About me
I am a professional chef with a decade of experience in the culinary industry.
My journey includes fine dining, advanced-level bakery, and contemporary Italian pastry. Each of these paths has shaped my culinary expertise, making me realize how fortunate I am to live in a country as rich as Italy.
I started my professional journey in London, where I worked in two English restaurants managed by Italians: Soho House in Chiswick and Bluebird in Chelsea. These busy establishments were where I learned the basic skills and how to handle the pressure during kitchen service. Later, I worked in my hometown, Ragusa, at the historic pastry shop Di Pasquale, before earning my professional chef diploma at the NOSCO culinary school in Ragusa Ibla.
After completing my studies, I became more interested in the fine dining world, working in Bagheria at the Michelin-starred restaurant I Pupi by Toni Lo Coco. My culinary adventures then took me to Venice, where I worked at a luxurious 5-star hotel, Aman Venice, where I interacted with high-end guests and refined my approach to increasingly sophisticated cuisine.
Next, I devoted myself to artisanal baking and Sicilian pastry at Panificio San Giuseppe in Ragusa, where I learned to work with ancient Sicilian grains and flours. Later, I joined Ciccio Sultano’s I Banchi, a two-Michelin-star chef, in Ragusa Ibla, managing the bakery and creating artisanal breads, cookies, focaccia, and pizzas.
n 2024, I expanded my experience abroad by joining Christine’s at Whistler Blackcomb, Canada: a mountain-top venue focused on local ingredients, seasonal menus, and premium guest experiences. Working with an international team in one of North America’s most exclusive ski destinations helped me refine my leadership, creativity, and adaptability.
Today, through Chef Francesco, I bring together everything I’ve learned: the discipline of fine dining, the soul of Sicilian cuisine, and the warmth of home cooking — creating private dining experiences that connect people through food.
THE HISTORY OF CHEF FRANCESCO
Chef Francesco was born as an idea in South Africa, where we were living at the time. What started as a simple way to share authentic Italian cuisine soon grew into something much bigger — we hosted cooking classes and pop-up dinners in restaurants around Cape Town, connecting people through food and culture.
Back in Ragusa, we continued the project with intimate fine dining experiences — multi-course dinners that celebrated local ingredients and Sicilian hospitality.
In Canada, we took it a step further, offering team-building cooking classes and private events for companies and groups in Whistler.
Now, in Argentina, we’re bringing our experiences from around the world to offer private dining, cooking classes, and culinary events that blend Italian tradition with a touch of creativity and warmth.
In February 2026, we’ll return to Italy — full of new ideas and energy — to establish our first physical location, grow our business, and continue creating meaningful food experiences, one table at a time.
“I OFTEN SAY, LEARN EVERYTHING, THEN FORGET EVERYTHING.
IT IS SO IMPORTANT TO FILL ONE’S SUITCASE WITH CULTURE, BOOKS, MUSIC, LITERATURE, AND ART, TRAVELS, AND THEN KITCHEN EXPERIENCE”
— Massimo Bottura
MORE ABOUT ME
For me, cooking is...
I learned to cook at...
A kitchen secret?
More than a job — it’s a deep form of art, culture, and connection.
It’s the best way I have to tell stories and memories, because through food I can express how I feel.
The Soho House and The Bluebird, in London. The truth is, I always say that cooking found me — I had moved to London to become a DJ, and I ended up becoming a chef instead. Even though food had always been part of my life, through my grandmothers and my grandfather Franco, it was there that I realized how far I could go with cooking.
It may sound cliché, but the foundation of my cooking is love. If you cook without love, you’re just making food.
What I value most when I cook is the freshness of ingredients and their local origin. Traveling has opened both my eyes and my heart, because in every country I’ve visited, I’ve cooked with what I found there — and that’s what I love most.