All Star Team... Following the tradition of European advanced culinary training, all of your instructors are chefs active in the field. Chefs at the Institute are chosen based not only on their long list of awards but, most importantly, on their present status as Italy's & Europe's most innovative masters.

Frederick Bourse - Master Patissier

His name is French but Frederick is now a resident of Milan and we call him our own. He has been able to transcend French baking to a Mediterranean accent. Truly unique are his uncommon assemblies especially regarding appetizers, hearth breads and focaccia. He has a sweet side too and has just published a gorgeous book, Tentation, focusing on plated desserts.

Frederick is a master of presentation and is constantly in Europe's top restaurants and hotels demonstrating the procedures that not only capture the attention of demanding clients but that are feasible in a busy workplace.

Roberto Carcangiu - Executive Chef

Of Sardinian and Piemontese roots, Roberto's cuisine is as versatile as his heritage. Roberto began his career working with several upscale cruise lines as a line cook and then sous chef until becoming an executive chef. Roberto is a member of the Venice Culinary Team and continues to be one of Italy's most celebrated chefs winning medals for hot and cold cuisine in individual and team tournaments during premier international competitions including the Culinary World Cup in Luxembourg, the IKA Culinary Olympics, the International Culinary Salon at Salisbury, as well as many national events in Italy. He owns Agriturismo San Polo, a restaurant and B&B in Emilia Romagnia.

Leonardo Di Carlo - Master Patissier, Master Baker, Maestro Gelataio

Leonardo Di Carlo, third generation patissier and baker, worked in his family's shops from an early age. After finishing school, he traveled, doing apprenticeships throughout Europe. At twenty years old he won the Italian Pastry Championship.

Leo eventually went on to win many prestigious world class competitions including gold at the IKA Culinary Olympics in Berlin, Gold and Silver at the Culinary World Cup in Basil, Switzerland and World Champion at the Coupe du Monde in Lyon, France.

He is a leading consultant for many food companies including Vahlrona Chocolate and a food writer but dedicates as much time as possible instructing courses at Europe's most important culinary academies. He is constantly in search of the latest techniques, flavors and textures making Leo one of our most valuable assets. His instructing style is geared toward the most advanced processional and is fast paced as Leo understands that today's innovations are tomorrow's history...

Umberto Lupica - Maestro Gelataio

As the owner of five retail gelato shops and a wholesale production facility, Umberto Lupica has a unique understanding of the commercial world of gelato unparalleled even in Italy. As a consultant to both large firms and small artisan shops, his specialty is reviving companies worn from fierce competition in a heavily saturated marketplace. A waiting list for his clientele is affirmation to his success.

Umberto's business savvy is only exceeded by his talent in the laboratory. Here, accolades not only include a series of awards in national and European competitions but membership in the Italian Gelato Academy, an exclusive association of Italy's top masters with a maximum of only one hundred associates at any given time.

Umberto possesses a rare gelato 'culture' combining technology, chemistry and cuisine in his products. A disciple of gelato legend 'Maestro Grassi', Umberto incorporates the natural accents of old style gelato with the new tastes of modern society. Flavor development is based on chemical principles rather than standard recipes enabling the development of any type of gelato his audience requires.

Giuseppe Maffioli - Master Chef

As a disciple of classic European culinary training, Giuseppe learned through stagieres (apprenticeships) throughout the world. His last was as head of the brigade at London's Caffè Royal under French MOF Charlie Mercier. A year later, after returning to Italy, Master Chef Giuseppe won the gold medal in the European Cup against his old colleagues in the French capital. He repeated it the next year to prove it wasn't just good fortune.

Now, as co-owner and chef of Carlo Magno, parts of which are set in a 2000 year old Roman structure, Giuseppe applies international flair to Italian Regional Cuisine rendering unique innovative dishes which always reflect Italian and Mediterranean cuisine.

Sabrina Mancin - Executive Chef, Patissier, Olearo

In Italy we call her "figlia d'arte", born from art. She learned early on that in order to present perfect food we must truly understand the culture from which it comes. Already having a rich culinary heritage, born in Venezuela from Italian and Argentinean parents, chef Sabrina has spent the last several years traveling throughout Europe and North and South America learning gastronomy from the source. As a result, this methodology shows its success in every dish and dessert she prepares.

Chef Sabrina's approach is minimalist, adhering to tradition with respect to Italy's distinct gastronomic regionalism. In addition to mastering the twenty regional cuisines of Italy, she also acknowledges the challenges of recreating these cuisines around the world. Her keen understanding of raw materials has enabled her to adapt traditional Italian recipes in other countries using the best ingredients available in any given area, indispensable for chefs worldwide.

Chef Sabrina owns and operates Boccato International Catering in Miami FL, USA. She writes articles for culinary journals and is active in TV and radio with several networks including Univision. In addition to travel, she attended culinary school, has a BA in economics and is currently studying toward a MS in Nutritional Science. Sabrina speaks English, Spanish and Italian.

Click here for more about Chef Sabrina.

Fabio Momolo - Master Chef, Master Patissier, Ice Sculptor

Fabio Momolo has been a captain of the Italian National Culinary Team for the past eight years. He was just elected to another four year term following an unprecedented sweep for the Italians at the European Culinary Championship with 8 gold medals, 3 special prizes and best overall team.

This tremendous accomplishment follows a tradition for Fabio. He has been a member of the national team since its inception twenty years ago: unequaled in Italy. The reason is clear. Fabio continues to be the most avant-garde culinary master in the country.

His annual itinerary has Fabio traveling to six continents, both to compete in international culinary competitions and to present advanced training in Italian and Mediterranean culinary and pastry arts. It is during these travels that Fabio encounters the works by the most renown chefs in the world giving him the ability to constantly be in touch with strengths and areas where modernizing is needed. Fabio understands that updating techniques is an indispensable part of the industry as is the necessity to embrace the latest trends while respecting tradition.

