Alberto Faccani, an Italian chef and entrepreneur, is partnering up with award-winning sustainable luxury resorts operator Soneva to bring Italy’s two Michelin-starred Magnolia Ristorante to Soneva Fushi in the Maldives. During an exclusive stay from February 1 to April 30, 2023, he will surprise visitors at the resort’s famed fine-dining zipline restaurant, Flying Sauces.

Chef Alberto has always had a passion for cooking and began his career at the Michelin-starred La Frasca and Enoteca Pinchiorri restaurants. Learning technical experimentation from Gualtiero Marchesi and Ferran Adrià, as well as professional raw material management from Massimiliano Alajmo, influenced his culinary style and helped him establish his own path. He launched Magnolia Ristorante in northern Italy’s gourmet area of Emilia-Romagna in 2003, when he was just 27 years old. Magnolia got its first Michelin star in 2005 and another in 2017. It serves unique seafood dishes with strong local origins, imaginative combinations, and outstanding presentation.

He was named one of the “100 chefs who have altered Italian cuisine in the previous ten years” by the respected food and wine guide, Identità Golose, and he is still devoted to raising culinary standards today. As chef and entrepreneur, he is in charge of Magnolia Ristorante and Relais Villa Margherita, as well as the Magnolia To Go idea, which is an itinerant van that combines gourmet cuisine with street food. Chef Alberto’s vision also gave birth to Magnolia Catering, which organizes private and public events around Europe, and his new Ristorante Veranda, which will take pride of place along the Cesenatico seashore and is set to debut in February 2023.

Soneva Fushi’s Flying Sauces will include Alberto Faccani’s trademark approach, which is fully driven by food, produced with outstanding ingredients with no anchoring to history and a focus on the dining experience as a whole.

“Ristorante Magnolia is the realisation of a lifelong dream. It allowed me to express my passion for cooking and to work on other important projects, including a collaboration with Soneva Fushi”, explains chef Alberto. “The sea is part of me. Feeling it close gives me the energy and strength I need. Furthermore, its breeze accompanies me, every day, all the way to the kitchen. This allows me to unleash my creativity through different forms, giving traditional recipes a new and contemporary twist. With the help and support of my colleagues, I can bring my idea of cooking to life in several places around the world at the same time”.

Chef de Partie at Magnolia Ristorante, Sean Conti, will work with chef Alberto during the 12-week Flying Sauces residency. Chef Sean, who hails from Longiano in the Emilia-Romagna area, studied Fine Art in Milan before donning his chef whites and building a career in the culinary profession. Chef Sean blends his understanding of fine art with his passion for food to produce aesthetically spectacular meals. He has vast experience working in Michelin-starred kitchens.

Flying Sauces, which launched in 2021, is the world’s first fine dining zipline experience, replete with an open treetop kitchen 12 meters above the ground. After being safely strapped into safety harnesses, visitors glide over a 200-metre zipline course to an elevated eating platform with views of the island’s rich greenery and brilliant blue sea. Once seated, savor chef Alberto’s unique meal, which is complemented with over 9,000 wines from Soneva Fushi’s huge collection.