Michele Belotti

Chef / Co-owner

Chef Michele (mee-ke-le) Belotti was born and raised in Albino, Bergamo, Italy. Coming from a simple town northeast of Milan, Belotti honors the essence of Italian cooking-- Simple and few ingredients combined well for a clean and rounded profile. Chef Belotti began his culinary training early in Italy including a position as Chef de Partie at Michelin-starred Restaurant Frosio in Bergamo, working under celebrated Chef/owner, Paulo Frosio, for several years while mastering his signature style. Prior to his move to California in 2011, he was apprenticing under both Chef Ugo Alciati and Luca Zecchin at the Michelin-starred restaurant, Da Guido, in Piemonte. With his relocation, he brought along his interpretation of Italian cooking as the Chef de Cuisine at Ristobar in San Francisco. Chef Michele's wife, Joyce, works alongside him from the start to conceptualize and build the restaurant together. The two envisioned this restaurant while looking for a location for quite some time. It was not until they discovered the charming neighborhood of Rockridge, Oakland, did they finally realize the concept.  Belotti's simplistic yet approachable style, along with the support and encouragement of his long-time customers from San Francisco, Belotti Ristorante e Bottega was then created to spread his love for simple Italian cooking.