Francesco Zini and Alessio Ferraro between stories, flavors and community: when the table becomes social.
The event
The meeting between food vlogger Francesco Zini and chef Alessio Ferraro gave birth to the “Appetuto” project (from the catchphrase “Buon appetuto a titti” that the influencer uses in his videos). It is a format that combines social dinners, tastings and storytelling, involving chefs and locals, to allow Francesco to meet live with his community composed today of more than 600000 followers distributed on 4 social channels.
The chosen place of meeting and exchange could only be the table, indeed the largest social table in Europe, inside the iconic spaces with an industrial imprint of Officine Grandi Riparazioni in Turin. At the stove juggled Alessio Ferraro, currently working in the starred kitchen of La Stüa de Michil, in Corvara, South Tyrol, and Raffaele Amitrano, resident chef of the restaurant Mammà Isola di Capri, which, after winning a star on the marvelous Campania island, recently changed location, landing in Turin.
In the tasting itinerary, Raffaele's deeply Mediterranean seafood dishes alternated with Alessio's meat offerings, where we found the autumnal comfort of alpine flavors, in a harmonious journey whose common thread was clean and forthright tastes, excellent raw materials and refined contemporary techniques.
A happy encounter that resulted in a 5-course menu: Raffaele played his cards with elegant cuttlefish tagliatelle with hazelnuts and salted lemon and pasta and potatoes with smoked amberjack, octopus and sea urchins, while Alessio included cheek ravioli with Graukase and black garlic and guinea fowl with mushroom, miso and truffle sauce. The collaboration culminated with a fresh and clever dessert created by the two chefs together: a meringue wafer with Nordic minimalism that held a buffalo mousse with pineapple, yuzu and marjoram.
But besides the top-notch dishes, the most beautiful and perhaps unexpected thing about this evening organized and managed by a team of young people, moved by volcanic enthusiasm, was undoubtedly the atmosphere. People from very different backgrounds and ages gathered at the table, curious to enrich their image of Francesco with a live contact, passionate about tasting the dishes and happy to share a carefree moment of conviviality. It was a positive atmosphere that gave us hope with respect to the fate of fine dining, which perhaps still has a future, if the new generation of communicators do not stop being passionate in front of a chef's work, want to understand its details, and then choose to speak about it with respect, promoting worthy realities, sometimes even niche ones.
Francesco certainly represents an example of how the digital world can enhance personal passion by transforming it into a successful creative career, but, as he himself acknowledges, this visibility also implies a certain degree of responsibility in conveying correct, good and fair messages about food. It is precisely the comparison and collaboration with chef Ferraro that is leading him to more consciously direct his choices with respect to the focus of his content, in a process of personal and professional maturation that will be able to bear good fruit.
Having met him in person in all its simplicity, accompanied by genuine involvement, allows us to continue to believe in a possible use of social media oriented not only on popularity, number of views or collaborations with large food chains, but with the intent to make real food culture, transmitting love and curiosity for the immense gastronomic heritage that surrounds us.
Picking up on the encouragement made by Chef Amitrano during the very conclusion of the evening, “long live the young people,” we wish these proactive, communicative, and energetic young people continued life and new breath in the complex world of food, both in the kitchen and on social media.
