Nadia Santini, first Italian woman to win three Michelin stars, dies

Nadia Santini, the chef behind Dal Pescatore in Runate, near Mantua, and the first Italian woman to win three Michelin stars, has died.

Her family announced the news on the restaurant's Instagram account on Monday, November 2, 2026, in a statement published in Italian, English and French.

The family, in a post translated from Italian, said: "Nadia passed away peacefully and ascended to heaven, surrounded by her dearest loved ones.

"She left a profound mark on our lives, guiding us toward sensitivity, empathy, and love. We are grateful to her for teaching us moral rigor, a strong work ethic, and simplicity.

"Thank you, Nadia; Thank you Mamma."

Nadia leaves her husband, Antonio Santini, who runs the dining room at Dal Pescatore, and their sons, Giovanni Santini, who now leads the kitchen, and Alberto Santini, who runs front of house.

From a riverside tavern to one of Europe's great restaurants

Originally from Vicenza, Nadia studied political science in Milan, where she met Antonio. The couple married in 1974, and she joined his family's restaurant on the banks of the Oglio river, in the hamlet of Runate in Canneto sull'Oglio.

The business dates back to 1926, when Antonio's grandparents married and opened a simple tavern called Wine and Fish. Teresa Mazzi cooked while her husband fished the river and served the tables. It was renamed Dal Pescatore in 1970.

Nadia learned to cook alongside Teresa and her mother-in-law, Bruna Rubes, whose homemade pasta dishes, including pumpkin tortelli and agnoli in broth, are still at the heart of the menu.

The couple spent their honeymoon in France, visiting the kitchens of Paul Bocuse, the Troisgros family and the Haeberlins, a trip that changed the restaurant for good.

In the history of the restaurant published on its website, Nadia said: "When we got back from our honeymoon we decided to radically transform the layout of the restaurant: greater distances between tables, fewer walls and more windows to privilege a dialogue between the interior and the garden outside, a reading room, and a room where anyone who wants to smoke a cigar, can.

"All this, however, with one strong conviction: to keep Italy in our hearts and in the heart of our dishes."

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Three decades with three Michelin stars

Dal Pescatore won its first Michelin star in 1982 and its second in 1988. The third followed in 1996, making Nadia the first Italian woman to hold three Michelin stars.

The restaurant has kept all three every year since, a run the Michelin Guide describes as a record in Italy. Nadia was on stage with Giovanni at the Teatro Regio in Parma in November 2025 when Dal Pescatore retained its stars in the Michelin Guide Italy 2026.

Her cooking stayed rooted in the Mantuan countryside, with dishes such as risotto alla pilota and pig's trotters with crispy savoy cabbage served alongside the parmesan tuiles that open every meal.

In 2013, she was named Veuve Clicquot World's Best Female Chef by The World's 50 Best Restaurants, and she received the Chef Mentor award in the Michelin Guide Italy 2022.

Giovanni joined the kitchen in 1996, cooking alongside his mother and grandmother, with Alberto joining his father in the dining room in 2000.

"Nadia and her cooking"

Fausto Arrighi, the former director of the Michelin Guide Italy, met Nadia when Dal Pescatore was still little more than an osteria in transition. He paid tribute to her in a piece published by local news site OglioPoNews.

Translated from Italian, Fausto wrote: "Whenever I was interviewed and asked who, for me, was the best chef or the best dish in the world, I had no doubts, the answer was automatic: Nadia and her cooking. Of course, I'm biased, it couldn't be otherwise, but it was the plain truth."

On the Santini family's style, he wrote: "Nothing was ever over the top at the Santini home. The world passed through their doors and took something home with it, in the way of being a family, in the cooking, in the hospitality."

Fausto added: "Thank you Nadia for everything you managed to be in our complicated world of restaurants. I am convinced that you are still there in the kitchen, in your way of being eternal, as all special people are."