In the Flow at Sassella

With a passion for people and a reverence for his craft, Chef Cristian Pontiggia nurtures his community

By Lynn Cline
Photos by Douglas Merriam

Left: Cristian Pontiggia. Right: Lobster Risotto with Carnaroli rice, Maine lobster, asparagus, and pistachio arugula pesto.

Chef Cristian Pontiggia’s love of food flows from his heart to his community, whether he’s in the kitchen of the acclaimed Santa Fe restaurant Sassella, in a classroom inspiring elementary schoolkids to eat healthy food, or mentoring young chefs. Like an acequia, Pontiggia has the ability to nourish everyone he meets, changing lives along the way.

“For me, it’s important to see about the next generation,” he says, sitting in his compact office tucked into the back of the Deli at Sassella. The small shop full of Italian imports sits behind the downtown restaurant, where he is co-owner and executive chef. “It’s important to focus on young people. Nowadays, kids want to be chefs and to be a chef you have to learn how to cook.”

Growing up in Sondrio, a tiny village in northern Italy’s Lombardy region, Pontiggia was surrounded by the winding Adda River and the terraced vineyards, at the base of alpine slopes, that produce nebbiolo grapes for Sassella wines. (The restaurant is named for this significant wine region.) His love for the region’s cuisine is deeply rooted. “The main ingredients are potatoes, cabbage, apples, and buckwheat flour,” he says, jumping up to grab a well-thumbed cookbook to share Lombardy recipes with mouthwatering photos. “At fourteen, I chose a career in food, because of the food there and the combination of ingredients.”

Left: Caesar a Modo Mio with romaine, Parmesan crisp, focaccia crostini, white anchovies, capers, and tonnato dressing.
Right: Ravioli stuffed with portobello and ricotta, served with porcini cream sauce, dried blueberries, wild arugula, and Parmesan.

From this tiny hamlet on the north side of Lake Como, Pontiggia has sailed his way to a brilliant culinary career. He was working at Vineria San Giovanni in the town of Morbegno, not far from Sondrio, when the restaurant earned a Michelin star. He’s received numerous awards from La Confrérie de la Chaîne des Rôtisseurs, a prestigious international gastronomic society. He also holds a doctorate in oenogastronomy (the art of connecting wine with food), and the Italian government has officially recognized him as a Master Chef.

A vacation in America brought Pontiggia to Taos, where he was offered a job at what was then the Stakeout Grill and Bar after the owner tasted his risotto. Executive chef positions followed at Osteria d’Assisi in Santa Fe, El Nido in Tesuque, and Sassella. He’s celebrated for his imaginative approach to classic Italian cuisine. For instance, risotto, a specialty of the Lombardy region, is one of his favorite foods, and Pontiggia offers an elegant version made with lobster and swirled with pistachio arugula pesto and fontina, a cheese that also hails from his home region. In another artful spin on a traditional favorite, he serves portobello and ricotta ravioli in porcini cream sauce with dried blueberries and wild arugula.

Despite the demands of running a venerated restaurant, Pontiggia makes time to connect with students of all ages, and his exuberant personality is well suited for them. With his impish grin and tattoo-splashed arms full of colorful flowers, feathers, and other imagery, his youthful spirit shines. Since 2012, he’s been a Superchef for Cooking with Kids, volunteering to make healthy foods with kids in school classrooms. The Santa Fe–based nonprofit brings hands-on nutrition education to seven thousand kids in thirty-one public schools, from Española to Las Vegas.

“Cooking with Kids is amazing work,” says the forty-five-year-old chef in his lilting Italian accent. “Being so stressed in the restaurant, collaborating with kids takes away all the stress. It’s just fun. One time we had to make pizza and we made the sauce with fresh tomatoes. The kids asked, ‘What is the red stuff on the pizza, ketchup?’ I said, ‘No, this is how we make the sauce.’ It’s amazing how you can change the mind of a kid about healthy food.”

Cooking with Kids’ executive director Anna Farrier appreciates Pontiggia’s ease with children. “He has such joy in food and that’s contagious,” she says. “He makes food more exciting, because kids are already excited about food in the classroom, but when someone like Cristian comes in and has such a delightful personality, it’s playful.”

Pontiggia also mentors young chefs, including nineteen-year-old Santiago Tafoya, a line cook at Sassella. Tafoya first met Pontiggia as a first-grade student in Taos, when Pontiggia’s wife, Nicole Deez, was his teacher. (She’s now a kindergarten teacher at Turquoise Trail Charter School in Santa Fe.) At Taos High School, Tafoya got involved with ProStart, a national culinary arts and restaurant management program for high school students. During a New Mexico ProStart competition held in Santa Fe, Pontiggia was so impressed with Tafoya’s culinary skills that he invited the young man to compete in distinguished Chaîne des Rôtisseurs competitions for young chefs.

“I started working with young chefs five years ago to compete in Chaîne,” says Pontiggia, whose office walls display the many beribboned medals he’s received from the society over the years. “It’s my goal for New Mexico to finally win the national competition and I’m sure Santiago is going to take the gold.”

Working with Pontiggia has elevated Tafoya’s skills and culinary aspirations. “I was already thinking about being a chef and Cristian inspired me even more,” he says. “I knew how prestigious Cristian and his restaurant are, so I figured I must be doing something right if someone like him invited me to join him. Since working at Sassella, I’ve learned a lot about what and what not to do. The attention he has to all the plating, the way he handles food, it shows me how great I could be if I want to.”

In Sassella’s bar hangs a large photograph of Pontiggia and another young person he spends a lot of time with: his son, Leo. Dressed in white chef coats and holding long ropes of fresh pasta dough, the two are grinning like fools. It’s part of a series of photographs of local chefs with adorable kids, created by Cooking with Kids in 2020 to inspire big people to invite little people into the kitchen. “That was my idea,” Pontiggia says. “I’m really proud of the BIG Little Project.” And with good reason: the project has expanded into an online resource platform with lessons, videos, and recipes for educators and families.

Today, Leo is nine and following in his dad’s wake. Well, sort of. “We have this deal on Sundays that we can make whatever he wants to eat,” Pontiggia says with a wide smile. “He’s into cooking, but he’s more into eating. He says, ‘I want to be a food critic.’”

225 Johnson, Santa Fe, 505-982-6734