The story
In the historic center of Perugia, just steps from the Etruscan Porta Cornea, Ada is the personal fine dining project of chef Ada Stifani. Born in Lecce, Stifani’s passion for cooking was shaped by her mother’s home cooking and her father’s work as a butcher. After moving to Perugia in the 1990s, she transformed her self-taught passion into a profession, opening "L’Officina Ristorante Culturale" in 2006. Now, after twenty years of experience, she has opened Ada—a restaurant that bears her name and expresses her singular vision.
Stifani’s cooking is a fusion of her Salento roots, the flavors of Umbria, and international influences. She describes her style as inclusive and multicultural, a synthesis of styles, techniques, and global references reinterpreted through a strong local lens. The result is a cuisine that is both playful and grounded, a constant interplay between story, sensation, and taste. Her work has earned her a Michelin star, a recognition of the high quality and clear identity of her modern cuisine.
Ada offers two tasting menus. The Menù Percepire (75€) explores themes of time, matter, and origins. Dishes like artichoke with spicy zabaione and blackberries, or leek with smoked butter and porcini mushrooms, demonstrate Stifani’s focus on precise flavors and technique. A Felicetti single-grain spaghetti with root jus, yolk, and chamomile is a signature constant across both menus.
The Menù Storytelling (90€) expands into color, enchantment, and future. Courses include sea bass with capers and foie gras, trout with garum and wild herbs, quail, and a red turnip gnocchi with smoked eel, apple, and dill. A tongue dish with dehydrated fruit, hazelnut, and fig leaf oil, followed by a quince tarte tatin with ginger ice cream, rounds out the experience. Both menus are grounded in Stifani’s personal narrative—a journey between Puglia and Umbria, past and present, that makes each plate feel like a chapter in an ongoing story.
Recognition
Ambience
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