A little over a year after CHIC’s last Piedmont event, the In The Kitchen Tour came back to one of Italy’s great food regions on Wednesday 11 September 2019. It was the fourth stage of the year for the BtoB event created and organised by CHIC – Charming Italian Chef, bringing local chefs together with national food companies and Piedmontese food and wine producers.

The venue and the host

The 2019 Piedmont day was held at Cascina Faletta 1881, in the heart of Monferrato. The estate dates to the late 1800s, a year recorded on the original ceramic plaque still at the entrance. Owners Elena Novarino and Giovanni Rosso have carefully restored it to green building standards, creating a farmhouse with ten rooms, a winery with a tasting room and the restaurant Faletta 1881. The restaurant serves Piedmontese tradition with flair under Paolo Viviani, a CHIC member since 2017 who was born in Novara.

Viviani coordinated the day as head of the brigade. He said working side by side with other chefs is stimulating and leads to great results. Elena Novarino said the estate was delighted to host and that food is a powerful bond between people.

A culinary jam session

From 10.30 am to 2.30 pm, more than 20 chefs and pizza makers from Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria cooked new dishes and pizzas by improvisation, choosing ingredients from around 30 participating companies in a market-style area.

• CHIC members: Flavio Costa, Umberto De Martino, Enrico Gerli and Giorgio Servetto, joining Paolo Viviani.
• Guest professionals: a wide group of Piedmontese and Ligurian chefs and pizza makers, including Andrea Soban, gelato maestro of SOBAN Gelateria in Alessandria, and Gabriele Vannucci, an AMPI maestro and Carpigiani Gelato University instructor.
• Partners: Carpigiani joined other national CHIC partner companies and local Piedmontese producers.

Bring it to your business in New Zealand

Events like this show gelato’s growing place alongside the best of regional produce. If you run a restaurant or café and want to add house-made gelato, Majors Group can advise on foodservice equipment and Carpigiani machines, and arrange training with Carpigiani Gelato University.

Source: Carpigiani news. Rewritten for New Zealand by Majors Group.