Therefore, his style of cuisine merges traditional Italian and Mediterranean cuisine with the modern demands of the food service industry based on the availability of the best raw ingredients in any given territory.

Fabio is executive chef at Italy's famous Hotel Splendido in Padua. He is a cookbook author, TV host, international culinary judge and is actively involved with several charitable industry organizations.

John Nocita - ICI President, Master Chef, Sommelier, Gelataio, Maestro Olearo

John is among Europe's leading consultants for menu development, new dining concepts and is a certification specialist for the European Community's Product Authenticity Program. He is an award winning chef, a member of the Italian Olive Oil Masters and a sommelier. John founded the Italian Institute for Advanced Culinary and Pastry Arts to constantly update cooking techniques and menu development for chefs and patissier in the world's increasingly competitive environment.

His memberships include the Italian Master Chefs Society, Italian Culinary Federation and Confrerie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs. In 2001, John was awarded for Outstanding Contributions to Promote Fine Dining from the Distinguished Restaurants of North America whom Wine Spectator describes as "the authority on fine dining". John is on the board of several associations and is a founding director of Italy's equivalent to Meals on Wheels. He contributes articles to over 30 trade magazines and newspapers internationally.

Nicola Stratoti - Master Baker, Maestro Scultore, Executive Chef

Pane Artistico, or Artistic Baking, is the newest form of decorative food styling on the international culinary scene and is already a main competition attraction at the world's top events including Bocuse d'Or, SIAB, Rimini and the IKA International Culinary Olympics. To date, Chef Nicola has won a gold medal in all nine events that he's competed!

Chef Nicola creates fragile masterpieces for spectacular plate presentations and continues to earn praise both from culinary judges and from his vast clientele. These showpieces are not only a showstopper among the professional competition circuit but are a success among chefs and caterers who are able to use large pieces for months effectively replacing fruit and vegetable art which last only days.

Nicola instructs advanced courses at ICI as well as several other culinary academies in Italy and Europe. Emphasizing that he is a chef not a sculptor or even a baker, Nicola not only transmits this intricate technique to other professionals but shows how it is done in a conventional kitchen. Chef Nicola has been nominated to represent Team Italy for artistic bread making in the 2008 IKA Culinary Olympics.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON CHEF NICOLA AND HIS ARTWORK EXTRAORDINAIRE

Fabio Tachella - Master Chef, Master Patissier

As Europe's Chef of the Year in 2000, best selling cookbook author, General Manager of the Italian National Culinary Team and multiple gold medal winner in events held across Europe and Asia, Fabio is considered the best chef in Italy and among the best in the world.

As a master chef and master baker, his style of cuisine is based on regional Italian themes that are brought to artistic status using the techniques he created through years of competitions. Otherwise banal dishes are brought to new levels. Fabio specializes in new recipe development in Mediterranean Cuisine through natural techniques such as infusions, reductions and a liberal use of fresh herbs.

Years of international competitions show us that food must not only be perfect on the palate but visually stunning as well. This is where Fabio uses his expertise as a baker and was one of the first to realize that everything on a plate, including the decorations, must be edible. He earned many awards for the effort years ago when it was still a new concept. But while others are still using "standard" decorative technique, Fabio has moved ahead creating the fragile masterpieces which continue to earn him praise both from culinary judges as from his vast clientele.

Alessandro Urilli - Master Patissier, Master Chocolatier

A true disciple of art, after one year of English language school, Alessandro attended the Westminster University of Art (London) until 1986. Then he studied at the Bath Academy of Arts until 1988. From 1992 to 1996, he attended the Thames Valley University where he followed his calling to pastry arts and earned degrees in pastry science and sommelier.

Alex's return to the Italian patissier scene moved him to the international spotlight. He was head pastry chef at Milan's Peck, the "temple of gastronomy" and Rome's most famous pastry shop, Mondo. In 2000, he was made a member of Accademia Maestri Pasticcere Italiani, Italy's exclusive master pâtissier association and in the same year he became one of the only members of Relais Desserts in Italy.

Alex regularly competes in world class culinary competitions and has earned numerous medals and titles including 1st Place/ Best Pâtissier at the International Pastry & Baking Salon (SIAB) in Verona, Italy in 2001.

Besides private consulting for numerous clients including Callebaut Chocolate where he creates innovative desserts and spectacular decorations in chocolate, sugar work and pastillage, Alex regularly contributes articles to several pastry magazines internationally including Italy's largest, "Pasticceria Internazionale".

Alex is constantly traveling to four continents and always in touch with latest trends and, most importantly, would be trends... He is a consummate instructor and is as entertaining as he is talented. Alex speaks Italian, English and French.

Robert Agosti, Maestro Pasticcere
Francesco Arrigoni, Editor of De Gustibus
Luigi Biasetto, author, culinary judge & gold medal champion patissier
Carlo Bresciani, Palace Hotel, Exec. Chef
Pascal Brunstein, MOF
Sandro Cappotto, Castello Melvezzi, Exec. Chef
Enrico Cerea, Da Vittorio, Exec. Chef
Vittorio Fusari, Il Volto, Exec. Chef
Angelo Grasso, Gelatiere
Franco Guardone, Cala di Volpe, Exec. Chef
Pietro Leeman, Ristorante Goia, Exec. Chef
Pierpaolo Magni, Master Pastry Chef
Gianluca Mannori, Master Pastry Chef Italian National Culinary Team
Gualtiero Marchesi, Chef legend
Luigi Quintieri, Master Chef
Claudio Sadler, Sadler, Exec chef & owner
Eliseo Tonti, Master baker & author of Decor 2000