Nadia Santini, first Italian woman chef with three Michelin stars, dies

The announcement

Nadia Santini, chef of the Dal Pescatore restaurant, died on Monday, 2 November 2026. The restaurant announced the death on its Instagram page, giving the time as 9.00 and saying she had passed away surrounded by her loved ones. The post read:

“Nadia, surrounded by her dearest loved ones, fell asleep in peace and went up to heaven.”

The message also thanked her for teaching her family moral rigour, work ethic and simplicity. Some reports place the restaurant in Runate, in the province of Mantova, while Repubblica places it in Canneto sull'Oglio. Early reports gave her age as 73, while later ones said 72.

From Vicenza to the kitchen

She was born in San Pietro Mussolino, in the province of Vicenza, into a farming family. She met her husband Antonio Santini while both were students in the Political Science faculty in Milan, and they married on 6 May 1974, when she was 21. Before the marriage she had never cooked professionally. She learned at the family trattoria under her mother-in-law Bruna, and she taught herself without formal stages or specialist courses. A honeymoon trip through France, during which the couple visited the restaurants of leading chefs, shaped the style she wanted to pursue.

Three stars and recognition

Dal Pescatore won its first Michelin star in 1982 and a second in 1988. The third came in 1996, when Santini was 30 according to Adnkronos, and the restaurant kept its three stars without interruption up to her death. Reports describe her as the first Italian woman to hold the top rating, the highest recognition of the Michelin guide. In 2013 she received the Veuve Clicquot World's Best Female Chef title at The World's 50 Best Restaurants awards. Repubblica describes the restaurant as one of the most famous in the world and her husband as a master of the art of hospitality.

Illness and family

Antonio Santini said his wife had lived with an illness for about twenty years, with difficult periods alternating with moments of improvement. He was still deeply shaken by the loss when the news emerged. Santini leaves two sons, Giovanni and Alberto. The restaurant's announcement and the family's words were the first public confirmation of her death.