Eating well and in style in Bolzano: Chef Filippo Sinisgalli’s restaurant with vertical garden

Sinisgalli's cuisine is the spokesperson for a made in Italy devoted to enhancing the ingredients of the earth, in a sustainable and honest way, which translates into a controlled raw material, a reasoned menu deriving from a done in first person. Also for this reason, the Chef has installed a vertical vegetable garden inside the restaurant for the hydroponic cultivation of salads and sprouts.

An interesting starting point, to be tasted and observed, which joins the already intriguing architectural scene deriving from the also recent renovation of the interiors, led by the Interior Line Studio. Here, you can dine among the historic original vaults accompanied by a welcoming and relaxed environment.

We interviewed Chef Filippo Sinisgalli to understand what sustainable eating means today and why it is a philosophy not so far from tradition.

What does it mean that Zur Kaiserkron offers sustainable cuisine?

Filippo Sinisgalli: “A cuisine that treats each ingredient with love and enhances its character and flavour. I always try to make reasoned and sustainable use of raw materials, avoiding waste and putting the quality and authenticity of the product first.

I always go to meet the suppliers in person and visit the production locations, often true Italian gems. I use only local products a lot but often combined with products from all over Italy 'at km zero' to be valorised, coming precisely from the regions that produce the best quality for climate, know-how and tradition.

I build an always reasoned menu starting from the supplies. When I think of a dish to include on the menu, I want my choice to be as sustainable as possible. Not only for the supplier who must follow ethical production and breeding practices, but also for the use I make of the ordered product.

I always think about producing as little waste as possible both upstream and in my kitchen. This makes a dish truly sustainable, I would say ethical".

Is your 'waste-saving' cuisine compatible with the heartfelt tastes of the Bolzano tradition?

Filippo Sinisgalli: “Let's start from the fact that traditional dishes save waste because they come from peasant traditions where it was necessary to throw away as little as possible.

I'd say my approach to cooking is very close to this value.

Furthermore, I love the native products of South Tyrol and Trentino and I have discovered exceptional producers from whom I get my supplies regularly. Then I like to combine these local ingredients with an original touch, perhaps Mediterranean, after all I am a man of the South and it is impossible to forget the origins, flavors and products that I have tasted and loved since I was a child".

Vertical vegetable garden: what are the advantages? Why did you choose to have one?

Filippo Sinisgalli: "The introduction of this vegetable garden follows my continuous search for quality ingredients, sustainability and the charm of technology at the service of the kitchen. And last but not least, the zero waste approach that we have always applied.

Hydroponics allows you to have fragrant sprouts and salads, always fresh, with a very intense taste.

They grow from biodegradable pods containing high quality seeds, without GMOs, chemical additives, pesticides or pesticides. Very little water is needed for a growth cycle, we use water from the kitchen, for example from vegetable rinses, to waste even less!

We only pick the quantity of vegetables needed for the day, we avoid using single-use plastic packages and we cancel the CO2 emissions associated with the transport of these products, because they are literally one step away from the kitchen".

What does hydroponic cultivation mean?

Filippo Sinisgalli: "In agriculture, hydroponics is the cultivation of plants out of soil, i.e. without soil and thanks to water, in which nutrients suitable for making plants grow quickly and healthily are dissolved. But we have taken another step forward thanks to technology.

For our vertical garden we relied on Tomato+, an Italian startup based in Brescia specializing in the creation of indoor greenhouses.

This innovative system uses biodegradable pods containing a natural substrate on which the high quality seeds rest, without GMOs, chemical additives, pesticides or pesticides. They are packaged in controlled environments and keep their freshness and germination characteristics unchanged for 12 months.

Advanced software takes care of growing the seedlings, which creates the ideal conditions of humidity, temperature and light, depending on the type of cultivation. After completing the growth and harvesting cycle, the pods can be thrown into the wet along with the roots to go back to being natural fertilizer or ecological fuel".

Does a truly sustainable cuisine necessarily imply a high bill?

Filippo Sinisgalli: “Absolutely not, you just need to know how to choose and have clear ideas from the start so as not to waste, build coherent and efficient menus precisely to make the most of the ingredients. However, it is necessary to make a sort of pact with the guest who must be aware that he will not find certain ingredients in certain periods of the year".

Why, in your opinion, is it still a difficult culture to affirm in Italy?

Filippo Sinisgalli: “Or maybe, it's not. Sustainability and green are certainly trendy topics but there is still a long way between theory and application in some sectors. I believe that in the kitchen of many restaurants there is a high sensitivity to these issues but it is still lacking if one thinks of large numbers, of large-scale distribution, in this case choices and costs need to be reviewed".