TuttoToscana – James Beard Foundation

TuttoToscana on Art & Place

By Katherine McCarthy 2017 marks the first TuttoToscana edition featuring an art event in the NYC lineup. Our team welcomes a new collaboration with the FUA Art & Places course that is currently curating the event here in Florence in preparation for NYC. Art and places are often connected because the environment in which an […]


Fragments of Italy in New York City

By Emma Olson Photo by Ana Karina Liberata On the evening of October 28th, in the middle of New York City, many lucky guests will be embarking on a cultural experience of Tuscan cuisine. The venue is the renowned James Beard Foundation which has been a center for all things related to the culinary arts […]


This Year’s Main Event: The Medici Table

By Brenna Boone The final dinner at the James Beard Foundation is always an exciting day for the students participating in TuttoToscana. This is the night all of their hard work for the entire week pays off. The culinary and pastry students put in days worth of hard work, concentration and preparation to carry out […]


Turning the Tables: Brigade Dines at JBF

By Gabriella Torcise Last night the students of FUA were able to dine as guests at the James Beard House with the impressive chefs Jeremy Hansen, Tyler Shales, and Lynette Pflueger. The theme was Washington State of Mind. The goal was for us to experience how service runs from the perspective of guests, so what […]


TuttoToscana Brigade Profiles: Baking and Pastry Part 3

By Brenna Boone, Samantha Lucenti and Gabriella Torcise Get to know the 2016 TuttoToscana brigade! This is part 3 of our Baking and Pastry students.   Robin Halford – England Robin is a member of our pastry team. She is half Dutch and half English, but grew up in Greece, but now lives in Italy. She […]


Olive Oil Sponsor: Pruneti

By Brenna Boone Pruneti has been one of our food sponsors for TuttoToscana for the past two years. We get the privilege of using a few different types of their olive oils to enhance our dishes, and showcase some of the traditions of Tuscan cuisine. There are three types that we are using for our […]


TuttoToscana Brigade Profiles: Culinary Arts Part 2

By Brenna Boone, Samantha Lucenti and Gabriella Torcise Get to know the 2016 TuttoToscana brigade! This is part 2 of our Culinary Arts students.   Palak Desai – India Palak is from India and has studied Culinary Arts at FUA since Fall 2015. She has been interested in culinary since she was 11 cooking with her grandmother. […]


TuttoToscana Brigade Profiles: Baking and Pastry Part 2

By Brenna Boone, Samantha Lucenti and Gabriella Torcise Get to know the 2016 TuttoToscana brigade! This is part 2 of our Baking and Pastry students. Angela (Angie) Brooke Jonason – USA Angie Jonason is one of our talented pastry students who is on the 2016 TuttoToscana team. Angie is from Portland, Oregon. Her research in study […]


TuttoToscana Brigade Profiles: Culinary Arts Part 1

By Brenna Boone, Samantha Lucenti and Gabriella Torcise Get to know the 2016 TuttoToscana brigade! This is part 1 of our Culinary Arts students. Matthew Kollmeier – USA Matthew Kollmeier is part of our culinary team for TuttoToscana. Matthew is from East Northport, New York. Through Suffolk County Community College Matthew was connected with FUA. As a […]


Wine Sponsor: Olianas

By Samantha Lucenti Olianas is another sponsored wine to be featured at our final dinner at the James Beard Foundation on October 29th. Starting at the beginning of the century in the heart of Sarcidano, Olianas was created by Stefano Casadei, Artemio Olianas, and Simone Mugnaini. Sharing a common philosophy of producing quality wines based on respecting the […]


Menu Close-up: 2016 JBF Dinner – The Medici Table

By Samantha Lucenti With this year being FUA’s 12th consecutive year being invited to the James Beard Foundation, the menu was decided to be a tribute to the Medici family. The Medici’s dynasty dominated the Italian and European political scene from the 15th to 18th centuries. The Medici family contributed to the cultural and artistic […]


Wine Sponsor: Castello Del Trebbio

By Gabriella Torcise A look at another one of our wine sponsors for Saturday’s JBF dinner. Castello Del Trebbio was created in 1184 by the famous Pazzi family of Florence. Their history is deeply rooted in Florentine culture, with a huge conspiracy looming over the family. In 1478 the Pazzi family did not like the […]


