Chef Massimiliano Sena's New Michelin Dawn at Château de Courcelles

The Italian Maestro of Champagne

In the world of haute cuisine, consistency is the quiet hallmark of true mastery. It’s a craft honed over years, a relentless pursuit of perfection that transcends borders. Few embody this more than Chef Massimiliano Sena.

For eight consecutive years (2016-2024), Sena was the driving force behind the Michelin-starred cuisine at Zurich’s prestigious Widder Restaurant, a bastion of Swiss fine dining. His work, a brilliant and precise expression of modern Italian gastronomy, earned him the coveted “World Italian Chef 2022” title from 50 Top Italy. He was, by every measure, at the pinnacle of his game.

Then, he made the move.

In 2024, Chef Sena took the reins at Château de Courcelles, a 17th-century château nestled in the heart of France’s Champagne region. The move was bold: leaving a city and a country he had conquered to embrace the deep-rooted traditions—and intense pressures—of French terroir.

The result? In the 2025 Michelin guide, Château de Courcelles was awarded a star. It was not a “return” to form; it was a seamless continuation of it. A master, undeterred by a new canvas, simply began to paint.

All4Chefs sits down with Chef Massimiliano Sena for a Culinary Close-Up to discuss this new chapter, the soul of Italian cuisine, and the unwritten rules of excellence.

Culinary Close-Up

The New Chapter: A Star in Champagne

Q1: Congratulations on the new Michelin star at Château de Courcelles. You moved from eight years of consistent, starred success in Switzerland to a new country and a new challenge. Was this immediate recognition a validation, or did you feel an immense pressure to prove your philosophy in the heart of France?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: Of course, it was a new challenge for me, and it was a pressure for doing my best with good pressure! It is something new to live and heartful.

Q2: You are an Italian master, recognized as “World Italian Chef,” now cooking in a 17th-century French château. How does the terroir of Champagne—its history, its produce, its wine—speak to your Italian culinary soul? How do you create harmony between these two powerful gastronomic cultures on the plate?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: I think I was able to adapt my soul to the region and to use all the best local products. The region allows me to renew my inspiration, combining my important and favorite products with local flavors and traditions.

Q3: Describe the new menu at Château de Courcelles. Is there one specific dish that you feel perfectly captures this new “Sena-in-France” identity?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: The langoustine is the perfect match in between Massimiliano Sena’s identity combined with the fabulous vegetables of our local vegetable’s growers. It combines my cuisine with the identity of the Château and the langoustine has always been one of my signature plates.

The Core: The World’s Italian Chef

Q4: The title “World Italian Chef” is profound. In 2025, in a fine-dining world often defined by French technique or Nordic minimalism, what does “Modern Italian Cuisine” mean to you? Is it about ingredients, technique, or something more… a feeling?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: To me, the “Modern Italian Cuisine” is a lot about feelings! Tradition and heritage mean a lot in my cuisine. Why is it modern? Because the aestheticism of the dishes is also very important for me and is also the cuisine trends.

Q5: Many chefs cook Italian food, but few reach your level. What, in your opinion, is the most common mistake or misunderstanding people have about true, high-level Italian gastronomy?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: I think the main problem is that many people want to imitate Italian cuisine without really experiencing it and without understanding its authenticity. Being born in Italy, having lived there and grown up in this culinary environment has allowed me to learn all its secrets. We shouldn’t try to make well-known recipes if we don’t know their origins.

Q6: Who were the mentors or what were the experiences that shaped your uncompromising standards for Italian cuisine?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: My main mentors are Pino Lavarra and Giuseppe Guida. They inspired me a lot and my technic, the simplicity of the traditional Italian cuisine and my taste for the aesthetic come from their shared experiences.

Château de Courcelles- Dining room – Creative by ©Alantreibecq

Château de Courcelles Bar-2025 by ©wearefactory

Château de Courcelles

The Craft: Precision & Passion

Q7: Earning a star is hard. Maintaining one for nearly a decade, and then winning a new one immediately, speaks to an incredible level of consistency. How do you, as a leader, balance that relentless daily precision with the creative freedom your team needs to innovate and not burn out?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: I believe that the secret to success is focusing on achieving a perfect balance of flavours that allows us to recognize the very essence of the product. Rigorousness, passion, and devotion to excellence drive me and my brigade every day.

Q8: What is your creative process like? Does a new dish start with a single perfect ingredient from a local supplier? A memory from your childhood? Or a complex technique you want to master?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: I always start with a very good, high-quality base product. Next, I add a good basic technique that won’t distort the product, and then I draw inspiration from my childhood memories and now from sharing the experience of my 100% local team.

Q9: What is the single most important quality you look for when a new chef walks into your kitchen to join your team?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: Passion above all else, then humility and curiosity! I can’t choose just one!

Château de Courcelles – Suite Marie Louise salon

The Horizon: The Future of Fine Dining

Q10: We are seeing trends like hyper-localism, zero-waste, and even AI-assisted menu development. As a chef at the top of the craft, which of these trends do you believe will actually last, and which do you see as just “noise”?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: For me, the key to having a successful restaurant is to focus on simplicity and taste. Of course, zero-waste and hyper-localism are very important and will last as each product of the terroir is the best. Also, for one product, it is easy to use all parts with broth of sauce for example.

However, AI-assisted menu development is just a noise as it does not replace our soul and passion.

Q11: What is the “secret ingredient” to your success? Not a food, but a principle. If you had to distill your entire career philosophy into one sentence, what would it be?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: Keeping things simple, constantly pushing myself and the team to improve, all without denying my origins—that’s my motto!

Q12: When the Michelin inspectors are gone, the kitchen is closed, and you are at home… what is the one comfort dish Massimiliano Sena cooks for himself or his family to feel connected and restored?

Chef Massimiliano Sena: My comfort dish is pasta, tomato sauce and basil “al dente” ! My son always ask me for this dish each time we see each other after a long time!

The journey of Chef Massimiliano Sena is a powerful lesson in identity. It proves that a culinary voice, when rooted in authentic mastery and an unwavering commitment to quality, can flourish anywhere—from a modern Swiss city to a historic French château. His star isn’t just a guide to a restaurant; it’s a beacon for a chef who knows exactly who he is.

Explore the world of Chef Massimiliano Sena and his new vision at Château de Courcelles.