Passionate about cooking from a young age, Gianfranco Pascucci transformed his grandfather's restaurant into a MICHELIN-Starred institution of Italian seafood cuisine.
Born in 1970, Gianfranco Pascucci developed a passion for cooking in his grandfather’s restaurant “Pascucci al Porticciolo,” near Rome. His love for gastronomy was sparked at the age of 12, when he prepared his first fish dish: spaghetti with telline clams, which he gathered himself along the Lazio coast. Following his calling, Gianfranco became a self-taught, talented, and detail-oriented chef.
Pascucci gained experience in various Italian restaurants, brief but diverse and above all, useful. The turning point came in 2000 when, with his wife Vanessa Melis and mother of their two children, he took over his grandfather's restaurant and began working to transform it into the seafood cuisine institution it is today. In 2012, the restaurant earned a MICHELIN Star, which it retains to this day. In 2016, “Pascucci al Porticciolo” was awarded the Tre Forchette by Gambero Rosso, and in 2017, the L’Espresso Restaurant Guide honored it with the award for the best seafood cuisine.
While Gianfranco was busy in the kitchen, he also became a familiar face on Rai Uno's flagship program “La prova del cuoco,” and since 2017, he has been the star and author of the TV show “Com’è profondo il mare,” from which a book of the same name was published by Gambero Rosso: Com’è profondo il mare. La mia cucina in 60 ricette (How Deep is the Sea: My Cooking in 60 Recipes). Additionally, the chef focuses on training through In Cibum, a masterclass that concentrates on fish classification, with a focus on mollusks and crustaceans, and the potential of less esteemed fish, teaching how to valorize all cuts, even the less noble ones.
Pascucci's cuisine is deeply rooted in the territory where his restaurant is located, networking with local fishermen, farmers, and producers. He is also committed to protecting the nearby WWF oasis from abandonment and erosion, where he sources herbs and algae.
On December 7, 2023, Gianfranco will participate as a guest chef at a four-handed dinner conceived by Reporter Gourmet at “Roland Brancaccio,” alongside chef Carlo Alberto d’Audino.
