A Michelin state. Alicante gained two new stars in the 2024 Michelin Guide and was deemed worthy of a total of 17 awards across the state. The new stars are located in the Marina Alta area, and the dishes of both restaurants feature Italian flavors blended with local products. One of the places that achieved this decoration is Casa Bernardi, which Italian Ferdinando Bernardi (former chef of Orobianco, for which he won a star in 2019) opened in Benissa about two years ago and is rising with a new sparkle. current location.
“I am very happy to win this award with such a personal project,” the chef admitted to INFORMACIÓN newspaper. “When I started this adventure, I was clear about where I wanted to go, I left the Orobianco project to realize this personal offer, and the team that accompanied me at that time also wanted to come with me, and this is thanks to them”. So Ferdinando managed to become a star again with a project that prioritized intimacy and familiarity, and on this premise found a new way to show his culinary work to the public.
“To be honest, I was confident that we would win the Michelin star in such a short time because “I know the team I have and what we can do,” the chef says, admitting that he always tries to be a humble person but is aware of “how good we are.” He also thanked his sponsors Carmencita, Tescoma, Garda and Cerveza Turia for their trust.
Two years ago, Ferdinando bought an abandoned barn and has now transformed it into a Michelin-starred restaurant, true to his family’s gastronomic tradition: “Bernardi is my family’s surname. My father worked in a restaurant all his life, and even though he is 82 years old, he is still behind the stove. So I wanted to bring familiarity to this place, which has a cozy room, a fireplace and a dining capacity of 20 people distributed over 7 tables. Casa Bernardi is open until midnight from Wednesday to Saturday, and only at noon on Sundays during the winter months. Therefore it is closed on Sunday afternoons/nights, Mondays and Tuesdays.
“I think we will have a great image representing Italian haute cuisine and signature cuisine. I am sure that Casa Bernardi will have a larger customer base from outside the region, now that it has won this award. This has made us who we are.” put it on the map,” declared the Italian chef. Additionally, understands its gastronomic offering as “true Italian cuisine with 100% Spanish local produce.” Italian. Thus, Casa Bernardi, which has been operating in Benissa for less than two years, has managed to create a different brand by moving away from the Ferdinando we know in Orobianco. “We are professional people with great enthusiasm and we will not stop until we achieve our goals,” he said.
Also next to the restaurant he also created Casa Bernardi Bakery, a stall selling handmade bread made with sourdough using ancient techniques. cold fermentation and organic flour of the highest quality.
Rimini to Alicante
Born in Rimini (Emilia-Romagna, Italy), the chef has gastronomy in his blood and grew up in the kitchen of his father’s restaurant, La Tramontana. He took charge of the pizzeria when he was only 13 years old. Beyond the family business, his professional career began in his hometown of Rimini, at the Embassy restaurant with chefs Emanuele Barberini and Fabio Rossi, and later at the Executive Hotel in Cesenatico. She then lived in Thailand for a year, where she worked as a nutrition educator at Lamsai Pathumthani school. In 2008, he worked as assistant chef at Dolomieu restaurant (DV Chalet, Madonna di Campiglio, Trentino, Italy), which received a Michelin star in 2013.
With the desire to discover new cultures, techniques and gastronomic directions in the rest of the world, Bernardi also collaborated in international projects during these years: At Julie’s restaurant in London; With Naples Chef Agostino Esposito; In Lyon, with Chef Davy Tissot from the Paul Bocuse Institute School of Business, Restoration and Culinary Art; He served as a consultant for Pane Caldo restaurant in Chicago and Moonshadows (Malibu, Los Angeles, Calif.) and recently oversaw the opening of Oliver’s Osteria (Laguna Beach, Calif.).
From 2015 to 2021 he served as Chef de cuisine at the Orobianco restaurant in Calp, where he expressed the idea of high Italian cuisine on Spanish soil. It received its first Michelin star in 2019, becoming the only Italian restaurant with this award.. He also won the Sol Repsol award in February 2020. He is now undertaking his own personal project, Casa Bernardi, in Benissa, Spain, where he won a Michelin star in 2024.