Nicoló Rotella

At a glance

Nicoló Rotella is Executive Chef of 8½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA Shanghai. Raised around his father’s restaurant in Turin, he trained and worked in Italy before moving through the Da Vittorio network to Shanghai. His 2023 arrival at BOMBANA developed into the executive role recorded on the restaurant’s current website.[1] [2]

Cooking & identity

His biography connects traditional Italian cooking with seafood work and modern technique. The career is useful evidence of how a resident chef develops within, and moves between, established restaurant teams.[1] [2]

Why this profile is included

A two-star Shanghai restaurant whose current resident chef is explicitly identified by its own team page. Included for its Italian identity and named 2025–26 cross-city collaborations; the founder’s name and the resident appointment remain separate.[1] [2]

Connected restaurant / chef: 8 ½ Otto e Mezzo Bombana

Independent observations

ChefsLanding · 2026-11-04 · Editorial commentary on the public record

Working under a large surname can be both an education and a very large shadow. Rotella’s documented path makes it possible to look past the logo and see a cook who has moved from junior responsibility to leading a resident team. That progression deserves more space than another portrait of the signboard.

The collaborations give us a practical subject to follow: what his own training contributes when he cooks with the founder and other branch chefs. A family photograph is pleasant; the part we want to read is how each cook earns a line in the menu.

Sources & dates [1] [4] [3]

Recent developments

1. 2026-08

   Named in the official 2026 Macau collaboration with Umberto Bombana and Marino D’Antonio; earlier 2025 programme retained below.[3]

Collaborations & guest appearances

2 collaboration projects · 2 within the two-year research window

Projects are deduplicated: multiple nights, venues or reports do not automatically become separate collaborations. Food-and-drink events and shared festival appearances are labelled by format.

1. Six handsScheduled date passed · announcement

   BOMBANA Summer Escape · three-chef collaboration

   • 2026-08-08 — 2026-08-09
     8½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA, Galaxy Macau · Macau
     Scheduled date passed · announcement

   Participants / partners
   Umberto Bombana · Marino D’Antonio / BOMBANA Macau · Nicoló Rotella / BOMBANA Shanghai

   The official programme names Bombana, D’Antonio and Rotella for a summer collaboration on 8–9 August 2026. It is retained as an announced programme; a passed date does not independently establish that service took place.[3]

2. Six handsScheduled date passed · announcement

   Bombana × D’Antonio × Rotella · Macau

   • 2025-07-18 — 2025-07-19
     8½ Otto e Mezzo BOMBANA, Galaxy Macau · Macau
     Scheduled date passed · announcement

   Participants / partners
   Umberto Bombana · Marino D’Antonio / BOMBANA Macau · Nicoló Rotella / BOMBANA Shanghai

   Galaxy’s June 2025 announcement scheduled Umberto Bombana, Macau chef Marino D’Antonio and Shanghai chef Nicoló Rotella for one two-day collaboration focused on Australian black truffle. Lunch and dinner services remain one project.[4]

Career & milestones

1. Early training

   Grew up around his father’s Turin restaurant and trained through the Italian Chefs Association.[1]

2. Italy

   Worked as Junior Sous Chef at Il Sorriso and later with Marco Sacco’s Il Piccolo Lago team.[1]

3. 2019

   Joined Chicco Cerea’s Da Vittorio in Bergamo in 2019.[1]

4. After Bergamo

   Moved to Shanghai for New Wave by Da Vittorio as sous chef.[1]

5. 2023–current

   Joined BOMBANA Shanghai in summer 2023; its current team page records his subsequent promotion to Executive Chef without giving an exact promotion date.[1]

Recognition over time

Restaurant ratings and individual honours are listed separately. Editorial profiles are labelled as coverage.

1. Edition unspecified

   The Best Chef · One Knife in the current individual profile; edition not explicitly stated[2]

Sources & dates

Public biographies, restaurant statements and named projects checked on 4 November 2026. Exact employment dates and unreported engagements may remain unavailable.

1. ottoemezzobombana.com · 8½ Otto e Mezzo · Shanghai concept and resident team ↗Checked 2026-11-04
2. thebestchefawards.com · Nicoló Rotella · The Best Chef individual recognition ↗Checked 2026-11-04
3. galaxymacau.com · Galaxy Macau · BOMBANA Summer Escape August2026 ↗Checked 2026-11-04
4. galaxymacau.com · Galaxy Macau · three-chef July2025 collaboration announcement ↗Published 2025-06-30 · Checked 2026-11-04