It Takes Two

In the culinary powerhouse of Ventimiglia, Italian and French cuisine sit side by side.

- Jaclyn DeGiorgio

Chef Enrico Marmo of Balzi Rossi, a restaurant in Ventimiglia, Italy

ITALIANO, FRANCESE, O INGLESE?” asked my server at Casa Buono, a restaurant in the Italian Riviera town of Ventimiglia. Casa Buono is about four miles from the French border, and this was my first brush with the area’s standard select-your-language tableside greeting.

“Italiano!” I proclaimed, triumphant that I had something to show for my 11 years in Italy. The server gestured toward the menu, explaining that all of its 13 dishes celebrated this multinational region. When Naples-born chef and owner Antonio Buono opened Casa Buono (tasting menus from $145) with his Ventimigliese wife, Valentina Florio, in 2020, he was no stranger to the area. He’d spent seven years cooking at the world-renowned Mirazur, in nearby Menton, France.

The first stop after France’s A8 highway crosses into Italy, Ventimiglia straddles the Roya River as it spills into the Mediterranean. This part of Italy is quintessentially Ligurian: winding cobblestoned streets, Roman ruins, a picturesque shoreline. Given its position near the Côte d’Azur, it’s surprising that Ventimiglia is not better known; most travelers simply drive over the border to have “lunch in Italy.” But with two restaurants, including Casa Buono, having received Michelin stars in the past few years, and a new waterfront development with a five-star hotel on the horizon, I felt it was time for a closer look.

Red prawns and miso at Casa Buono.

French influences materialized throughout my meal at Casa Buono, most notably in a saffron-based preparation of