Celebrate with us the 3rd Week of the Italian Cuisine in San Francisco! Join Viola Buitoni, Food Advisor for the Consulate General of Italy and the Italian Cultural Institute in conversation with Michelin-starred chef Maria Cicorella.
Born in Rome and reared in Perugia, Italy, Viola Buitoni had an idyllic upbringing in a family estate immersed in a life that moved to the clock of seasonal food. In 1985 she moved to New York City where she earned a business degree, only to find herself drawn to her deep passion for food. After a few years honing skills in professional kitchens, Viola poured her passion into a catering kitchen and fine foods shop in the heart of NY’s Madison Avenue before moving to San Francsico. Since 2010, she has been teaching how to cultivate relationships at the market, by the stove, around the table, and to make Italian cooking part of every day life.
Maria Cicorella‘s career begins by chance, primarily out of necessity but not least out of maternal love. In 2000, two years after the opening of her son’s restaurant Pashà in Conversano, Puglia, unsatisfactory experiences with three different chefs led Maria Cicorella to take control of the kitchen. She studied in her spare time and at night without attending any cooking school, and the fame of her dishes and her talent soon passed the regional borders, thanks also to the skill of her son Antonello Magista and all the restaurant staff. Her cuisine brings to the table the best of the region with the right level of experimentation, with clean and decisive flavors, expert cooking, and the intense aromas typical of Puglia. In 2013 the Chef Cicorella obtained the prestigious Michelin star.
Free Admission | RSVP Required