Seasonal Tuscan cuisine, where the land reaches the table untouched.
At Il Sale the kitchen does not seek to transform the land, but to reveal it. Wild herbs, garden vegetables and small harvests reach the kitchen almost without losing their origin.
Every dish is born from what the moment offers, without forcing seasons or expectations: the result is an essential, precise cuisine, where flavours stay legible and every element has a meaning.
Michele Bisanzio, Executive Chef, Il Sale Restaurant
Michele Bisanzio’s journey began in Vieste, in Puglia, where he took his first steps in the kitchen at just 13 years old. From that moment on, cooking became the guiding thread of his life, taking him to work in different establishments throughout Italy, with a period of professional experience in England.
A self-taught chef, he developed his skills through hands-on experience, daily work and exchanges with others. A decisive turning point came when he met Giuseppe Paglia, a chef and still a friend today, who radically changed the way he thought about cooking. Gastronomy evolved from the simple act of preparing something good into a vision, a language through which to interpret ingredients and give meaning to every choice.
His cooking also draws on memory: childhood recollections, aromas and emotions that time cannot erase. Each dish becomes an opportunity to turn a memory into an experience and an emotion into a flavour, through an exploration in which technique and sensitivity meet. Sustainability is a principle Michele has always believed in: not a trend, but a responsibility towards the future. Meeting Francesca, the owner of Il Sale, marked a turning point both personally and professionally, giving him the freedom to fully express his identity, including through his choice of suppliers and his relationship with the local area. Within the project, the vegetable garden and the farm’s botanical heritage have become invaluable resources for his research. The commitment to biodiversity also extends to native plant varieties at risk of disappearing, grown and propagated with the help of farmers who safeguard them, helping preserve an agricultural heritage to pass on to future generations.
His technical research focuses particularly on broths, reductions and extractions, methods through which he explores the depth of ingredients and seeks their essence. His cooking embraces vegetables, meat and fish, with the aim of making the most of each ingredient in its entirety, reducing waste and creating a dialogue between the local area, tradition and contemporary research.
The Seed Menu is one expression of this vision: a gastronomic journey that explores the seed as the origin of life, a symbol of biodiversity and a starting point for new culinary interpretations.
Michele Bisanzio’s journey is that of a cook who learned his craft through experience and who, through formative encounters, memory and research, transformed his profession into a way of interpreting the world. Because a dish is not simply something to taste: it can become a memory to relive, an emotion to share and an act of responsibility towards the future.
Sustainability is not a choice, but a responsibility for the future
Between sea and hills, Il Sale is the panoramic restaurant of Poggio ai Santi. Chef Michele’s kitchen follows the land: it gathers, waits and composes, letting the seasons guide the menu.
Ingredients are not simply chosen: they are followed. It is a way of working that asks for attention more than intervention, where simplicity is not an aesthetic choice but the consequence of being close to the origin.
Dinner becomes a quiet experience of discovery, where the bond between land and plate stays intact and nothing feels excessive.
You dine overlooking the landscape: the terrace watches the hills roll down towards the sea, while the room keeps the vintage, curious soul of Poggio.
From the slow morning breakfast to dinner at sunset, time stretches here. A close-knit team accompanies every service with the same care the kitchen devotes to the land.
Book your table at Il Sale
Sunset dinners and lunches with a view, between garden, sea and hills
BOOK YOUR TABLEPoggio ai Santi lives in a landscape where sea, hills and light meet in a silent balance.
Between the Tuscan countryside and the coast, Poggio is at once open and protected: a place shaped by natural beauty, by soft horizons and by a rare sense of refined calm.