Aperitivo in Campo

We turned a field into a dining experience.

A format shaped by the land, the season and the ingredients available in that precise moment.

But for us, Aperitivo in Campo started much before the table, the food, the setting and the guests.

I started following Amadeco’s work before moving to Puglia. I was struck by the way they were transforming depleted soil in Salento into a syntropic farm dedicated to regeneration, learning, practice and community.

Their work is based on syntropic agriculture, also known as successional agroforestry: a way of farming that reads the natural strategies of regeneration of each place and translates them into concrete agricultural interventions.

Across 9 hectares, Amadeco works through different plots, from vegetables and fruit lines to Mediterranean aromatics and olive trees, exploring how production, soil restoration, biodiversity and water conservation can be part of the same system.

At that time, I imagined what it would mean to collaborate with them. To be close to a farm that was trying to respond, at its own scale, to questions I deeply care about. How do we produce in a way that gives back? How do we work with nature instead of simply taking from it? How do we create abundance while respecting the rhythm of a place? For a while, it felt very far away. And then, after a year, it was literally a few steps from home.

After two years of meeting, observing, learning, admiring and slowly building trust, together with Amadeco’s team we started shaping what today we call Aperitivo in Campo: a way of bringing people closer to the field, to the ingredients, and to the story behind what they are eating. A moment where agriculture, food, territory and hospitality come together in a very direct and honest way.

Every encounter begins in the field. We choose a specific area of the farm and ask ourselves how that piece of land can become the starting point of the experience. What is growing there? What can be harvested? What aromas, textures, colors or ingredients are present in that moment? How can we turn that into a table, a dish, a gesture, a setting?

If there is sage, we cook with sage. If there are flowers, herbs, fruits or vegetables ready in that moment, they guide the menu. If a part of the farm has a particular atmosphere, we use it as the stage. The idea is to start from what is already there and design around it.

More than 80% of the ingredients come directly from Amadeco’s production. This means the menu changes with the land, with the season, and with what the farm is offering at that precise moment.

The idea is simple: walking through the field, sitting together, eating something that was grown just a few meters away, understanding a little more about where and how food comes from, and who made it possible.

But behind that simplicity, there is also a very intentional process. It means connecting the whole chain behind the experience: the vision of those who designed the project, the daily work of those who care for the soil, the people who cultivate, harvest and select the ingredients, the kitchen team that works with them, the team that builds each setting, the hosts who guide the path, and the guests who complete it by moving through the field, tasting, listening and taking part.

Aperitivo in Campo is a way of connecting the people, resources and decisions behind a food system, and turning what the land already offers into a shared experience with cultural, territorial and human value.