TuttoToscana Brigade Profiles: Baking and Pastry Part 1

By Brenna Boone, Samantha Lucenti and Gabriella Torcise Get to know the 2016 TuttoToscana brigade! We start with part 1 of our Baking and Pastry students. Auðbjörg Jörundsdóttir – Iceland Auðbjörg Jörundsdóttir was born and raised in Iceland. She grew up on a farm where her family raises horses, and her mother owns her own […]


100% Family Owned: A Look at our Tour of Macari Vineyards

By Gabriella Torcise Fall is in full swing at the Macari Vineyards. We arrived to a beautifully colored backdrop of yellow, orange and red vines and a warm and welcoming family. The Macari family is passionate, devoted and excited about their wines, and they have all the reasons to be. The tour they took us […]


Wine Sponsor: Capezzana

By Brenna Boone Capezzana vineyard is one of the wine sponsors that have donated wine to be featured at our final dinner at the James Beard Foundation on October 29th. The history of the grapes at the Capezzana vineyard date back to over 3000 years ago in the pre-Roman era. The vineyard was named in […]


2016 TuttoToscana Queens College Lunch

By Samantha Lucenti The culinary and pastry brigade of FUA began their prepping at Queens College on Monday with the anticipation of a lunch service for the faculty of the host university. The theme of this menu was to bring awareness of the earthquake that struck Italy mid August this past summer. Each dish was […]


3rd Annual FUA Alumni Gala Dinner

By Brenna Boone TuttoToscana classically began with our Alumni event at the James Beard House. This is an event where FUA alumni can come and reconnect with each other while enjoying a five-course family-style meal made and served by our FUA TuttoToscana brigade. The gala dinner is hosted in memory of Cody Durbin, a TuttoToscana […]


Queens College Recipe Closeup

By Gabriella Torcise The lunch event FUA is putting on at Queens College is dedicated to the support of the August 23rd, 2016 earthquake that happened in central Italy. The area most affected were small towns, like that of Amatrice, Accumoli, and Arquata del Tronto. The dishes that have been chosen are all celebrating and […]


TuttoToscana Wine Sponsor: Macari Vineyards

By Gabriella Torcise The Macari Winery was born out of the American Dream. When Cesideo Macari, who goes by Joe, came over from southern Tuscany, he wanted to keep to his roots. He started making his own wines in his garage using whatever he could get his hands on. If they could afford it, they […]


Opening Day at JBF

By Samantha Lucenti and Gabriella Torcise Walking into the James Beard Foundation this rainy Saturday morning in New York City, there was already a mash of English and Italian language all mixed together in one room, which made me realize that I was in the right place. It was a reunion of past classmates and professors […]


JBF 2016 Trial Dinner at Ganzo

In anticipation for the arrival of the official 2016 JBF dinner in NYC, our Florence brigade will host a trial dinner of the Medici Table menu tonight at Ganzo restaurant. The team has been eagerly preparing in Florence for the cardinal event and are extremely excited to test out their efforts on the public tonight. They will […]


Carbonaione – A Tuscan Powerhouse

By the TuttoToscana Team, with contributions from Luca Del Fante This Chianti Classico is a veritable powerhouse when it comes to the Tuscan wine panorama. Created by the father-son team of Vittorio and Yuri Jurij, who are both highly regarded enologists, Carbonaione represents a single-vineyard wine and 100% Sangiovese grapes. The grapes date back to […]


Pastificio Fabbri: Senatore Cappelli Pasta

By Brenna Boone Pastificio Fabbri, an artisanal Tuscan pasta producer, creates the Senatore Cappelli pasta we used for our JBF dinner in the Chianti area. The pasta is made with a special grain hybrid because the main grain that is used is particularly difficult to grown on its own. This grain comes from a particularly […]


Organic Tuscan: Fontodi Wines

By the TuttoToscana Team, with contributions from Luca Del Fante When JBF wines come from an area called “the golden shell” (Conca d’Oro) we know that there must be something special about them. Fontodi, a well-respected wine producer in Tuscany, is located precisely in the heart of this special area just south of the town […]