Savouring Sardinia: Chef Michele Bacciu’s Culinary Secrets to Long Life

Countless scientists have studied Sardinia’s famous longevity, but to locals the answer is perfectly obvious: it’s their diet that’s to thank.

Chef Michele Bacciu of Hotel Cala di Volpe, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Costa Smeralda’s Le Grand restaurant, a local himself, shares this sentiment. He loves to lead guests from the dining room – with its crisp white tablecloths and elegantly attired waiting staff – out onto the land, where they can witness local techniques and traditions of cultivation. It’s like a peek behind the scenes of Sardinia’s culinary heritage.

Chef Michele Bacciu leads the team at the hotel's Le Grand restaurant. (Photo: Marriott International)

“​​I take clients to our farm and garden, where we pick wild herbs together, visit the chicken coop, collect eggs, and then prepare a menu based on what we’ve gathered,” he explains. 

Guests can also take a pleasant drive along the Costa Smeralda coastline to the turquoise waters of Golfo Aranci, a charming little harbour town where fish for the restaurant is landed. Trips like this add a priceless new dimension to the Le Grand dining experience.

A Blue Zone bathed in golden light

Sardinia's 'Blue Zones' are said to be the result of healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet, such as fresh fish and seafood. (Photo: Marriott International)

For Chef Bacciu, there is no debate about the health-giving benefits of a Sardinian diet. His island is peopled by an extraordinary number of centenarians, all raised and nurtured on the same formula: bountiful fresh vegetables, including a generous quota of beans, whole grains and pulses, fish and seafood. More sparingly: meat (roast suckling pig or porceddu is a local favourite), pecorino cheese and the local red wine called Cannonau.

“In Sardinia, there are areas called ‘Blue Zones’, where people enjoy long lives thanks to their healthy lifestyle and a balanced diet,” he continues. “We try to reflect this approach in our menus. Cannonau wine, crunchy, paper-thin carasau bread, homemade pasta, Sardinian pecorino, dried fruits like hazelnuts and almonds. Then there are health-promoting fruits like persimmons, which we use in a dessert we’ve created.”

The pardulas, a Sardinian tartlets, have been made with persimmons to highlight the seasonal flavours of the island. (Photo: Marriott International)

Maybe that’s why Chef Bacciu is so keen that guests see for themselves where the produce comes from, to better understand and even sense its special properties – how could it not be special, when it’s cultivated under this sun, in this earth, by these hands?

It’s also why visitors are encouraged to visit Sardinia’s Blue Zone villages such as Baunei, Villagrande Strisaili, Arzana, Seulo, Gavoi and Ovodda, all clustered a day-trip’s drive south of the hotel. Here guests may witness for themselves what this produce and this way of life can mean for a person.

A student of Sardinia’s secrets

Chef Bacciu working closely together with his team to bring the most of health-giving benefits of a Sardinian diet to guests. (Photo: Marriott International)

For Chef Bacciu witnessing must go hand in hand with listening. Like countless Sardinians before him, he is receptive to the wisdom of the island’s elders. That the older generation is held in the utmost respect in Sardinia is often identified as another reason that many live so long. And because elders are held in high regard, they are listened to, and so they share their secrets, among which those of long life. And so it goes around.

One of those elders was Bacciu’s own father. “In my family, we’re all cooks: my father is a chef, my brother is a chef. It’s a passion we all share. I grew up beside my father, who passed on this art of cooking to me.” Another who contributed to this gastronomic education was his nonna, who taught him the art of creating culurgiones. This Sardinian stuffed pasta resembles an ear of wheat to symbolise gratitude for harvest abundance.

The culurgiones, a Sardinian stuffed pasta resembling an ear of wheat, taught to Chef Bacciu by his own nonna. (Photo: Marriott International)

Chef Bacciu is also receptive to the wisdom of the seasons. “A chef loves all the seasons because each one allows for the creation of new dishes with different ingredients,” he explains. “That’s why we collaborate with local producers based on mutual trust – they guarantee us fresh and seasonal products.”

His guests, too, bring valuable input. “Our clientele come from all over the world. I hear their needs and try to tell their stories through my dishes. I use Sardinian cuisine as the starting point, but I look for a meeting point, creating new recipes together with them.”

Bacciu describes the perfect dish as a “complete experience” – just like Sardinia itself, where a harmony unique to the island has seemingly cracked the code of a long, contented life. At Le Grand, Chef Bacciu masterfully distils this ancient wisdom into a feast of dishes that honour Sardinia’s unique legacy of longevity. When you follow seabass cooked in a salt crust with a flambé zabaglione dessert, you’ll know you’ve found a very special corner of the world – one you’d like never to leave.

Published: December 01, 2025

Last Updated: March 10, 2026