Knowledge and passion
Università dei Sapori avails itself of the collaboration of highly qualified teachers – including Michelin-starred ones – and of recognized value in the various fields of food and beverage. Under their guidance, students can learn to reinterpret tradition, learn the most up-to-date and functional techniques, and above all draw on a wealth of multiple experiences, lived in Italy and abroad, and on different styles, which they can treasure and then reinterpret in an original way in their professional future.
Maurice Servant
Description: Chef and patron, together with his brother Sandro, of the restaurant "La Trota" in Rivodutri (Rieti), which received the first Michelin star in 2004 and the second in 2012, the only restaurant in Europe to achieve 2 Michelin stars offering a menu mainly dedicated to freshwater fish. Maurizio prefers the search for the best local products, used and revisited in a modern key by playing, in a skilful balance, on temperatures, textures and the use of special spontaneous aromatic herbs.
Andrew Empire
Description: Andrea Impero worked for 4 years with the two-starred chef Alfonso Caputo. Two years followed in Rome with chef Don Alfonso Iaccarino, and several experiences abroad: Barcelona with the three-starred chef Santi Santamaria, London with the two-starred chef Antonio Mellino, and finally Moscow, at the Maritozzo restaurant where he manages two operational kitchens, a wine bar and a gourmet restaurant, obtaining prestigious international awards. Since 2019 he has been the chef of the Borgo Brufa spa resort, for which he takes care the restaurant Elementi Fine Dining.
Michele Pidone
Description: He has managed several restaurants, after many work experiences also outside the region. He is currently a freelance home cook for various establishments such as Castello di Reschio and Urbani Tartufi. He has particular expertise and experience in the processing of meat and in the enhancement of local products. Furthermore, he also has a consolidated experience as a teacher and trainer.
Julius Gigli
Description: After the hotel school, Giulio Gigli trained in the kitchens of Anthony Genovese's Pagliaccio, Yannick Alléno's Le Cheval Blanc in 1947, in the three-starred kitchen of Benu in San Francisco, and was creative director of Disfrutar in Barcelona. Mediterranean cuisine – Italian, French and Spanish, in particular – his techniques and traditions are at the center of his first project.
Mirko Crocioni
Description: In the kitchen of his San Giorgio in Umbertide (Perugia), Mirko Crocioni devotes himself to his love of ingredients and the search for raw materials, pairings, balance and refined contrasts. Restaurant mentioned in the Michelin Guide, a hat from the L'Espresso Guide, two forks from the Gambero Rosso Guide and 2023 novelties for Identità Golose: these are just some of the certificates that over the years have confirmed Mirko Crocioni's commitment and his culinary journey.
Luigi Ficca
Description: true Neapolitan, he takes his first steps in the Neapolitan kitchens up to
to 2009, the year in which he decides to broaden his horizons. Sweden, Holland, Luxembourg are some of his formative stages. In 2012 he arrives in England, where he stays for 6 years. In 2018 Luigi returns to Italy, and after a couple of years in the Milanese kitchens, he attends ALMA, Gualtiero Marchesi's academy, thanks to which he has the opportunity to get to know the Serva family.
Here begins a cooperation process with the chef Maurizio Serva who now sees him as a point of reference for his restaurant in Terni "Origine".
Christian Minelli
Description: Self-taught chef, imentrepreneur in the world of catering since 1990, on his own since 2008, Minelli is trained in the best restaurants in the city of Perugia, attending courses at the Città del Gambero Rosso with: Carlo Cracco, Moreno Cedroni, Davide Scabin, Antonio Cannavacciuolo. Also followed a training course on risotto with Gualtiero Marchesi. He collaborates with the Blueside company as an event chef together with chef Gennaro Esposito. From 2012 to 2019 he was the private chef of the director George Lucas at his structure in Passignano sul Trasimeno Vecchio Convento dei Cappuccini.
Dominic of Imperio
Description: After the hotel school, he trained in various hotels and restaurants around the world, with prestigious chefs. Since 2001 he has been collaborating with the University of Flavors. His philosophy: “I believe that a chef has a fundamental duty to respect the memory of traditions and taste, but at the same time contribute to the development of new techniques and develop new frontiers. In the kitchen, this translates into continuous research”.
