Awe-inspiring Apulia
Rice, olive oil, and tomatoes. Cacioricotta cheese and fresh arugula. Spaghetti with fava beans. A wooden tray laden with different kinds of bread encircled by small bowls filled with redolent vegetable and herb sauces. Dainty hand-shaped orecchiette in a sauce made by combining three different kinds of tomato.
That’s what Domenico, aka “Domingo”, Schingaro likes to make: superbly simple (and simply superb) dishes that showcase Apulia’s glorious products. Recipes with a heart, to be stylishly served in refined, innately elegant premises.
Welcome to Restaurant Due Camini, where hearty flavors and exquisite aromas carry scents of the Apulian sea, fields, and olive oil groves. Welcome to Domingo Schingaro’s balmy kitchen, where the rich local gastronomic legacy is revamped and magnificently set off by white-washed stone walls, soft lighting, hand-crafted ceramics, and natural-hued fabrics.
Every single detail of Restaurant Due Camini, each fragrant dish created by 37-year-old Michelin-star chef Domingo Schingaro, embodies Apulia, and makes you wish you could stay forever.
Restaurant Due Camini rises within the breathtakingly beautiful Borgo Egnazia, one of the world’s most outstanding resorts, in the surroundings of Fasano, Brindisi, at a brief drive from the crystal clear sea and surrounded by the mammoth olive trees that yield the area’s celebrated olive oil.
Built to mirror the graceful allure of the area’s traditional villages, this dazzling luxury resort boasts essential architectural features that echo those of Apulia’s ancient sprawling farmhouses, the evocative masserie, and perfectly reproduces the graceful appeal and peaceful ambiance of countryside life. Privacy, tranquility, simplicity, innate elegance and gentility are everywhere at Borgo Egnazia, and every detail and service, from the manicured grounds to the soft-stepped staff from the exclusive Vair Spa treatments, to the flawlessly equipped private beaches and freshly baked loaves for breakfast, is fine-tuned to provide guests with the utmost comfort and wellbeing.
Aiming to meet, and surpass, its discerning guests’ expectations alongside world-class hospitality, breathtakingly beautiful premises, finely appointed guestrooms and suites, and genuine Apulian experiences, Borgo Egnazia offers its guests an exceptional culinary experience thanks to the genius and capability of a chef like no other.
Domingo Schingaro is the creative mind and beating heart behind the mesmerizing dishes of the celebrated Due Camini Restaurant, as well as the commander in chief of the resort’s amazing flotilla of five other restaurants.
It all started in 1980, when Domenico, “Domingo” for his friends, was born in lively seafront Bari. Growing up among the boats and fishing nets alongside his father, a sea-urchin fisherman, and spending time in the kitchen with his mother Rosa, Domingo fell in love with his region’s products and natural environment and soon realized his place was behind the stove. Only in the kitchen, he figured, could he use his passion and flair to enhance Apulia’s flavors and unveil their hidden potential.
After obtaining his degree in hospitality, Domingo set off to practice his training at the restaurant of Grosvenor House Le Meridien in London, and then perfected his technique working in other prestigious hotels throughout Europe. Once back in Italy, he joined the kitchen crew of the legendary “Antico Buoi Rossi” restaurant, and later managed the restaurant’s new edition, “I Due Buoi”, together with eclectic Piedmontese chef Andrea Ribaldone.
In 2015 the gifted duo earned Alessandria’s most famous restaurant its first Michelin-star, and embarked on a new adventure: Resident Chefs in charge at the Milan Expo’s “Identità Expo San Pellegrino” restaurant.
Notwithstanding his plethora of world-acclaimed successes, Domingo’s mind often lingered on memories of the deep blue sea, and his heart longed for the scents, vegetables and sunshine of his Apulia. Destiny was on his side, evidently, because in January 2016 he finally traveled back home, as Executive Chef of Borgo Egnazia, where he was lately awarded his second Michelin-star.
Passionate about his motherland, its products and his kitchen, Domingo is a one-of-a-kind young chef whose irresistible dishes blend simplicity with ingenuity telling an ever-fascinating tale about Apulia’s people, their heritage, and traditions.
Each dish stems from authenticity, and local typical products, especially the seafood and fresh produce, are the stars “We’re lucky here, at Borgo Egnazia” Domingo Schingaro loves to say “because this ruddy red soil is so generous, and there’s space enough for us to grow most of the produce and aromatic herbs I need, as well as premium Senatore Cappelli wheat, an ancient sweet-scented variety that adds a unique aroma to many of my recipes”
There’s no flaunting, no bragging, no “out-of-the-ordinary” premium product in Schingaro’s cuisine, every single ingredient is Apulian, home-produced or chosen among those locally produced by small independent producers, and the finest one can find.
Fresh seasonal vegetables from indigenous varieties home-grown using sustainable farming techniques in Borgo Egnazia’s vegetable garden or in the other gardens of the San Domenico group. Locally caught fish and seafood, very often hand-picked by the chef himself. Strictly Apulian cheeses and meats meticulously chosen from the best and most reliable small local producers. And wild greens, foraged in the fields by Domingo himself whenever he has some time to spare.
On the stove, Schingaro uses every single bit of his select premium ingredients, keeping one eye on sustainable cooking practices, and another on Apulian tradition. Thus, his genius and long-practiced finesse create superb no-waste typical delicacies with a contemporary twist, like the dazzling “cod, cialledda and oregano” the chef’s vision of traditional “cialledda”.
Mediterranean color, surprising flavors, and heartfelt heritage. Creativity, artistry, and soul-satisfying aromas. Stemming from childhood memories, and deeply rooted in Apulia’s rich soil and transparent sea waters, Domingo Schingaro’s menus provide an inspiring taste of Apulia.
