Paolo Manfredi

A farm-to-table restaurant touting the wonders of its olive oil is nothing new, but Paolo Manfredi, the owner of New York’s Quartino, uses the elixir for more than just pasta. Also a neurologist, he recently teamed up with Andrea Alimonti, a geneticist and oncologist devoted to slowing cancer cell growth, to launch Bottega Organica, a natural skin-, body-, and hair-care line made with olive oil, healing herbs, and medicinal plants. In the course of his research, Alimonti came upon an herb called prawn sage—“It’s one of the most effective inhibitors of senescence, or aging,” he says—and shared his discovery with Manfredi, who is a part-time organic farmer. After reading up on other antiaging plants, the two were sold. Nearly every ingredient in the almost-40-product collection is grown on Manfredi’s property in Liguria, Italy. Think of it as the beauty world’s answer to Italian home cooking.