By Paola Butera
There are places that embrace and welcome you even before you sit down, where the landscape is not just a background, but part of the experience. Il Custode, a restaurant nestled among the vineyards of the Semonte Winery, is one of these. Here time slows down, the colours of the countryside change with the seasons and the scent of the earth enters the kitchen and exits the dining room, transforming into authentic flavours.
Sitting at the table at the Custode is not just eating, but living a warm and welcoming story. In winter, the large fireplace spreads an enveloping warmth that mixes with stone and wood, creating an intimate and familiar atmosphere. In summer, sunlight penetrates through the large windows, which overlook a carefully maintained garden, bringing the energy of nature inside and giving the room a bright freshness. A perfect balance between rustic and modern design, where every season finds its ideal space and every dish its own exaltation.
Chef Marco Bistarelli knows that good food comes first and foremost from the raw material: carefully chosen ingredients, combinations that are never predictable and respect for tradition, without fear of innovation. His menu is a balance between past and present, between ancient gestures and modern intuitions, always with the aim of enhancing local products. Here, each course is an encounter: with the flavours of the land, with those who work behind the scenes and with a way of experiencing food that goes beyond simple taste. Because at Il Custode you don’t just eat, you discover a place, an idea and a story.
The story of Marco Bistarelli is that of a journey that began within the walls of a hotel school and continued in the kitchens of prestigious restaurants, until it reached its peak with the conquest of the Michelin star. But his relationship with cooking has even deeper roots: it was born in the family, in the restaurant run with his parents and brother, where he learned the value of work, dedication and sharing. Today, after a long journey, Bistarelli arrives at the Custode, a place that is not just a restaurant, but a new family. Here he has found that authentic spirit that has accompanied him since the beginning: the warmth of a close-knit brigade, the passion for the territory, the importance of food as a bond between people.
His cuisine is a synthesis between memory and innovation: dishes that speak the language of tradition, but with a modern, lighter and more refined accent. The suckling pig cooked for ten hours, which becomes crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, is a perfect example: a long and meticulous technique to restore, at the first bite, the simplicity of a recognizable and deep flavour. The same goes for the work on farmyard meats, on less noble but tastier cuts, and on hand-picked wild herbs, which give character to the dishes and tell the story of the territory with genuineness. But the essence of the Custode is also in its products: the family butchery laboratory provides excellent meats, selected with the same care with which the ingredients are chosen in the kitchen. And then there is the extra virgin olive oil, produced with olives harvested on the hills surrounding the winery: a delicate oil but rich in personality, perfect for enhancing flavours without covering them, used both in cooking and as a raw finish.
At Custode, each recipe is born with a very specific idea: to enhance quality without superstructures, to let taste speak for itself. A principle that fits perfectly with the philosophy of the Semonte Winery, with which the restaurant shares a clear vision: cuisine and wine must not only accompany each other, they must recognize each other, support each other, tell each other. A kitchen is never just a chef. It is an orchestra, where every element contributes to creating harmony. At the Custode, this synergy is tangible.
Beatrice Tomassoli, mother of Giovanni Colaiacovo who is at the helm of the Semonte Winery, has been able to transform the restaurant into a point of reference for those looking for quality and authenticity. With her vision, she laid the foundations for the work that Chef Bistarelli carries out today with experience and passion, giving continuity and enriching it with new perspectives.
“Beatrice paved the way,” says the chef, “and I found an environment that was already quality-oriented, with a well-trained team. My task was to bring my vision, without distorting, but enhancing what was already working. The staff responded enthusiastically, welcoming the change as an opportunity for growth.” Working at the Custode means sharing an idea of cuisine based on respect: respect for ingredients, for the seasons, for teamwork. It is a continuous training, a constant comparison between experience and new projects, where passion becomes the engine of every dish served.
2025 will bring important news for the Custode. With the opening of the new rooms, the restaurant will be transformed into a real destination, a place to stay to enjoy an immersive experience of good food, wine and nature. But the real surprise will be breakfast, designed as a slow and refined ritual, a first embrace of flavours to start the day with the same care and quality that can be found on the restaurant menu.
But above all, the Custode will continue to follow the rhythm of the earth. Seasonality is the key principle of Bistarelli’s cuisine: the menu changes with the rhythms of nature, following the alternation of local productions, from pumpkins and cabbage in winter to the first sprouts of spring, from the robust meats of the cold season to the light and aromatic vegetables of summer. Each dish is a child of its time, respected and valued without forcing.
It’s not going to be just a place to eat: the Custode will become a point of reference for those looking for an authentic Umbria, made up of true flavours and sincere hospitality. A place where time dilates and every meal becomes a small journey, a fragment of something bigger: the story of a land, told with the universal language of taste.
Info: Il Custode Restaurant, Via dell’Assino 184, Semonte, Gubbio (Pg)
GUIDED TOURS, PURCHASE IN THE CELLAR
Nicoletta: Tel. +39 339 2310462
RESTAURANT “IL CUSTODE”
Typical local seasonal dishes
Raffaele: Tel. +39 331 3887104
SALES
Patrick: +39 339 6047128