A Lombard
Family Affair

(Family Business) It’s already past midnight, two tables are still occupied, as she makes her third round. Her back straight in an elegant, flower-covered vest, nothing escapes her gaze beneath her short blonde hair. Later, as her daughter recounts the next day, she will—as always—check the day’s business and the cash register. Bruna Cerea, over eighty years old, is the boss at Da Vittorio and everyone agrees on that. Bruna opened the restaurant on April 6, 1966, with her husband Vittorio. What is now an international gastronomic empire with over a thousand employees and seven Michelin stars began as a small restaurant in the center of Bergamo.

The ambitions were remarkable even then: Vittorio Cerea focused entirely on seafood. That was in the 1960s, a time when inland restaurants typically served pork and lamb rather than branzino and scampi. Although Cerea was a trained butcher and skilled with meat, he had caught the “seafood fever” in Venice and was able to establish early connections at the port of Chioggia, a major hub in northern Italy. He maintained these personal trade relationships even in Bergamo, giving Da Vittorio its distinctive seafood focus—what we would now call a unique selling point (USP).

The two sons who followed in Vittorio Cerea’s culinary footsteps see another hallmark in their parents’ legacy: Both Enrico—the eldest of five children and known to all as Chicco—and Roberto, called Bobo, repeatedly emphasize the Cerea family’s commitment to exceptional product quality, whether it’s vegetables, fish, or dairy. “My father often took me shopping with him as a boy,” says Chicco. “He always said, ‘Chicco, you have to buy the best. It’s more expensive, but that doesn’t matter. People want the best quality.’ For us, the philosophy of using the finest materia prima was always central.”

Bruna and Vittorio Cerea’s children helped out in the restaurant from a young age. “That’s how we grew up: go to school and work, go to school and work,” says Chicco Cerea. And even today, the threads of the now vast enterprise are held by family members: Chicco and Bobo shape the cuisine of the three-star Da Vittorio and all the other restaurants that have been added over time—such as Da Vittorio in St. Moritz, DaV Mare in the upscale Portofino on the Ligurian coast, or DaV by Da Vittorio Louis Vuitton in Milan. Francesco is head of both catering and the exceptional wine cellar at Da Vittorio. Rossella is the hostess at Da Vittorio and the adjoining Relais & Châteaux hotel Dimora, with its ten rooms. She also oversees the globally shipped delicacies line and the in-house academy, which is open to all interested employees during working hours. Meanwhile, Bruna Cerea—the grande dame of Lombard gastronomy, always accompanied by her two poodles—keeps a watchful eye on everything.

Feels Like Home
In Rossella Cerea’s eyes, one thing has remained unchanged at Da Vittorio—the heart of the company—since the 1960s. “The restaurant isn’t just a workplace—it’s our home. Back then, we welcomed guests into our home, and we still do today.”

When the restaurant was still located in the center of Bergamo (the move to the Hollywood-esque estate in Brusaporto, about thirty kilometers outside the medieval Lombard city, took place in 2005), the seven-member family lived directly above it. Rossella’s job as a young girl was to greet the guests at Da Vittorio and take care of their coats. She vividly remembers sneaking upstairs at the same time every evening during service to watch her favorite cartoon series on TV—and how her mother Bruna, as predictably as a prayer, would call her back down: “Lella, where are you?!”

Chicco, meanwhile, often fell asleep at school as a teenager, his head resting on his arms. “I sometimes didn’t get to bed until well after midnight because there was still so much to do in the kitchen.”It wasn’t always easy for him in his youth to give up football, hanging out with friends, and parties in order to take on his role in the family business. However, the heavy workload gave him a head start early on, says the now three-star chef, whose phone rings constantly, and who manages far more than just the flagship in Brusaporto. “My week basically has nine days. I have no problem with hard work. That foundation was laid in my childhood—my father trained me well.”

Bobo still clearly remembers how his father Vittorio would come to the church, next to which he played football with his friends, to fetch him back to the restaurant because his help was needed. “At eight or nine years old, I was one of the dishwashers. I still remember one employee from southern Italy—he was basically my boss at the sink—who was so tiny he had to stand on a stool.”

Gradually, simple prep tasks were added, like chopping onions, cleaning mushrooms, and peeling potatoes. The reason their father assigned Chicco and Bobo to the kitchen, while Francesco was destined for the dining room, had to do with the boys’ physiques. “Chicco and I were chubbier. Francesco, the second oldest, was slimmer and more agile, so he went into service.” Bobo still laughs about that today. As he got older, he became increasingly interested in cooking—especially in refinement. “At fifteen or sixteen, I started inventing my own dishes. I loved the conspiratorial atmosphere in the kitchen and was happy to be part of the team,” Bobo recalls.

