Niko Romito is the Italian chef behind Reale in Castel di Sangro, a three-Michelin-star restaurant in a 16th-century former monastery in the Abruzzo mountains. Self-taught and originally trained as an economist, he earned his third Michelin star seven years after taking over his father’s trattoria, building what has become one of the most respected Italian fine-dining operations in the world.
Born in Castel di Sangro in 1974, Romito runs Reale together with his sister Cristiana. Reale was ranked No. 15 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants in 2025, and his consulting work for the Bulgari Hotels group brought additional Michelin stars to Shanghai, Dubai and now Paris.
TL;DR
- Italian chef born 1974 in Castel di Sangro, Abruzzo
- Self-taught; originally studied economics in Rome
- Chef-owner of Reale at Casadonna (Castel di Sangro) since 2000 with sister Cristiana Romito
- Three Michelin stars at Reale since 2014; consulting for Bulgari Hotels adds further stars (Dubai: 2 stars)
- Founder of Accademia Niko Romito, a leading Italian culinary school; Chef Mentor Award 2021 from Michelin
Niko Romito key facts
| Born | 1974, Castel di Sangro, Abruzzo, Italy |
| Nationality | Italian |
| Main restaurant | Reale, Casadonna, Castel di Sangro |
| Michelin stars | Three at Reale (since 2014), plus further stars in Bulgari group |
| Style | “Apparently simple” Italian cuisine, extraction and subtraction |
| Notable awards | Chef Mentor Award 2021 (Michelin), World’s 50 Best No. 15 in 2025 |
| Other ventures | Accademia Niko Romito, Spazio, Bomba, ALT Stazione del Gusto, Il Ristorante at Bulgari Hotels |
Early life and training of Niko Romito
Romito was born in Castel di Sangro, a small town in the Abruzzo mountains, in 1974. His father Antonio ran a pastry shop in nearby Rivisondoli, later converting it into a trattoria called Reale. Niko was not drawn to cooking as a child. He moved to Rome to study economics at university and planned a career as a financial broker.
His path changed when his father became ill. Niko returned to Rivisondoli with his sister Cristiana with the intention of keeping the restaurant running until they could find a buyer. When his father died in 2000, Niko still had five exams left on his economics degree. Instead of finishing, he and Cristiana decided to keep Reale and learn cooking and service on the job.
There was no culinary school, no apprenticeship, no famous mentor. Romito taught himself by reading (not celebrity chef cookbooks but classical texts on meat, fish and vegetables), by eating at other restaurants, and by running his own kitchen through trial and error. He has said that his unusual style is a direct consequence of this: he did not absorb the inherited assumptions that come with formal culinary training, so he was free to start from ingredients and work outwards.
Niko Romito career timeline
- 2000: Takes over Reale in Rivisondoli with his sister Cristiana after their father’s death
- 2007: Reale earns its first Michelin star
- 2009: Second Michelin star at Reale
- 2011: Relocates Reale to Casadonna, a 16th-century former monastery in Castel di Sangro; opens the Accademia Niko Romito culinary school
- 2014: Reale awarded three Michelin stars (seven years from first star to third)
- 2014: Launches Bomba, a street-food project based on a traditional Abruzzese filled pastry
- 2016: Launches IN – Intelligenza Nutrizionale, a scientific cooking protocol for hospital catering with the University La Sapienza in Rome
- 2017: Signs consulting partnership with Bulgari Hotels & Resorts (Beijing, Dubai, Shanghai)
- 2018: Opens Il Ristorante Niko Romito at Bulgari Hotel Milan; Shanghai outpost earns its first Michelin star
- 2018: Opens Laboratorio Pane (now Laboratorio Niko Romito) and ALT Stazione del Gusto in Castel di Sangro
- 2021: Awarded Chef Mentor Award by Michelin Guide
- 2022: Second ALT Stazione del Gusto opens in Montesilvano
- 2022: Il Ristorante at Bulgari Hotel Dubai awarded two Michelin stars
- 2023: Reale launches a plant-based tasting menu dedicated entirely to vegetables
- 2024: Opens Il Ristorante Niko Romito at Bulgari Hotel Paris; Laboratorio opens flagship store in Milan
- 2025: Reale reaches No. 15 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list
Niko Romito signature style: apparent simplicity
Romito describes his cooking as “apparently simple”. A dish at Reale might arrive as a single ingredient on a plate (smoked beef, a roasted onion, a slice of artichoke) but is the product of deep research into that specific ingredient, often taking months to develop. The goal is what he calls a centripetal movement: concentrating the flavour, aroma and sensation of the main ingredient rather than adding elements around it.
The constraint that shaped this style was economic. Romito grew up in one of Italy’s poorest regions. The earliest Reale menus had to be built from humble ingredients (onions, beans, pecorino, offal) because that was what Abruzzo produced and what his customers could afford. He turned necessity into a philosophy: the onion became his foie gras, tongue and tripe became luxury plates, and the restaurant’s reputation was built on extracting maximum expression from ordinary material.
