Search
Medici Residency
A residence for committed cuisine
Every year since 2022, Villa Medici has invited a chef to take up a residency in culinary experimentation and creation. Each chef is inspired by the culinary and cultural diversity from which he or she comes, in dialogue with Italian and Mediterranean cuisine.
The chef-in-residence designs the menus for the in-house cafeteria that welcomes Villa Medici residents and staff from Monday to Friday, and also composes the lunches and dinners organized for special occasions such as exhibition inaugurations and official meals.
The Villa Medici culinary residency focuses on the challenges of sustainable development in the catering industry, from raising awareness of ecogastronomy and alternative consumption, to zero waste practices and food know-how. Some of the products used in the Villa Medici kitchens come directly from the establishment’s own garden, and all are local, seasonal and sustainably grown.
Composition by Zuri Camille de Souza, chef-in-residence in 2022
Zuri Camille de Souza, chef-in-residence in 2022, in the gardens of Villa Medici
Martin Planchaud, chef in residence in 2023, in the kitchens of Villa Medici
Composition by Martin Planchaud
Compositions by Martin Planchaud
Michelin-starred chef Alexandre Gauthier and his brigade, invited to Villa Medici in 2024 to collaborate with Arturo Franzino, chef in residence.
Composition by chefs Alexandre Gauthier and Arturo Franzino
Preparing dinner at the Villa Medici, 2024
The residents
of this program
CITRUS PROJECT at the Villa Medici
In the 16th century, orange, lemon, sour orange and citron trees abounded in the vast gardens of Villa Medici. Carefully tended by gardeners to preserve their size and taste, citrus fruit supplied Ferdinando de’ Medici’s table, while their flowers and peels could be candied, pickled or transformed into perfumed oils and distilled in the palace’s fonderia. In particular, citron was cultivated for its pharmacological virtues: it relieved fevers and could neutralize poisons.
Between bigaradiers, lemon trees and citron trees, the 7-hectare Villa Médicis gardens now boast over 350 citrus trees, 9 species and 50 varieties. More will join the gardens in the coming months, selected with the best citrus growers committed to Villa Medici’s garden redevelopment project. Citrus fruits inspire gardeners, chefs and artists alike! In 2024, Villa Medici exhibited Édouard Manet’s painting Le Citron (1880) as part of an exceptional loan from the Musée d’Orsay to mark the 150th anniversary of Impressionism. In the same year, double Michelin-starred chef Alexandre Gauthier was invited to cook with Arturo Franzino, chef in residence at Villa Medici, to offer the public a tasting on the theme of citrus fruit.
This ambitious project is supported by partners Amundi Asset Management and Fondation Gerard B. Lambert.
