Moreno Cedroni at Gastromasa 2026: The Innovative Name of Italian Seafood Cuisine Comes to Istanbul

Moreno Cedroni, one of the names that has pushed seafood beyond traditional boundaries in modern Italian cuisine, has joined the guests of Gastromasa 2026. According to the announcement of the organization, the Italian chef will participate in the 11th Gastromasa International Gastronomy Conference & Fair, which will be held on November 26–27, 2026, at the Istanbul Haliç Congress Center.

Cedroni's visit to Istanbul is noteworthy not only because a Michelin-starred chef is attending an international gastronomy gathering. The chef's career, spanning over forty years, presents a valuable example for professional kitchens due to his approach to seafood processing, raw fish culture, preservation techniques, and the local memory of Italian cuisine. The Michelin Guide also describes Cedroni as one of Italy's most innovative chefs.

A Culinary Language Starting from Madonnina del Pescatore

At the center of Cedroni's career is Madonnina del Pescatore, located in Marzocca near Senigallia in the Marche region. The restaurant opened in 1984 and currently holds two Michelin stars. Cedroni's official website also describes him as a two Michelin-starred chef who brings an avant-garde approach to Italian cuisine.

In the restaurant's kitchen, products from the Adriatic coast, the gastronomic memory of the Marche region, and influences from different cultures work together. The Michelin Guide's evaluation emphasizes that the restaurant establishes connections between local tradition and gastronomic references extending to the Far East.

The remarkable aspect of this approach for professional kitchens is that innovation is not limited to unusual presentations. In Cedroni's kitchen, product knowledge, research, and the re-examination of past recipes are seen as a continuous process. The current menu description of Madonnina del Pescatore indicates that new tools and research are used alongside the recipe archive the chef has built over the years.

Italian Interpretation of Raw Fish with the “Susci” Approach

One of the prominent concepts in Cedroni's career is the approach he developed by moving from Japanese sushi culture, which he calls “susci” in his gastronomic language.

Opened in 2000 in Portonovo, Clandestino Susci Bar became one of the projects where this idea was transformed into a restaurant format. Cedroni's profile shows that this work, which reinterprets raw seafood not by directly imitating Japanese cuisine but through Italian products and his own technical approach, is one of the defining elements of his career.

Subsequent projects included Anikò and Officina. Cedroni developed products focusing not only on the use of seafood on restaurant plates but also on their processing and preservation. The Best Chef profile associates the chef's projects with artisanal fish preserves, sauces, and various preservation practices.

In this respect, Cedroni's career is grounded in a broader context than the often-seen narrative of “creative plates” in the fine dining world. The area of research here also relates to production, shelf life, raw material usage, and kitchen technique.

“Culture & Interaction” Theme at Gastromasa 2026

This year's 11th edition of Gastromasa is organized under the theme “Culture & Interaction”. According to the current program promotion available on Biletix, the organization aims to bring together chefs, investors, academics, F&B managers, purchasing professionals, sommeliers, and representatives from the beverage industry.

The program is planned to host over 60 international chefs, more than 30 baristas, sommeliers, and mixologists, and over 400 local speakers and experts. It is noted that alongside the main conference stage, thematic areas such as Gastromasa Pastry, Gastromasa Hospitality, and Gastromasa Bar will also be present at the event.

Cedroni's announced participation offers a meaningful match in terms of this theme. The chef's career is built on combining the tradition of Italian seafood with other culinary cultures and contemporary techniques. However, without the organization disclosing Cedroni's exact session title and speech content, it is not possible to determine which technical or gastronomic topic his presentation in Istanbul will focus on.

What Can Professional Kitchens Learn from Cedroni?

The first point to note in Cedroni's example is that innovation should not replace product knowledge. On the contrary, new techniques are built upon strong raw material knowledge and regional culinary memory.

The second point is the culture of research. The re-examination of past works as an “archive” in Madonnina del Pescatore's menu approach shows that developing menus in restaurants does not mean generating ideas from scratch every season. Re-evaluating an old product or technique with new information can also be part of innovation.

The third point is specialization. Cedroni's long-standing focus on seafood is one of the examples that show how deepening in a specific product group can provide the chef with a more distinguishable professional identity.

Stafflink’s View

The real value of international gastronomy conferences for the industry emerges not from the appearance of famous names on stage but from the ability of professionals to translate their working methods into daily operations.

In our opinion, two topics in Moreno Cedroni's career are particularly valuable for kitchen teams in Turkey: utilizing international techniques without losing local products and not viewing R&D as an activity exclusive to large companies.

Innovating in a restaurant does not always require expensive equipment or extraordinary materials. Better understanding the product, re-questioning existing recipes, improving preservation techniques, and systematically recording experiments are also parts of kitchen innovation.

Cedroni's meeting in Istanbul at Gastromasa 2026 is therefore not just a chef presentation; it could also be an important opportunity to discuss how tradition, technique, and research can work together within the same system in modern kitchens.