WHO WE ARE
ALICE DELCOURT
From the moment Alice Delcourt entered this world she was destined to experience life from a global perspective. Born in Angoulême, France to an English mother and a French father, Alice and her family moved to the States to live in Chicago and then settled in the hills of North Carolina where she spent her formative high school years. Alice then attended Smith College where she studied Political Science and Italian which included a year abroad in Florence where Alice fell in love with the Italian obsession for excellent ingredients and food. She worked on a boat in Panama and then a law office in New York City before she would eventually return to her beloved Italy in 2004. Landing in Milan, she started out in the kitchens at the Park Hyatt Hotel but then quickly accepted an invitation to train at the notable River Café, a Michelin Star restaurant, in London where she developed an appreciation for seasonality, simplicity in ingredients, and sustainability. Returning to Milan, she continued her training with the esteemed chef Andrea Provenzani at Il Liberty, and then at Alice (a funny irony, as Alice is anchovy in Italian) , with celebrated Michelin star chef, Viviana Varese. She went on to Osteria di Lambrate where she met Cesare Battisti and Danilo Ingannamorte, whom she partnered with in 2011 to open Erba Brusca. Soon after, Alice and Danilo created their own partnership in work and in life and assumed sole ownership of Erba Brusca. Alice has been featured in numerous industry articles and books and has been named Best Chef and restaurant by a variety of worldwide publications. She still can’t get enough of exploring what the earth, tradition and culture have to offer to her brand of cuisine. Her passion for plant forward cooking, seasonality and sustainability has been further supported by the establishment of Orto Brusco, a small farm adjacent to the restaurant, where they grow a broad variety of vegetables and fruit. Each week, at her restaurant, she assesses what is ready in the orto, pairs that with offerings from excellent small, local producers and she develops an inspired menu for the restaurant. Alice enjoys bringing her knowledge, point of view and passion about food to people through the restaurant, her cooking classes and retreats. She also enjoys being at home with Danilo and their twin sons, Lucio and Emile.
DANILO INGANNAMORTE
Born and raised in Milan, Danilo wears many hats as the co-owner of Erba Brusca. Besides being a restaurateur with his business and life partner Chef Alice Delcourt, Danilo is a bit of a renaissance man. He’s a sommelier, farmer, woodworker and builder, businessman and speaker of five languages. He was born in Milan and went to university in Germany and Milan where he studied the Philosophy of Math. Working for most of his life in all aspects of the restaurant and food business, Danilo has a unique insight into the culinary world. In 2009, he opened what’s now one of Milan’s hottest restaurants, Ratana, with his friend Chef Cesare Battisti. Building on the success of Ratana, he opened two other restaurants and eventually, with Alice, assumed sole ownership of one of them, Erba Brusca. He has enjoyed pairing his ever-evolving interests and passions with his chosen career through becoming a sommelier, a norcino ( a certified butcher who can make his own salami), a farmer and a woodworker. Danilo completely restored a fallow plot of land into a bountiful and healthy farm that successfully supplies Erba Brusca and the local community. This transition was the subject of the RAI TV documentary, Il Primo Raccolto (The First Harvest) by film maker, Eric Tornaghi. He is passionate about organic, sustainable and regenerative farming and employs this philosophy daily on his own farm. He loves to share his knowledge of wine and local history and will increase your appreciation for wine and the land at all levels. He is forever learning something new which he immediately puts into practice adding to the richness and quality of the Erba Brusca, Orto Brusco and Gather experience. In his spare time he enjoys playing rugby and spending time with his family.
OUR TEACHERS
A curated community of like-minded talents; we only work with the best minds and hands.
SADIE CHANLETT-AVERY
Teaching yoga for 20 years, Sadie Chanlett-Avery leads restorative experiences in spectacular settings, punctuated by delicious food. Her marquee event is an annual culinary yoga retreat to Italy.
Formerly the in-house yogi at Clif Bar & Co., she was a leader in the employee wellness program and conducted corporate yoga events across the country. She holds a Master of Arts in Holistic Health Education, was named an Athleta sponsored athlete, and has a pile of yoga and fitness certifications in a box somewhere.
With strength training expertise, she blends functional anatomy with asana and activation with relaxation. Tailored to individual needs and the dynamic of each group, her experiences are inclusive, therapeutic, and fun.
AIKO CIMARRUSTO
Born in Japan, Aiko moved to the UK in the early 80’s. At that time, Japanese ingredients were very difficult to source in Europe, so Aiko’s food memories are of her mum experimenting with the products that were available to her. Through trial and error, she recreated the familiar flavors they knew so well. Aiko learned a lot from her mother; nostalgically cooking from memory, she fed the family well. Her mother’s example allowed Aiko to develop her own particular brand of cookery. Aiko’s approach is a mixture of East and West, combining ingredients from her surroundings to produce familiar and comforting flavors. She has discovered that so many of the traditional Japanese and Far East cooking methods can be translated into the Western cuisine by using local ingredients and combining the two styles. A few years ago, Aiko also delved into the world of koji, miso-making and fermentation. Aiko and her husband Davide, a Milanese, moved to Italy a few years ago to raise their two children. Aiko is so happy to have met Alice and to have begun working with her at Erba Brusca. They quickly realized there is a wonderful synergy between them, and Aiko is excited to share her knowledge and expertise!
HARRIET METCALF
Harriet followed her love for food to Italy over twenty years ago and has been cooking here ever since. In 2009 She and her husband , a pastry chef, bought a scattering of derelict buildings and land at the top of a mountain in Liguria, only accessible on foot. Rebuilding the houses, dry stones walls, clearing land and growing most of their own food. They are currently renovating a space to host food courses, workshops and a micro mountain bakery.
