Visiting Chefs from Italy

Filippo Saporito

After earning his degree in Business Operations in Tourism Services, Filippo Saporito spent four years working between Italy and abroad where he learnt about different cuisines. Filippo worked as a sous-chef of a restaurant that later on gained its second Michelin Star.

In 2002, Filippo bought his own restaurant, “La Leggenda Dei Frati,” in the Tuscan village of Abbadia Isola (Monteriggioni) that he moved to Florence later on in 2015.

Filippo is an active member of the prestigious Jeunes Restaurateur organization.

His cooking philosophy revolves around the use of ingredients that come from the Tuscan hills to turn them into haute cuisine.

Chef Paolo Cacciani

Born in 1966, Chef Paolo Cacciani grew up in Rome, where he worked in his family restaurant, established in 1922. Paolo’s education includes a degree in business. In addition to his family business, Paolo has worked in restaurants across the globe, written two cookbooks, and appeared in over 100 cooking shows. For the last 10 years, he’s been running a kitchen course in his own restaurant in Frascati, and has already taught over 50 chefs.

Chef Ugo Mura

Chef Ugo Mura graduated from IPSSAR State in Pinerolo, Italy in 1987.

Ugo’s experiences include prestigious Italian hotels and restaurants from Piedmont to Sardinia. Always passionate about wine and olive oil, Ugo also worked at a deli called PAISSA in Turin, and became its director within five years. His teaching career began in 2001, after numerous missions abroad as a teacher and a business consultant for big firms operating in the Italian Enogastronomic sector. In addition to teaching, Ugo works as a wine expert in Italy and abroad, and is able to enchant his students with his deep knowledge of the Enogastronomic field.

Chef Valentino Cassanelli

Valentino Cassanelli is a young Chef already with a brilliant career. He was born in Modena (a famous town in Emilia Romagna region) in 1984, his passion about food starts as a child. The key pillar of his cuisine is the use of local ingredients that he cultivated in his work experience at Nobu in London. He worked at Nobu for a year before entering the kitchen brigade of Chef Carlo Cracco, for whom he worked from 2007 to 2009. In February 2012 he enters the kitchen of Principe Forte dei Marmi as Executive Chef and manager of the hotel’s restaurants.

Valentino has been awarded Best Chef in Versilia in 2014, and has received top acknowledgments from the most important culinary guides in Italy.