Restaurant
"Welcome to our home!"
This is how Silvio Battistoni and Nicola Cavalieri welcome their guests. And it is here that they offer a cuisine of instinct and passion, varying with the seasons and with a careful selection of raw materials, personally led by the chef, assisted by the sommelier's careful choice of wines, thanks to a well-assorted wine cellar, with a growing number of labels and boasting presences from all regions of Italy.
Silvio Battistoni
EXECUTIVE CHEF
Silvio Battistoni was born in Milan in 1969. When he was young, he decided to follow the footsteps of his father, Franco, a Chef who opened the restaurant “Ghiottone” in Nebbiuno, on the Lake Maggiore. In the early 80’s, he decided to join the renowned School of Hotel Stresa, where he studied under the guidance of professor Albano Mainardi, a pioneer of training in Italy.
After graduation, Silvio interned on the South France coast. He undergoes a training period under the eyes of the famous Chef Maxim at the Hotel Negresco (Nice), at the restaurant Balzi Rossi in Ventimiglia, at the Moulin de Mougins (Cannes) along Roger Vergé side and at the Hôtel de Paris in Monte Carlo with the Master Chef Alain Ducasse. He worked also at the restaurant Al Sorriso, before he became the executive chef at Cafe Le Théâtre in Lausan
Nicola Cavalieri
SOMMELIER
Nicola Cavalieri started as a chef, he also studied at the renowned Hotel Institute Maggia in Stresa and experienced an adventure in Switzerland, where he first met Silvio. Different life events led them to decide to return to Italy during the same period: Nicola on the Lombardy side of Lake Maggiore, in Angera; Silvio on the Piedmont side, in Meina.
They joined forces and decided to open a small restaurant in Ispra: the Schuman, in a charming nineteenth-century house. They began their new adventure in 2000 and, only one year after the opening, they received a Michelin Star, the most prestigious award given to restaurants and hotels. Then, Nicola decided to devote himself to his true passion: wine. He began with small steps: he met producers, attending tastings, fairs, and eventually the School of Sommelier.
After more than a decade, the desire to get involved and the passion that has always united them led them to open the Hotel Colonne Restaurant at Sacro Monte in Varese. Silvio's cuisine, made from the heart and filled with sensations, and Nicola's choice wine cellar are what make every presence at Colonne a mouthwatering experience.