TuttoToscana Gala Dinner
By Eva Björg Eyjólfsdóttir
Last Saturday, the TuttoToscana Gala Dinner was held. Members of the James Beard Foundation attended with other partners of Florence University of the Arts. At the event, we were lucky to welcome presidents and faculty members from schools that collaborate with FUA. The menu of the night represented an exploration of Italian cuisine from the 1960s, a contradictory decade of industrial boom and socio-political revolution. The era is a mashup of diverging thoughts in Italian society in which juxtapositions occurred between economic optimism in the big cities, traditionalism dominating in the South and in the countryside, flower power philosophy, political unrest, and the industrialization of Italian lifestyles including food production. The culinary and baking and pastry students took some of the most famous dishes from this era and gave them a new and modern look. With each course, the guests were offered wine pairings. The wines that were served came from differing Italian wineries. From Bruni Winery, the Vermentino and the Morellino di Scansano, from Lastra winery, Chianti Colli Senesi DOCG, From Campizzana winery, Barco Reale and Carmignano DOCG, and to end the dinner, guests were served Vin Santo from Fattoria del Teso winery. Following the completion of dinner, our guests were introduced to the front and back of the house staff members. We would like to give a special thank you to The James Beard Foundation for giving Apicius the opportunity to bring their students to New York and to attend the TuttoToscana program.
Follow our journey from Florence to NYC on Facebook.