Author: Jeremy Parzen

Fabio Picchi, whose legendary restaurant Cibreo in Florence reshaped the way the world viewed Tuscan cuisine, has died. According to La Nazione, he was 68 and had been battling a long-term illness.

Named after the classic Tuscan dish cibreo — a sauce made with chicken combs, wattles, and livers — the restaurant has been a gathering place for the Italian and international glitterati since its opening in 1979. The celebrities, intellectuals, and culinary luminaries came as much for the food as the verve and artistry of the larger-than-life chef, author of numerous cookbooks and even a historical novel.

Picchi’s passion for theater would lead him to open the Circolo Teatro del Sale, the “Theater of Salt” dining club in Florence in 2003. Since that time, the venue has combined theater, high-concept cafeteria dining, and retail sales of chilometro zero (“zero kilometer” or farm-to-table) food products, a category that Picchi championed throughout his career.

He was part of the new wave of the enlightened culinary icons who emerged in the late 1970s and early 80s. But he always stood apart from the crowded field of “back to the land” chefs thanks to his artistic flair and literary leanings.

Beyond his revitalization of cibreo, a recipe with noble origins that had been relegated to the dust bin of forgotten rustic recipes, his notable dishes included panzanella croccante (a crunchy version of the typically pliable Tuscan classic) and myriad iterations of baccalà (salt cod).

Many American food lovers will remember his appearance last year in a video from Stanley Tucci’s “Searching for Italy” food and travel documentary on CNN. In this short clip, Picchi explains how the quality of the sea salt is key to a great bistecca fiorentina and he reveals that he adds olive branches and leaves to the coals to give the beef greater flavor.

Picchi was active on his Facebook until just a few weeks ago, garnering thousands of likes with each post. His passing has deeply saddened the local and international communities of Italian food lovers.

His son Giulio will continue to run his celebrated restaurant, write the editors of La Nazione.

Image via the Fabio Picchi public figure Facebook page. 

Texas BBQ and Chianti
Tasting and Seminar
with pit master Ara Malekian
Spec’s Italian wine buyer Tom Dobson
food writer Eric Sandler (CultureMap)

Monday, March 14
2:30 p.m.

$25 per person
includes admission to the walk-around tasting

Click here to register.

Taste of Italy’s most popular seminar, “Texas BBQ and Italian Wine,” returns this year with celebrity pit master Ara Malekian, Tom Dobson, the Italian specialist and wine buyer for Spec’s, one of the largest wine retailers in the U.S. today.

They will be joined with leading Houston food writer Eric Sandler.

For this sure to be sold-out event, Ara, Tom, and Eric will be leading wine and BBQ lovers through a tasting of top Italian wines served alongside smoked meats from Ara’s legendary Harlem Road Texas BBQ.

Spec’s has partnered with Taste of Italy this year for the first time as a title sponsor. And all the wines poured will be available at Spec’s flagship location in midtown Houston.

Wine writer Jeremy Parzen will moderate the panel.

Image via the Harlem Road Texas BBQ Facebook.

This event is presented by Spec’s and Consorzio Vino Chianti.

We are pleased to announce that the 2022 Villa Sandi Houston Sommelier Competition is now open to candidates from anywhere in the world!

Any and all wine professionals are encouraged to apply.

The only requirement is that candidates be present for testing in Houston during the Taste of Italy festival and fair — March 13-14, 2022.

The winner of this competition will receive a $750 stipend and a fully sponsored trip to Vinitaly, the annual Italian wine trade fair in Verona. The runner up will receive a stipend of $750. The second runner up will receive $500.

Villa Sandi, producer of premium Prosecco, is this year’s Houston Sommelier Competition title sponsor.

The Texas Wine School will also offer one or more scholarships, including the Riccardo Caflisch Memorial Scholarship in Italian Wine Studies, to qualified competitors who complete the Texas Wine School’s scholarship application, which can be found and downloaded here.

If you’d like to participate in the 2022 competition, please send an email to the organizers by clicking here. Please be sure to specify your accreditation status and your current job status.

The brainchild of Houston-based sommelier Jaime De Leon, a regional wine buyer and manager for Kroger supermarkets, the Houston Sommelier Competition is modeled after the Court of Sommeliers exam, considered by many to be one of the most challenging in the wine world today.

