Gino D'Acampo - celebrity chef
Neapolitan inherited talent from grandfather
The celebrity chef Gino D’Acampo was born on this day in 1976 in Torre del Greco, a conurbation of around 90,000 inhabitants within the Metropolitan City of Naples. Based in England since 1995, D’Acampo is scarcely known in his native country yet his social media pages have more than two and a half million followers. The author of 12 books on cooking, his numerous television appearances include several series of his own show, Gino’s Italian Escapes. In 2017, he owned three restaurants and five pasta bars and had plans to open more. D’Acampo is also the co-owner of a company selling Italian ingredients. His success is all the more remarkable given that he had to rebuild his life after being convicted in 1998 of burglary, an episode that took place while he was working as a waiter. He described the incident as a mistake he vowed never to repeat and has since spent time helping disadvantaged young people to learn from their mistakes. Born Gennaro d’Acampo, he grew up around food. His grandfather, Giovanni, who had been head chef for a cruise company, owned a restaurant. Read more…
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Lady Blessington’s Neapolitan Journals
Irish aristocrat fell in love with Naples
Marguerite, Lady Blessington, an Irish-born writer who married into the British aristocracy, arrived in Naples on this day in 1823 and began writing her Neapolitan Journals. She was to stay in the city for nearly three years and her detailed account of what she saw and who she met has left us with a unique insight into life in Naples nearly 200 years ago. Lady Blessington made herself at home in Naples and thoroughly embraced the culture, attending local events, making what at the time were adventurous excursions, and entertaining Neapolitan aristocrats and intellectuals at the former royal palace that became her home. Those who know Naples today will recognise in her vivid descriptions many places that have remained unchanged for the last two centuries. She also provides a valuable insight into what life was like at the time for ordinary people as well as for the rich and privileged. A society beauty, she came to Naples during a long European tour after her marriage to Charles Gardiner, the first Earl of Blessington, and immediately became fascinated by the local customs, food and traditions. Read more…
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Michele Casadei Massari - chef and restaurateur
American dream from small beginnings
The chef and businessman Michele Casadei Massari, who is the owner and founder of the Piccolo Cafe and the Lucciola restaurant in New York City, was born on this day in 1975 in Riccione, on the Adriatic coast of Emilia-Romagna. Massari had planned to become a doctor but abandoned his studies in order to pursue his dream of cooking in his own restaurant. After working as general manager and executive chef of a restaurant at a holiday resort in Sardinia, Massari and an old school friend decided to go it alone and chose to start a business in New York. They began by selling coffee from a kiosk on Union Square in Manhattan before graduating to a cafe selling traditional Italian food as well as salads, panini and egg dishes. Massari and his partner opened their first Piccolo Cafe in Third Avenue, a couple of blocks from Union Square in 2010. Now they have four branches of Piccolo Cafe and a restaurant, Lucciola, that specialises in the cuisine of Bologna and Emilia-Romagna. Read more…
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