Riccardo MAÏELLO

Chef : 1 restaurant After training under Christian Le Squer and Éric Fréchon, Riccardo Maïello opened Saison in the heart of Dijon, in Burgundy, in the spring of 2024.

Presentation

His delightful accent gives away Riccardo Maïello’s origins: “I grew up in Lombardy, in a small town where my father tended the vegetable garden with great care. No one in my family works in the restaurant business, but ever since I was eight years old, I’ve always known I wanted to be a chef.”

Young Riccardo attended culinary school, worked at the Four Seasons in Milan for a few months, and moved to Paris in 2010 to work as a commis at Trattoria Bocconi on Rue d’Artois (now closed). He then fulfilled his dream by joining the George V in 2011, first in room service and then, after a year, at Le Cinq, alongside Éric Briffard, who was replaced a few months later by Christian Le Squer. He spent nearly four years at this exceptional establishment, where he also met his future wife, who was working in the dining room at the time.

No pizzas at Saison

In 2015, the young couple left Paris’s upscale neighborhoods to work for a year in Milan, first at Andrea Berton and then at the Mandarin Oriental, before an irresistible opportunity arose: to join Éric Fréchon. Back to Paris, first to 114 Faubourg, then to Epicure, the flagship restaurant of the Bristol. Five highly formative years working under the demanding chef from Normandy before heading to Burgundy and the Hostellerie de Levernois, where Riccardo met his future maître d’, Clara Mazoyer. Settling on the outskirts of Dijon with his wife and children, he opened Saison at age 34, in late spring 2024. “My cuisine is primarily influenced by French traditions, with a few Italian touches, of course. But you won’t find any pizza here—even if some misinformed customers are sometimes surprised by that ,” adds the chef with a smile, noting that he works exclusively with locally sourced ingredients out of conviction.