From Cracco to Ferran Adrià: Loretta Fanella is one of the most influential figures in contemporary pastry. With her Loretta Fanella Pastry Experience in Livorno, she transforms desserts into edible works of art — a harmony of aesthetics, technique, and emotion.
Born in Fiuggi in 1980, Loretta Fanella dreamed of becoming a fashion designer. Her parents, wanting her to stay close to home, enrolled her in a culinary school, unaware that this decision would take her much farther than they imagined. There, she discovered that style and creativity weren’t exclusive to fashion: pastry, too, could be an expression of beauty and precision.
After graduating, in 1999, she began her career at Antica Pesa under Chef Fabio Tacchella, a defining step in her culinary journey. Two years later, she became an assistant at CAST Alimenti in Brescia, a prestigious school of haute pastry, where she worked alongside the world’s leading culinary masters, refining her technique and discipline.
In 2001, driven by determination, she presented herself at Carlo Cracco’s restaurant for a trial. Though met with skepticism, she soon earned the chef’s respect and stayed at Cracco Peck for over three years, working on both bread and pastry. Here she learned the value of quality, research, and resilience — principles that continue to guide her work and teaching.
Her life-changing experience came soon after, with Albert Adrià. Following a short internship at El Bulli, Loretta was invited to stay and spent four years working alongside Ferran and Albert Adrià in Roses. Immersed in the most avant-garde laboratory in the world, she helped redefine the concept of the dessert course, transforming it into an artistic and sensory experience.
In 2006, she returned to Italy and joined Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, where she revolutionized the dessert menu with a new sense of lightness, elegance, and creativity. A year later, she was awarded “Best Pastry Chef in Italy 2007” by Identità Golose.
Since 2008, Loretta has focused on training professionals, consulting for restaurants and hotels, and developing new ways to express dessert as emotion. In 2010, she published her first book, Oltre (“Beyond”), translated into four languages, followed by Dessert al piatto in 2015.
From 2014 to 2018, she designed the dessert menus for Ferragamo’s Lungarno Collection and became a Lavazza Brand Ambassador.
In 2019, she opened her own creative space in Livorno, the Loretta Fanella Pastry Experience — a laboratory and boutique where pastry becomes a sensory journey combining flavor, beauty, and memory.
In 2023, she was awarded “World’s Best Pastry Chefs” at Host Milano by Iginio Massari. The following year, she was named among the “Most Influential Women in Pastry” and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Massari himself, honoring her ability to “translate her dream of fashion into desserts that convey emotion through unique details.”
