Antonio Dal Lago

Casin del Gamba sits in the remote Vicentine Pre-Alps at 800 meters, far from the tourist circuits. Dal Lago's cooking is deeply honest — mountain cheeses, wild mushrooms, game, herbs from the surrounding forest — prepared without artifice but with great care.

Antonio Dal Lago is a self-taught chef-patron of Casin del Gamba, a former hunting lodge at 800 meters in the Vicentine Pre-Alps near Altissimo. His passion for cooking began in his family's trattoria in Castelvecchio, and he has built a restaurant of quiet, authentic mountain excellence that earned a Michelin star.

Altissimo, Vicenza, Veneto, Italy — self-taught; family trattoria roots in the Vicentine Pre-Alps

Career

• Cook at Family trattoria, Castelvecchio, Vicenza (1980s–1990s)
• Chef-Owner at Casin del Gamba, Altissimo, Vicenza (1990s–present)

Mentored by Self-taught; Pre-Alps mountain cooking tradition.