Candidates will be required to complete a theory test (arguably the hardest of the three exams); a blind tasting where they have to identify the grape, the appellation, and the vintage; and a service test where they will have to serve wine in a mock dining room setting.

For the 2019 event (the last time the competition was held), more than 20 sommeliers participated. The winners (above) were awarded with honorariums intended to help them continue their fine wine studies.

De Leon will be enlisting some of the city’s top sommeliers and wine experts to serve as judges and proctors for the exams.

Taste of Italy, March 13-14, 2022 in Houston.

Taste of Italy Houston is the largest trade fair in the U.S. devoted exclusively to Italian wine and food products.

Ethical Wine: An alternate path.
Tasting and Seminar
with sommelier Steven McDonald MS and wine writer Dale Robertson
moderated by wine writer Jeremy Parzen
featuring the wines of
Tenuta dei Mori (Umbria)
and
Santoiolo (Umbria).

Monday, March 14
10:30 a.m.

Click here to register.

For the lead-off tasting and seminar at the 2022 Taste of Italy Houston trade fair, Italian wine educator Jeremy Parzen will be moderating a discussion of “Ethical Wine: An alternate path.”

He will be joined by Steven McDonald MS, wine director for Pappas Bros. Steakhouse in Houston and one of the top tasters in the city; and wine writer Dale Robertson, author of Sporty Wine Guy and former wine columnist at the Houston Chronicle.

Steven will lead attendees through a technical tasting of the wines using the methodology developed for the Court of Sommeliers blind tasting exam.

We’re also hoping that Steven will share one of his wine-themed raps!

With the growing interest in organically farmed wines, consumers have become increasingly excited about buying and drinking wines that are “organically certified.”

But what many wine lovers don’t realize is that organic farming, depending and where and how it is managed, can actually be detrimental to the environment and the communities that live in proximity to estates where “organic” wine grapes are raised. Another thing that consumers might not be aware of is that even when the grapes are farmed organically, the vinification process may still include synthetic additives that few would call “organic.” Lastly, the financial burdens of organic farming can be so overwhelming that many wineries simply can’t afford the costs of the farming itself, not to mention the certification process.

Today, many winemakers and grape growers across Italy and Europe are looking to alternate, “sustainable” approaches to grape farming and winemaking. In the light of this, the organizers of Taste of Italy have asked two leading Umbrian wineries to share “ethically” farmed wines that reflect an overarching approach to sustainability balanced by quality. While they both employ organic and biodynamic farming practices, neither is certified and neither religiously follows the restrictive precepts of organic and biodynamic viticulture. The result is high-quality wines that help to bolster the health and well being of the communities where they make their wine.

As new information regarding Covid 19 continues to become available, the organizers of Taste of Italy Houston 2022 are monitoring the situation closely. In the light of the fact that travel plans remain fluid, they have decided to make the trade fair’s Early Bird registration 100 percent refundable in case of any travel restrictions.

In order to obtain the discounted rate for early registration, please contact IACC deputy director Maurizio Gamberucci at [email protected].

The deadline for Early Bird Registration is December 17.

Exhibitors concerned with losing their deposit because of unforeseen travel restrictions need not worry: All Early Bird fees are 100 percent refundable if exhibitors are unable to attend due to travel restrictions.

Please contact Maurizio (see his email above) for more information.

The organizers of Taste of Italy Houston are thrilled to announce that the Houston Sommelier Competition will return in 2022!

The brainchild of Houston-based sommelier Jaime De Leon, a regional wine buyer and manager for Kroger supermarkets, the Houston Sommelier Competition is modeled after the Court of Sommeliers exam, considered by many to be one of the most challenging in the wine world today.

Contestants will be required to complete a theory test (arguably the hardest of the three exams); a blind tasting where they have to identify the grape, the appellation, and the vintage; and a service test where they will have to serve wine in a mock dining room setting.

For the 2019 event (the last time the competition was held), more than 20 sommeliers participated. The winners (above) were awarded with honorariums intended to help them continue their fine wine studies.

De Leon will be enlisting some of the city’s top sommeliers and wine experts to serve as judges and proctors for the exams.

Stay tuned for more details!

Taste of Italy is scheduled for March 13-14, 2022 in Houston.

For more information, please contact Italy-America Chamber of Commerce deputy director and Taste of Italy director Maurizio Gamberucci at [email protected].

Taste of Italy Houston is the largest trade fair in the U.S. devoted exclusively to Italian wine and food products.