The kitchen became his world—and the same was true for Chicco. After finishing school, the two brothers began internships abroad. They went to France, Germany, Spain, Indonesia, and the U.S., where they learned new techniques, ingredients, and creative approaches in Michelin-starred restaurants—whether with the Troisgros brothers, Heinz Winkler at Tantris in Munich, or Ferran Adrià at El Bulli. “Of course, there were also negative experiences,” says Chicco Cerea. “But I’ve always had a strong sense of curiosity. That helped me take something positive—something new—from every place.” Bobo Cerea considers his time in French three-star restaurants especially formative. “In the 1990s, France was simply the place to be for young chefs. I learned a lot there that still shapes our cuisine today.”

In 1978, twelve years after opening, Da Vittorio received its first Michelin star; the second followed in 1996. The founder would not live to see the third: Vittorio Cerea passed away in the very year of the big move to Brusaporto. The openings of the Da Vittorio branches in St. Moritz and Shanghai—both awarded two Michelin stars in 2020—as well as the launch of the more casual DaV restaurants and the founding of the DaV Pastry Lab, all took place after Vittorio Cerea’s era.

Outstanding Service Culture
Like many three-star restaurants located far from urban centers, today’s Da Vittorio welcomes a diverse clientele—although many guests are locals. At one table are fine-dining newcomers who’ve saved up for a special occasion to dine at one of Italy’s most expensive and renowned restaurants. At another are guests who worry neither about money nor old-school manners, and who might be familiar with the helipad behind the house. At yet another table, a regular couple who were here just weeks ago are now served a simple plate of seafood pasta instead of a long tasting menu.

All are greeted by Bruna Cerea, who walks gracefully through the dining room or across the terrace, wishing each table a “Buon appetite.” All are treated like royalty. Da Vittorio is renowned for its outstanding service culture. For those in the hospitality industry, this restaurant is a benchmark. Here, wishes aren’t just anticipated—they’re in action before the thought even crosses a guest’s mind. With the Academy she initiated, Rossella Cerea aims to help her large team perfect such soft skills. She’s the kind of person who can warmly engage with guests in front of her, pick up a napkin from the floor with one hand—before it even knew it was about to fall from a lady’s lap—and with the other hand signal the sommelier, having spotted an empty wine glass at the table behind her with her invisible “eye at the back of her head.” If a phone appears on the table, a light leather case is promptly provided to restore the table’s original, pristine elegance.

Italian DNA, Culinary Magic
Then there are the tiny amuse-bouches: a foie gras “cherry” with sea salt and cocoa nibs, a replica of a green olive in a martini glass filled with olive oil, or a gold nugget of truffled Parmesan cream that melts precisely the moment it touches the tongue. These are placed on the table at first, only to be subtly shifted—seemingly by invisible hands—onto the guest’s plate just as they finish the previous bite. Guests who dine at Da Vittorio for dinner and return the next day for lunch receive entirely different amuse-bouches—naturally. All of this is delivered with a remarkably unpretentious attitude; showy theatrics and exaggerated gestures, common elsewhere, are foreign to Da Vittorio.

With their culinary style, Chicco and Bobo Cerea make it unmistakably clear that their DNA is Italian. Yet guests are occasionally winked at in French or molecular Spanish. One of Da Vittorio’s most famous creations is the Spaghetti di tonno: raw tuna cut into thin strands and served like a pasta dish with a Piedmont-inspired bagna cauda sauce (anchovies and garlic).

For their DaV Mare restaurant in Portofino, the brothers created a colorful risotto ai gamberi that brings Liguria to life on a sea-blue plate and demonstrates how to elevate a simple rice dish to three-star level. The broth is made with chicken and vegetables, and an intense shrimp-head bisque is prepared for drizzling. The vibrant green comes from a freshly crushed basil pesto with Ligurian olive oil, added at the last moment to preserve its color.

The premium shrimp bear the Ligurian designation Santa Margherita; their raw tails are placed atop the risotto, while the heads are pressed through a sieve into the risotto during stirring—forgoing their flavor is not an option. A touch of grated lime zest adds ethereal freshness, a few salmon roe pearls bring a salty sea note, and the essential acidic balance comes from dollops of oxheart tomato foam subtly seasoned with thyme, spring onions, and garlic. A risotto full of exclamation points—visually and in taste. Other courses play with the art of illusion—clearly influenced by Ferran Adrià, who perfected this at El Bulli. When serving what looks like a humble candle stump, the staff suggests making a wish before blowing it out—only for it to reveal itself as foie gras with “wax” made of gelled almond milk.

