Trapani-born chef brings the sea to the table at Villa Sant’Andrea, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina Mare’s barefoot beachside restaurant Brizza
Villa Sant’Andrea, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina Mare, perched on the pebbled shores of Mazzarò Bay beneath the ancient Greek Theatre of Taormina, began in 1919 as the private summer villa of Cornish railway engineer Robert Trewhella. Encircled by lush subtropical gardens, marble halls and Moorish-inspired décor, the villa has retained the intimacy of a private residence while evolving into a seaside sanctuary. Once a celebrity haunt during the Taormina Film Festival – with guests including Liz Taylor, Richard Burton and Peter O’Toole – it was later taken over by Belmond in 2010. The hotel today features 66 rooms and suites, all with sea-facing balconies or terraces, plus an infinity pool, a private beach club (recently awarded Italy’s finest in spring 2025), wellness and fitness facilities, boat tours, and a courtesy shuttle to the storied Grand Hotel Timeo for when the holiday sandals start rubbing. In spring 2025, its celebrated beach club, Lido Villeggiatura, earned top honours as Italy’s finest, a recognition of its dreamy cabanas, sunrise‑to‑sundown local wellness treatments and views overlooking crystalline Mediterranean waters.
But at the heart of this Adriatic idyll and of all our foody fantasies lies Brizza, the hotel’s exclusive pieds‑dans‑l’eau restaurant seating just 16 guests. Here, Executive Chef Agostino D’Angelo channels his Trapani childhood, marked by mornings spent fishing with his father and his experiences in professional kitchens in England and France, into a menu that blends innovation with Sicilian tradition. In our Questions of Taste conversation, he reveals the genesis of his signature Mosaico – a mosaic of local fish – the way the sea breeze and the tactile warmth of wood and ceramics at Brizza shape his dishes, and what constitutes that elusive “perfect bite”.
What are your earliest food memories?
My earliest food memories are with my family: the Sundays spent cooking and eating all together, but especially the mornings fishing with my father.
How did you get to where you are today, and how did you end up at Brizza?
Passion first of all, ambition, school and early work experiences brought me to where I am today and made me realise how much I love this job. Regarding Brizza, I created its culinary offer thanks to my knowledge of cooking techniques and the experience I gained on an international and national level, also working alongside star chefs in England and France to deepen certain preparations. With time and experience, I have acquired a solid background that has led me to create this restaurant concept in which I can express my attention to detail and the excellence of raw materials in a more exclusive setting.
How would you describe the flavour of Sicily?
Everything around Sicily describes it: the culture, the flavours, the landscape, the excellent raw materials, the smells… especially the scent of the sea and plants during a walk, already in the gardens of Villa Sant’Andrea, A Belmond Hotel, Taormina Mare.
Brizza is an incredibly sensory experience – the sea breeze, wood and ceramics on the table. How does this setting inform the way you cook and the menu?
Brizza, being just a few metres away from the sea has a strong influence on my cooking, it gives me many sea-related inspirations. Everything is curated to recreate a marine effect for an experience to be lived barefoot in the sand. In particular, the tables are illuminated by arched floor lamps made of the so-called “nasse”, the fishing nets that are still used today in the area of Trapani where I grew up.
Not only the setting influences the way I cook, but everything: who I am, my background, my career and my travels. All this has led me to value even more what we have in Sicily and what is difficult to find in other parts of the world.
What ingredient or flavour are you most drawn to right now – something you keep reaching for?
What attracts me most is the explosion and combination of flavours. I am always looking for new visions and new forms of raw material to express myself and communicate to guests through my dishes.
Much of your cooking at Brizza balances innovation and tradition. How do you decide when to stay true to the past and when to push forward?
If there was no tradition there would be no innovation. Tradition is the basis of my dishes, I consider it fundamental. In my dishes I emphasise the marine elements and the typical products of the Sicilian land revisiting them in an innovative way. I look at innovation as a challenge, with curiosity and this leads me to push myself forward.
Is there a dish on the menu that’s particularly exciting, or holds a personal meaning for you?
Definitely the Mosaico, when I created it I thought of a dish in which I could combine as many types of fish as possible, paying great attention to details but without distorting the raw material. Even if the dish may seem simple, it contains all the smells and flavours of Sicily: the Mazzara shrimp, the lemons, the orange, the tuna… all the ingredients describe Sicily through their simplicity and combination.
Do you collect cookbooks, and if so, do you have a favourite?
For the dried fish proposal at Brizza, I was inspired by the books of Josh Niland, who in 2019 invented a technique for aging fish, which is very reminiscent of the drying process that has been done in the Trapani area for years. I also treasure a book by Auguste Escoffier, one of the greatest chefs of French gastronomy, that I found at a flea market in England.
Can you describe a perfect bite?
A perfect bite must excite and to do so, it must have the right combination and balance of sweet, salty, sour, bitter flavours and a mix of crunchy, creamy, aromatic, chewy sensations.
