It’s been a year since Giuliano Baldessari became a Haut de Gamme client, a year of marvelling at his brilliance, his vision, and the unshakable authenticity he brings to everything he does.
The man is an enigma, an artist, and a beautiful but tortured soul who somehow channels all that into one of the most fascinating dining experiences you’ll find anywhere.
His restaurant, Aqua Crua (with rooms), is tucked away in Barbarano Vicentino, a quiet speck of a town about 20 kilometres from Vicenza, and just far enough from Venice to remind you that this isn’t a tourist’s Italy. This is where the real magic happens. Giuliano’s cooking isn’t just food; it’s a manifesto, a deeply personal reckoning served on a plate.
He’s known as “the latex chef,” and yeah, it’s a little bizarre—he often cooks in black latex. But once you get past the spectacle, you realize it’s not some gimmick. It’s his armour, a way to block out the noise and focus on the thing that matters most to him: taste. It’s as raw and honest as it gets, the kind of obsessive focus that only comes from someone who’s walked through hell and made it out the other side.
Aqua Crua isn’t just a restaurant. It’s Giuliano’s sanctuary. A creative laboratory. A place he built from the ashes of personal tragedy and inner demons. The man could have played it safe—he had the Michelin star, the recognition, the accolades, he was a TV star. But he decided to take a risk. He introduced a new menu and three wildly innovative offerings that feel less like dishes and more like chapters in his personal story.
The food? Intense. Authentic. Unfiltered. It’s not just about flavours; it’s about telling the truth, even when it’s uncomfortable. Aqua Crua is a reflection of Giuliano’s soul—beautiful, chaotic, and utterly unique. Every plate is a conversation, an invitation to step into his world, even if just for a few hours.
You don’t come here just for a cosy night out (even if you could). You come to feel something. To taste the kind of authenticity that’s so rare it almost hurts. And that’s Giuliano—vulnerable, brilliant, and brave enough to bear it all, one bite at a time.
As Aqua Crua gained international acclaim and Giuliano Baldessari became a household name through television, he felt a pull—an almost primal need—to reveal the truth behind the curtain. Fame and accolades are seductive, sure, but for Giuliano, they were never the goal. The real pursuit was raw honesty, even if that meant exposing his own madness, his inner chaos. And so, he dared to break the façade. He invited his guests into an experience so deeply personal, so immersive, that it blurred the lines between chef and artist, kitchen and stage, performance and reality.
This ethos—this fearless unveiling of self—is etched into the menus at Aqua Crua. On one side lies the “original” menu, a homage to tradition and foundational culinary techniques, the kind of dishes that anchor you, and remind you where you came from. On the other side? Chaos. Or, perhaps, liberation. Three bold tasting menus—Initiation I, II, and III—escalate from daring to downright transgressive. Each is a step deeper into Giuliano’s mind, a journey where madness becomes the map, and the destination is nothing short of profound: rediscovering balance, stability, and even beauty, through taste.
At the heart of this culinary duality is the Carta Crua, the à la carte menu. It’s the still point in Giuliano’s vortex of creativity—a collection of classic dishes and Aqua Crua’s greatest hits. Here, you won’t find edible films, insect-laden plates, or experiments that walk the line of discomfort. Instead, you’ll find food steeped in tradition, like perfectly cooked pasta in the spirit of Mediterranean simplicity. The Carta Crua is Giuliano’s counterbalance, his tether to culinary discipline. It reflects the tension within him—always oscillating between rebellious transgression and rigorous precision.
But for those willing to let go of convention and embrace Giuliano’s wild side, the three tasting menus are where the real story unfolds. Initiation I is the gateway, an introduction to his world—surprising but accessible, designed to acclimate your palate to his eccentricities. Only then can you advance to Initiation II, where boundaries begin to blur, flavours grow surreal, and dishes challenge your perceptions of what’s edible, what’s acceptable, and what’s good. And then, for the truly brave, there’s Initiation III—a sensory crescendo where the rules collapse entirely. Here, Giuliano strips away comfort and familiarity, pushing guests to confront their own limits. It’s not just a meal; it’s a ritual, a shared act of surrender where unease transforms into revelation.
At Aqua Crua, cuisine is a mirror of life’s complexities—creative, avant-garde, provocatively rebellious and yet utterly delicious. Giuliano pulls inspiration from everywhere: a museum exhibit, a strange pairing tasted in a remote corner of the world or a rebellious thought born of a sleepless night. His approach is unorthodox, fusing practices from other disciplines, collaborating with chemists and specialists, and using techniques that would make even the most experimental chefs take pause. Acidity, retro-olfaction, multisensory stimulation—these are not just tools; they’re his vocabulary, his syntax for rewriting the language of taste.
Every dish begins with the raw materials, the building blocks of his art. Giuliano doesn’t just source ingredients; he studies them and learns their histories and their energies. Game from the forests of Trentino, wild-caught seafood from the Adriatic, wild plants foraged by him in the forests—nothing is touched by a laboratory, nothing is artificial, everything is wild. Everything is chosen with care, not just for its flavour but for its essence and energy.
Aqua Crua is more than a restaurant. It’s Giuliano’s sanctuary. His laboratory. His confessional. A place where the past and its traumas are deconstructed, reimagined, and finally healed, one dish at a time. For the guests, it’s an invitation—a call to step into Giuliano’s world and taste his truth. Whether you leave bewildered, exhilarated, or profoundly moved, one thing’s certain: you’ll never forget it.
Press enquiries: andreja.lajh@hautdegamme.net