The style is also deliberately anti-narrative. Dish names at Reale (Essenza, Assoluto, Verza e Patate, Carciofo) evoke silence rather than storytelling. Romito has said he prefers to let the food itself carry the message rather than wrapping it in memory, terroir nostalgia or cross-cultural narrative, which distinguishes him sharply from most of his three-star peers.
Notable dishes at Reale
A handful of dishes define the Reale signature. The Assoluto di Cipolla, Parmigiano e Zafferano Tostato (a reduction of onion with Parmigiano and toasted saffron, on the menu since 2010) is the single dish most associated with Romito and the clearest expression of his subtraction method. The Verza e Patate (roasted savoy cabbage with potatoes) treats two of the cheapest vegetables in the Abruzzese pantry as a three-star main course. The Piccione Fondente (melting pigeon with pistachio) shows his handling of classical game with a restrained, almost archaeological reduction. And the Bomba, the traditional Abruzzese filled pastry that Romito remade with new dough and frying techniques, became a street-food line that eventually supplied his own Laboratorio for retail.
Niko Romito awards and recognition
- 2007: First Michelin star at Reale
- 2009: Second Michelin star at Reale
- 2014: Three Michelin stars at Reale
- 2015: Performance of the Year award by Espresso Guide (19.5/20)
- 2017: Five Hats by Espresso Guide (renewed 2022)
- 2018: Il Ristorante Niko Romito at Bulgari Hotel Shanghai earns first Michelin star
- 2021: Chef Mentor Award by Michelin Guide
- 2022: Il Ristorante Niko Romito at Bulgari Hotel Dubai earns two Michelin stars
- 2025: Reale reaches No. 15 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants
Niko Romito impact on Italian fine dining
Romito’s biggest structural contribution is the proof that three-star Italian cooking can operate outside the traditional corridors of Milan, Rome, the Riviera and the Alto Adige. Reale is in Castel di Sangro, a town of around 6,500 people in a region that has historically been one of Italy’s poorest and most depopulated. Since Reale’s third star in 2014, the restaurant has become a primary driver of gastronomic tourism to Abruzzo and has anchored related projects (the Accademia, the Laboratorio, the vineyard, the hotel) in the same physical location.
His consulting model with Bulgari Hotels has also changed how Italian fine dining travels internationally. Rather than opening franchises or branded satellites, Romito develops a specific menu grammar for each hotel location while maintaining the Reale philosophy as the research source. That has produced results like the two-star Bulgari Dubai, effectively exporting Abruzzese food-thinking into luxury hotels across three continents.
He belongs to the broader post-elBulli generation of European chefs who treat the restaurant as a research platform and extend their work into education and industry. His profile sits close to Alain Passard‘s single-address purism but extends outward through schools and hospital-food projects, closer in ambition to Rasmus Munk‘s Spora research lab in Copenhagen.
Niko Romito FAQ
How many Michelin stars does Niko Romito have?
Three Michelin stars at Reale in Castel di Sangro, held since 2014. Additional stars through his Bulgari Hotels consulting: two stars at Bulgari Dubai (2022), plus one star at Bulgari Shanghai. He received Michelin’s Chef Mentor Award in 2021.
Where is Reale located?
In Castel di Sangro, a town in the Abruzzo mountains about two and a half hours from Rome. The restaurant is housed inside Casadonna, a 16th-century former monastery that Romito and his sister Cristiana renovated in 2011. Casadonna also includes a boutique hotel, a vineyard and the Accademia Niko Romito culinary school.
Is Niko Romito self-taught?
Yes. He originally studied economics in Rome and had no culinary training before taking over his father’s trattoria in 2000. He learned to cook by reading classical texts on ingredients and running the kitchen by trial and error, earning three Michelin stars within 14 years.
What is the Accademia Niko Romito?
A vocational culinary academy founded in 2011 at Casadonna in Castel di Sangro. It runs a one-year professional cooking course taught by university lecturers, Slow Food experts, and internationally recognised chefs and pastry chefs. The school’s kitchens are adjacent to the Reale kitchens.
What is the Intelligenza Nutrizionale project?
A scientific cooking protocol Romito developed in 2016 in partnership with the Giomi Group and the University of La Sapienza in Rome. It rethinks hospital catering from the ground up, both in menu design and in process, applying the same research discipline used at Reale.
What is next for Niko Romito
A regional law in Abruzzo has now formally recognised the upcoming Campus of Niko Romito Research and Vocational Culinary Academy, a 3,700-square-metre expansion that broadens the school’s reach into industrial kitchens and collective catering. His Bulgari Paris restaurant (opened 2024) is the most recent international addition. Reale’s 2023 launch of a fully plant-based tasting menu suggests the next direction at the three-star level. His official site (nikoromito.com) remains the most reliable source for updates.