Daniel Guidantoni
Description: After graduating from the hotel school and the first years of experience at the La Cantina restaurant in Castiglione del Lago, he arrived in 2008 at Maestro Vissani's restaurant, where he remained for seven years. He boasts many important collaborations: for example with Surgital for the creation of frozen dishes of the "Divine Creazioni" line, with Frecciarossa for the creation of dishes for internal train catering, for the opening of the “L'Altro Vissani” premises in Cortina and Orvieto. From 2014 to 2018 he opened and managed the Aroma-Locanda dei Sapori restaurant in Fabro (Tr). To date Daniele is dedicated to training and consultancy throughout Italy.
Richard Foglietti
Description: After graduation, Non 2016, at the Giancarlo de Carolis hotel institute in Spoleto, he began working as a demi-chef for resorts such as Roccafiore, Vallantica and the Atlantic Hotel in Riccione. In 2020 you enter the kitchen of the Parolina restaurant (1 Michelin star) under the guidance of Iside De Cesare. After an experience in Switzerland, she began her career as an executive for the Gran Hotel San Gemini 4luxury. Currently she is part of the kitchen team of Castello di Reschio with the role of sous-chef. In her cooking you can find tradition and innovation and one of her favorite ingredients are vegetables.
Donatella Aquila
Description: For over 35 years he has been kneading flour to give life to the main food, bread, and to many sweet pastry delights. Her passion born when she, a child, accompanied her father to the bakery and often fell asleep hugging the sacks of flour.
A hug that lasted a lifetime. His motto: Long live flour!
Lorenzo Iozzia
Description: Born and raised in Lentini, in the province of Syracuse, Sicily is in everything he cooks. After a few years of study at the Faculty of Agriculture in Viterbo, he began his journey in the kitchen by opening a tavern 15 years ago and then in 2007 a restaurant, now a gourmet one, in Vitorchiano, in Tuscia. His training took place entirely in his kitchen, experimenting, discovering, researching. And so a menu full of experimentation and history was born, the story of a "Sicilian cook in Etruscan land".
Marino Marini
Description: He is a gastronomy historian, founder of the ARCHEO FOOD project®.
In UDS since 2007, he is professor of History and Culture of Food and Traditional Italian Cuisine. He is in charge of the Cooking History Laboratory at the Degree Course in Food Economics and Culture at the University of Perugia. Graduated in Sciences, Cultures and Policies of Gastronomy, he is also involved in international projects of communication and enhancement of typical products and the planning of gastronomic culture events. Referent in the Slow Food Italy Presidia project, he collaborates as a gastronomic historical consultant with RAI, Sky-History Channel, La7 etc.
Stifani grieving
Description: Born in the province of Lecce, Addolorata Stifani chose Umbria for her career in the world of catering. In 1992 she began working at the Aladino restaurant in Perugia, where she remained for a decade. From 2002 to 2005 you worked in the kitchens of the Rosso di Sera restaurant in San Feliciano. In 2006 she opens her restaurant L'Officina in Perugia, and in 2022 she opens the second Ada Gourmet restaurant in the historic center of the Umbrian capital, where she holds the role of chef.
Katia Micucci
Description: Cake designer for 15 years, he considers his job as a true passion. Pastry chef and owner of the pastry shops "Briciole di cinnamon" first and then "Frangipane", she later worked in the historic Pasticceria Ventanni in Mugnano. She is currently engaged, as a pastry chef and head of the cake design department, at the Piazza Settevalli pastry shop in Perugia.
Mirco Stefanini
Description: Born in Città della Pieve, pastry chef and ice cream maker for 30 years, after training at the Università del Caffè in Trieste, he immediately began gaining experience. From 1991 to 2016 he managed the “Gelateria Pasticceria Stefanini” in Città della Pieve, from 2006 to 2019 the “Pasticceria Gelateria Golosia srl” in Chiusi Scalo. Since November 2020 he has been head pastry chef specializing in sweet and savory leavened breakfast products and the production of artisan ice cream at the Piazza Settevalli pastry shop in Perugia.
Graziano Bertuzzo
Description: Graziano is a true authority in the field of pizza, celebrated as one of the best pizza chefs in the world and an award-winning world champion. He has been the contact person for the Technical Area of Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli since 1991: he holds courses for pizza makers at various levels, he also carries out consultancy activities on doughs, use of equipment, product tests for Italian and foreign companies in the catering sector. Speaker for Masterclasses at international trade fairs in the catering sector.