One dish no guest wants to miss: the legendary Paccheri—giant hollow pasta tubes with a 28-minute cooking time. They’re finished tableside on a cart with a sauce made from three types of tomatoes and Parmesan, and only served after the guest dons a bib reading “oggi sono goloso,” which translates as “today I’m greedy.”

A waiter might suggest this is the perfect moment for a photo with Chicco. One wonders how many Instagram photos exist of bib-wearing guests smiling beside a grinning Chicco Cerea with his arm around them…

The Paccheri are served with bread—per fare la scarpetta. In other words: the sauce is so generously portioned that there’s always enough left to wipe the plate clean with a piece of bread (literally “to make a little shoe”). “The bread is more important than the pasta,” says a waiter with a mischievous smile.

Culinary Innovation at Every Level
For those craving a herbal tea after their meal, a lavishly stocked trolley awaits: this abundance of fresh, aromatic greens grows just steps from the restaurant, thanks to a forward-thinking partnership with the Milan-based company Planet Farms. In 2021, a state-of-the-art vertical farm was opened below the main building—the first custom-built facility by Planet Farms for a restaurant. A full-time agronomist tends to plants like basil, shiso, various cresses, and leafy greens for Da Vittorio, grown in stacked shelves, precisely lit and heated, and watered from below. This method significantly enhances flavor intensity, as evident from the very first leafy bite.

Innovation is also thriving at the Pasticceria DaV Pastry Lab, opened in 2020 just a few kilometers from Brusaporto. This cutting-edge facility is led by world-class chocolatier Davide Comaschi, winner of the 2013 World Chocolate Masters. His futuristic, award-winning pralines are served as petit fours at Da Vittorio, while his single-origin chocolate bars, miniature tarts, and lievitati (yeast-based specialties) fill the display cases of Cavour 1888.

This historic patisserie is located in Bergamo’s medieval Città Alta, a hilltop district accessible by funicular. The Cerea family has owned the establishment since 1994. A few years ago, it underwent a careful renovation that preserved existing frescoes and architectural details. Recently, several hotel rooms were added above the patisserie, offering additional accommodation for Da Vittorio guests beyond the ten rooms at the main estate in Brusaporto.

Da Vittorio Times Twelve Thousand
While guest numbers at Da Vittorio remain exclusive, Francesco Cerea operates on a different scale: he heads the family’s catering division—an essential pillar of the business. “I have to balance quality and quantity. My job is to carry Da Vittorio out into the world,” he says.

Whether it’s weddings, milestone birthdays in private villas, the Juventus Premium Club at Turin’s Allianz Stadium, or major trade fairs in Milan or Shanghai—Francesco thrives on managing the logistics. Lots of people, lots of adrenaline—he loves it. “The dining room was too small for me early on,” he says, miming the act of shrugging off a too-tight jacket. When he recounts an event in Verona where the stove failed on a Sunday and he “borrowed” a nearby hotel kitchen, his face lights up. “A few numbers: Milano Unica, the major trade fair—twelve thousand people in three days. Twelve thousand.”

Francesco often uses the word “scenography.” He sees himself at events as a film director who already has everything visualized in his mind: “the staff, the flowers, the food, the wines,” all orchestrated from a bird’s-eye view. The difference from a film shoot? “I only get one take.” A wedding meal, after all, can’t be reshot.

Francesco’s first love, as he calls it, is wine. The two hectares behind Da Vittorio, which produce the estate’s own wine Faber, are as dear to him as the legendary wine cellar and the extensive wine list at the three-star restaurant. Pages of Champagne, pages of Piedmont. Big names and hidden gems which feel like a revelation. A prominent focus is Franciacorta, Lombardy’s signature sparkling wine. This region—the Cerea family’s homeland—gained tragic global attention a few years ago: the COVID-19 pandemic hit Lombardy, and especially Bergamo, with devastating force. The Cerea family acted swiftly: Da Vittorio prepared thousands of meals daily for healthcare workers and emergency responders, and also provided food packages for elderly or ill individuals unable to leave their homes, Rossella Cerea recounts. “Pasta, sauces, salads—things like that.”

This commitment to Lombardy, alongside their service culture and the ever-present hosts, is one of the reasons why the Cerea family commands such deep respect in northern Italy. Ask anyone with a passion for gastronomy: Da Vittorio is a culinary saint—an institution in restaurant form.