My Mother’s Kitchen, My Father’s Garden

As a child, back in Cremona, Italy, I just loved helping my mother in her kitchen and getting dirty in my father’s garden. I took great pride in picking the most amazing tasting vegetables, and bringing them to my mother – especially the juicy tomatoes that my father and I grew together. She saw I had a real interest in cooking. Even at the tender age of 13, she took the time to teach me pretty much everything she knew about preparing and serving great food, from the heart.

Years have passed, and even after becoming executive chef and co-owner of Toronto’s coveted Mistura restaurant, preparing meals for royalty and at elite Michelin star restaurants, and through countless television appearances, I always held on to those childhood memories in my mother’s kitchen, and my father’s garden.

Since then, I’ve always wanted to travel the world, exploring food where it’s harvested, at its most basic level. I’ve never stopped wanting to learn about gastronomy, and always wanted to partner with local chefs from those global destinations, creating amazing dishes together, with local ingredients and techniques I could then take back to my restaurant, Mistura, in Toronto, bringing the world to local palettes.

That opportunity has now arrived with my first show on Travel+Escape channel, Gourmet Escapes – and it launches Nov. 2, 8pm ET/5pm PT! Here’s a sneak peak of what’s in store.

I hope you’ll join me on my journey in coming weeks as I travel the world, learning about food and the special way it’s prepared – from Switzerland, Iceland and Amsterdam, to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and even Canada’s own beautiful Niagara-on-the-Lake and beyond.

After each show, I hope you’ll visit me here online at TravelandEscape.ca, where we can engage further about those great culinary destinations visited on Gourmet Escapes – or just drop by to share with me your own passion for global flavor!

Buon Appetito!