ever Michela highly values working in a team and strongly believes she makes a perfect fit for a healthy yacht and crew, where food is an integral part of the experience, from the quality of the ingredients to their preparation.
Food and gastro tourism have always represented for Michela enjoyable inspiration, where pleasure lies in research, sourcing and preparation, as much as in eating.
‘Gastronomy is a communicative discipline with a strong sense of identity that doesn’t need language. Food represents who we are, our culture and society; it feeds our senses and emotions; it binds us together and gives us an understanding of our place in the world and of our relationship to other people. It’s above all an exchange, you cook for someone else’.
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