Chef Ciccio Sultano welcomes chef Riccardo Canella to Duomo restaurant in Ragusa Ibla, Italy
Ciccio Sultano is delighted to announce the arrival of chef Riccardo Canella to Duomo in Ragusa Ibla. Riccardo will be joining Ciccio, focusing on the development and research of the menus at the two Michelin-starred Restaurant.
Each year, the team naturally evolves their menus and dining experience, building on the creative force that is Chef Patron, Ciccio Sultano, and his continued exploration of Sicily’s rich culinary heritage, discovering the tastes and flavours of lesser-known ingredients that make up the island’s unique ecosystem. Riccardo will play an active role under Ciccio in the menu development of the multi-awarded destination restaurant Duomo.
The two chefs met by chance during an industry event, and an inspiring collaboration was born. Since then, they have kept in touch, and a synergy has grown between them, resulting in an exciting new creative force. Hailing from Veneto in the northeast of the mainland, Riccardo’s international career has many influences, including his own regional cooking. This will be his first foray into the exciting terrain of Sicily.
Beginning in Ragusa, Ciccio and Riccardo intend to map out Sicily, immersing themselves deep into each area, discovering and rediscovering the bounty of produce found within the many ecosystems on the island. From lesser-known varieties to probably some of Sicily’s most iconic ingredients, some of which are often mass-exported and not as accessible locally. In a move to preserve their findings, they are planning to expand their investigation and research to catalogue each ingredient, its profiles and uses.
The resulting menus will showcase dishes imbued with innovative combinations of flavours that champion not just the island’s finest ingredients but also a reinvention and rediscovery of tastes long forgotten. Examples can be found in the truffle ice cream, prepared with a special variety of mushroom found in the local woods, or the, I feel zesty dessert elevated by the intense citrus character of flowers found on the island.
Ciccio explains, “Each year, we build on our experience of the one before and are always looking to the future. Now, with the impacts of climate change, the time has come to focus even more on what is actually on our doorstep and how we incorporate these ingredients into our dishes. I am delighted Riccardo has chosen to join us on this journey. We are indeed blessed to call Sicily with all its natural resources and incredible producers home.”
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Notes to the editor
Address: Via Capitano Bocchieri, 31
97100 Ragusa – Località Ragusa Ibla
For reservations, please visit the website here.
Instagram: @cicciosultano1
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About Chef Ciccio Sultano
Ciccio Sultano is the pioneer of modern Sicilian gastronomy, chef owner of two Michelin star restaurant Duomo in Ragusa and a true food craftsman. Against a backdrop of uncompromising commitment to the Sicilian region, food and wine, the young Ciccio Sultano’s benchmark was set and at just thirteen years old, he took a part-time job at a local pasticceria (pastry shop), in the town of Vittoria. While he learned how to work with guests, in his free time he began reading gastronomy magazines and books from where he was following the careers of chefs Paul Bocuse, Alain Chapel and Alain Ducasse, teaching himself new techniques. Almost immediately after joining the team at a local spaghetteria, the restaurant became a huge success, with locals hailing the young Ciccio’s take on the menu’s dishes. A move overseas then followed, with a period in Germany honing his meat cookery, before joining the kitchens in New York of the famous restaurateur, author and television host, Lidia Bastianich. He returned to his hometown of Ragusa and in 2000 realised his dream and opened his first restaurant, Duomo. In 2004, the establishment was awarded its first Michelin star, with a second following two years later. Inspired by traditional, simple counters set up by small producers, selling everything from bread, cheese and salami to pastries and wine, the concept took shape, in 2015 he opened I Banchi, a contemporary take on a traditional trattoria, which six years later obtained organic certification for their baked goods and the use of flours from ancient Sicilian grains. Ciccio opened for the first time outside his beloved Sicily in 2018. Located in The Ritz Carlton on Vienna’s iconic Ringstrasse, just walking distance from the famous Staatsoper, he brings contemporary Sicilian cuisine and drinks to Austria’s historic capital city with Pastamara. In 2019, Ciccio inaugurated Cantieri Sultano, a multi-functional extension next to Duomo, operating as an experimental and development kitchen for his chefs as well as a comfortable and atmospheric location where guests of the restaurant can linger pre or post dinner, with an aperitivo or digestivo. Autumn 2021 saw the arrival of Ciccio’s Cucina Educata in Rome, with Giano restaurant, inside the first W Hotel (part of Marriott International) in Italy. The latest outlet, I Banchi di Ciccio Sultano, landed at Palermo Airport in July 2023.
About Chef Riccardo Canella
Italian-born Riccardo Canella began his career alongside masters such as Gualtiero Marchesi and Massimiliano Alajmo. They both imprinted in him the obsessive attention to the raw material: "listening" to the ingredients to discover their true essence. Riccardo spent the seven years of his career working at the three-Michelin-starred restaurant Noma in Copenhagen, starting with an internship, and working his way up to being one of the sous chefs for René Redzepi. He spent the final three years in the test kitchen, part of Noma's creative "beating heart". Riccardo was appointed as Executive Chef for Hotel Cipriani, A Belmond Hotel, in March 2022, sharing his creativity in leading the property's restaurants, including the Oro restaurant. In March 2024, Ciccio Sultano has welcomed Riccardo for the research and creative development of the menus at Duomo.