San Brite – Agricucina Cortina D’Ampezzo and Progetto Genesis

Scenario

Climate change is now a major player in our lives, affecting daily habits such as recycling and the way we consume food. The world of catering is also undergoing a slow transformation, fostered by a growing awareness that involves especially modern and younger establishments. In this context, innovation and sustainability are not only ethical imperatives, but also become concrete tools of differentiation for industry players (MasterIN, 2024).

Restaurants play a crucial role in protecting the environment, promoting social awareness and the proper use of food resources. A restaurant that adopts good sustainable practices is often more appreciated, particularly by the younger generation (Zereau, 2023). Indeed, the global food system is among the most polluting, with annual emissions estimated at billions of tons of CO2. It is not surprising, then, that the restaurant industry is being called upon to reduce its environmental impact and promote more sustainable models (Di Palma, 2023).

Description

Chef Riccardo Gaspari, together with his wife Ludovica Rubbini and family, runs several businesses in Cortina: the SanBrite restaurant, the El Brite de Larieto agritourism and the Piccolo Brite dairy. These activities integrate agricultural production and catering, creating a local gastronomic proposal of excellence (Pozzi, 2024).

Gaspari describes his philosophy as follows:

We live next to the forest, close to our cows, we follow the rhythm of the seasons. We started again from the beginning: from the raw material, which must be excellent, without compromise.

The SanBrite restaurant is based on regenerative cooking: everything produced is used in the kitchen, while food waste feeds the animals, avoiding waste (Rubbini, 2020). Unlike many chefs, Gaspari first built his own vegetable garden and farming philosophy, and only later the restaurant, ensuring total consistency between production and preparation of dishes.

The genesis of the project dates back to the El Brite de Larieto farmhouse, founded in 2004 by Riccardo’s parents, Flavio and Giuliana, who transformed a structure in Larieto into a dairy cow, calf, goat, pig and chicken farm. This project provided the raw materials for a simple but curated style of cooking. Later, Riccardo started SanBrite, expanding thegastronomic experience and introducing innovative practices (Tonelli, 2020).

Next to the restaurant is the Genesis project, conceived as a creative and experimental extension. The goal is to reinvent dining by combining art, technology and sustainability through events and workshops involving chefs, designers, artists and enthusiasts. These meetings promote new approaches to gastronomy, enhancing local, organic and seasonal ingredients, reducing waste and spreading sustainable practices. Genesis thus represents a path aimed at setting new standards and ethical goals for the restaurant industry (Rubbini, 2021).

Bibliography