Antonia Klugmann

Antonia is one of the leading lights of the new wave of female Italian chefs, and her recipes and dishes testify to this. Without turning her back on tradition, Antonia creates and serves innovative, sophisticated dishes that are sumptuous in their simplicity, whose flavours reflect her very unique and personal style.

And her restaurant is a veritable gem, on the banks of a torrent immersed in the vineyards of the Gorizia Hills. It caresses the soul. The chef that interprets the sweet nature of the Gorizia Hills, Antonia Klugmann was born in Trieste in 1979. After high school, she began studying law at university, but dropped out after three years to pursue a career as a chef. After working in a number of restaurants in Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia, at the age of 27 she opened the Antico Foledor Conte restaurant in Lovaria, Udine province, in 2006. Starting in 2012 she worked in Venice as a chef, first at Ristorante Il Ridotto and later at the Michelin-starred restaurant Venissa.

At the end of 2014 she opened L’Argine a Vencò, in Dolegna del Collio in Gorizia province, a few kilometres from the border with Slovenia. Ever since, it has been her home. In 2015 L’Argine was named “Best New Restaurant” by the Gambero Rosso guide and was awarded a Michelin star. In 2016 Antonia was named best female chef by Identità Golose and achieved the same recognition by the L’Espresso guide in 2017.