An exciting cuisine, based on a love for raw ingredients and authentic sentiment, just like the love that binds the two new chefs at The Sense Experience Resort, Alessandra Zacchei and Nazareno Dodi – a duo who share both their profession and life – are ready to open the new season of the Follonica restaurant concept located in the province of Grosseto in Tuscany.
At the table awaits an immersive sensory experience that blends the surrounding nature and the territory, in line with the resort’s “Be natural, be You” philosophy. The Executive Chefs fuse their dishes with the flavors of the sea and those of the most authentic Tuscany, to which are added the scents and aromas of plants and flowers from the resort’s park and garden, a space dedicated to the cultivation of different botanical species for a Km0 cuisine.
The Sense Experience Resort, set in a centuries-old park overlooking the beach of the Gulf of Follonica, welcomes to the team two talents who will help confirm the resort’s restaurants as a food and wine destination on the Tuscan coast.
“A cuisine made of ingredients with distinct flavors, in contrast with each other, that joined together create a harmonious flavor,” says Chef Dodi, while Chef Zacchei adds, “Following our line of cuisine, we try to develop the dishes starting from classic combinations, reflective of the region that hosts us, and to enhance, as much as possible the typical and unique products that the territory offers.”
A cuisine very much linked to the territory according to the style of The Sense. Maremma as a territory has a lot to offer in terms of prime ingredients, from the sea as well as the land, and the resort has a botanical garden that with its herbs also inspires the chefs.
This is how the ideas for their dishes come from the reality that surrounds them. “The idea always comes from the inspiration given by one or more ingredients, from a suggestion: tasting them, you may want to build a dish with them, to combine them with something else, or as a challenge when they ask you to revisit a traditional classic,” says Chef Dodi. “So much is done by instinct aided by one’s olfactory memory. Then a smell sensed by chance while walking, two ingredients tasted together by accident can also contribute,” adds Chef Zacchei.
Only excellent prime ingredients enter the kitchen, the best the Maremma has to offer, at The Sense, an approach that also meets the chefs’ own philosophy in creating their dishes: “We try to enhance local ingredients, always starting with top-quality raw materials. To create a dish we choose one ingredient as a starting point, around which everything else then revolves,” they say together. The aesthetic factor is also important: “Before you eat with your mouth, you eat with your eyes.”
The Sense Experience Resort
The Sense Experience Resort 4**** is an exclusive resort in the heart of the Tuscan Maremma: nestled in a 5-hectare natural park by the sea in the Gulf of Follonica just a stone’s throw from the picturesque Torre Mozza area, it overlooks the sea and has a private beach. The park preserves centuries-old plants and trees and is surrounded by beautiful sand dunes, which have been upgraded and fully preserved.
The location aims to offer its guests a totally immersive experience, in contact with nature: the materials chosen for the interiors, the flavors of local products enhanced in the dishes, and the suggestions evoked by the surroundings, create a sensory journey that is summed up in its slogan “Be natural, be You.” The exclusivity of the experience is also guaranteed by high standards, from the environments to the services. The traditional concierge service has been replaced with the Experience Specialist who ensures all guests have a memorable stay.
The resort consists of 5 buildings with 112 rooms including Comfort, Deluxe, Superior, and thematic Suites of different types, up to Two Bedroom Suites with sea view and an outdoor Jacuzzi.
The discovery of the territory continues at the table with the wide gastronomic offer that aims at enhancing raw materials and local products in traditional Tuscan dishes. There are two restaurants: the central à la carte restaurant Dimorà for eating inside or in the outdoor dehor or under an umbrella, or the new fine dining restaurant Eaté, mentioned in 2023 by the Michelin Guide, which is located directly on the beach in a suggestive location. The offer is completed by the Mixology Bar Red Rabbit.