Joseph Lucia
Description: Giuseppe Lucia began his professional career in 1986 working in the family pastry shop. From 1987 he began to gain various experiences in the restaurant and pizzeria sector and, at the same time, he attended various courses in the bakery and pizzeria sector. Founder of the International School of Catering in 2010. In 2003, together with 8 other colleagues, he established the “Associazione Pizzaioli Salentini”. He is the founder of the Salento Acrobatic Team, obtaining prestigious national and international awards. Since 1998 he has managed the Zio Giglio pizzeria in Lecce. He is a Master Instructor with a Certified Training Path of the Italian School of Pizza Makers since 2021.
Roberto De Santis
Description: Roberto is a professional in the management of catering establishments at 360°. Chef and Pizzaiolo, he attended specialization courses in cooking, pizza, bread-making and sommeliers. He worked and still works today as a Chef in Hotels and Restaurants, also working as a consultant. Instructor of the Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli since 2011, he completed his training in 2014 by attending the PFC Master Instructor course.
Titian Defilippis
Description: Technical Director of Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli, De Filippis is the technician of the art of pizza which he interprets as a discipline. He increases his skills directly in the family pizzeria, dealing with dough and cooking, management, dining room and kitchen. Since 2017 he has dedicated himself entirely, in Italy and abroad, to the development and technical assistance of Le 5 Stagioni flours, the Agugiaro & Figna Molini brand reserved for the world of pizza. Since 2021 he has been part of the Committee of the Italian Pizza Makers School, taking part in the group of Master Instructors of the School, giving all his experience in the field in the courses that are offered, but above all in the managerial and managerial part.
Michele Croccia
Description: He was still very young when he began his career as an apprentice pizza maker during the summer seasons on the Campania coast, but after just a few years he became the owner of his own pizzeria "La Pietra Azzurra" in the province of Salerno. Passionate about nature, Michele cultivates a seasonal vegetable garden, using the products of the harvest for the filling of pizzas and restaurant dishes. That's why he is called the Pizzaiolo Contadino. In 2008 he became Master Instructor of the Italian School of Pizza Makers and in May 2014 he attended the Master Instructor course PFC. Since 2011 he has been in possession of the Ismecert certification for the realization of the Pizza Napoletana Stg in his pizzeria "Pietra Azzurra".
Luca Gaccione
Description: Master Instructor with Certified Training Path, School Didactic Manager
Italian Pizza Makers. Driven by great passion and exceptional technical competence, Luca has an innate predisposition to teaching, consolidated by his numerous teaching experiences in hotel management institutions and institutes. He has been a Master Instructor since 2010, he often carries out coaching in the first courses for newly trained instructors. Since 2021 he has been Head of Education at Scuola Italiana Pizzaioli.
Daniel War
Description: He started working in cooking during his university years, then after an advanced training course at the University of Flavors, he started working as a professional in the restaurant world.
As a trainer, however, he was born in 2016 thanks again to Università dei Sapori, teaching various types of courses where he meets many types of students who, in turn, have enriched him on a professional and human level.
He currently collaborates as a freelance chef with some local entities and in some training projects for disadvantaged users and projects concerning teaching in prisons.
Nicolas Landrini
Description: Nicolas Landrini, 32 years old, from Foligno (Pg), entrepreneur-pastry chef at the sweet oven Foligno, a family pastry shop with 30 years of activity, where he started working at the age of 17, after hotel studies. To the passion for his work he added a lot of training, first locally and then throughout Italy with the most important pastry masters (Leonardo di Carlo, Iginio Massari, Emmanuele Forcone above all), in various sectors: subjects in chocolate, modern pastry , sourdough and recipe balancing.
Anniversary leavened products are his passion, above all panettone: yours is among the 10 best panettone in Italy according to Mastropanettone!
Nicola Antonacci
Description: Nicola Antonacci is a pastry chef and entrepreneur, owner of the Piazza Settevalli pastry shop in Perugia. Since 2023 he has been the educational coordinator and teacher of pastry courses at the University of Flavors of Perugia. In Nicola, the passion for pastry making goes hand in hand with that for sales, marketing and communication. He has vast experience and many skills in these subjects: he was first a sales agent, area manager and then director at Dolciaria Umbria Srl, inventor of the sales method for sales agents "Extraordinary Seller in the Ordinary", student of a three-year degree in Communication Sciences UniPg, teacher of courses and masters on Marketing and communication for pastry shops.
