Masters/Fine Dining Restaurant/Le Calandre

Le Calandre

No.31 World's 50 Best 2025 — To

Fine Dining RestaurantshokuninFine DiningItalyMichelin

Veronica's Take

Le Calandre sits in Sarmeola di Rubano, an unremarkable village six kilometres west of Padua, and inside it two brothers quietly rewired Italian fine dining. Max and Raf Alajmo took over their parents' restaurant in 1994 — Max on the food, Raf running the room — and Max went on to become one of the youngest chefs ever to hold three Michelin stars. No.31 on the World's 50 Best in 2025, and the anchor of the Alajmo Group, now twelve restaurants across three countries. What they actually do here is lighter, stranger and more precise than the old guard — saffron risotto dusted with liquorice powder, dishes that read like a dare and land like a thesis. To eat at Le Calandre is to take a bite out of Italian culinary history. Worth the pilgrimage to a village you'd otherwise drive straight past.

dine at Le Calandre is to take a bite out of Italian culinary history. Chef Massimiliano and maî tre d’ Raffaele Alajmo – brothers Max and Raf – took over their parents ’ restaurant in 1994, and over the last three decades, have not only turned it into an icon of gastronomic innovation, but also into the cornerstone of the Alajmo Group, which now includes 12 restaurants across three countries. @alajmo To dine at Le Calandre is to take a bite out of Italian culinary history. Chef Massimiliano and maî tre d’ Raffaele Alajmo – brothers Max and Raf – took over their parents ’ restaurant in 1994, and over the last three decades, have not only turned it into an icon of gastronomic innovation, but also into the cornerstone of the Alajmo Group, which now includes 12 restaurants across three countries.

Accolade

List: World's 50 Best Restaurants · Rank: 31 · Year: 2025