Having completed an economics degree and a master in marketing and communication, Valeria started working in the marketing department of a wine producer in the northern Italian Veneto region, but her real passion for food and wine started turning her attention. She decided to fully immerge in this world thanks to a master in marketing and communication at the Città del Gusto (City of Taste) of Gambero Rosso in Rome, which was followed by a work experience in the commercial division. She is currently in charge of marketing and communication for a company in the food industry, a role that allows her to travel and sample Italy’s culinary delicacies.

Born in Rome 33 years ago, he has always lived in Turin. He loves travelling the world getting lost in markets while searching for spices, fruit and street foods. When it's time to eat, nothing gets in his way and he passes with enthusiasm from haute cuisine to extreme experiences such as crickets or other uncommon food goods. A Sommelier diploma, a number of cooking and beer and cheese tasting courses, complete the picture of a person who loves eating and drinking well... at every latitude!

He has three puzzled children and a patient wife, the rest comes and goes in front of his astonished gaze. He has lived places and met people and cannot believe he hasn't finished doing so yet. He is certain he owns a bicycle, but it might well be an astrolabe. Yesterday is was a pretzel, from Thailand.

Luigi Benedetti started his career in a famous Roman wine shop: this was square one of his journey in the vast world of food and wine, with a focus on the derivation of wines also thanks to his acquaintance with some of the most renowned wine experts. His other passion are cocktails: having met Antonio “the Professor” Parlapiano, he raised a very personal bridge between two different and yet connected worlds, continuing his quest of drinking well. It's not important to know what venues are hip at the moment, likelihood is Luigi has already been a client of that bar.

A life spent between biceps at the counter and abdominals at the table. He started in the flamboyant 1980s by skiving off school aged 15 and going to the “Dodici Apostoli” restaurant and ended up describing food and wine for Italy’s main printed and online publications.

From Rome. Born in 82. Web writer, food photographer, event manager, today and always refreshing passion to cook. Degrees in Arts and master degree in Communication and Journalism Food and Wine with Gambero Rosso. Among the many obstacles, life has been generous and allowed me to make my natural inclinations in real job, amalgamating with care and perseverance until the dough is smooth and compact. For this reason, and for some other occupations that I'm not going to list here, I often find myself embarrassed to define what is for me the world of food and gastronomy to those who casually asks me: which is your job?

Born in Italy from English parents, he has spent most of his life in the countryside of the Lazio Region, among the marbles of Rome and on Brighton's beaches. He enjoys cooking Anglo-Italian fusion dishes for his friends and prefers going out to a trattoria than to gourmet restaurants.

Grazie al cielo ho una bocca per bere e non è facile grazie a te ho una barca da scrivere, ho un treno da perdere.

(Thank God I have a mouth for drinking and it's not easythanks to you I have load to write, a train to miss.) 

Alessandro Bocchetti and Andrea Sponzilli

Italian, born in 1975, he has been living in Brazil for many years where he promotes made in Italy products related to food and wine thanks to initiatives that involve local sector experts. Dynamic and passionate, he's never too tired to travel the world to see for himself and closely learn about the local culture of the place he is visiting. Curious by nature, he loves the simplicity of everyday life: the one of markets and city squares, of trattorie, of taverns, where he always goes to try to see first-hand in order to fully absorb the vitality conveyed by these places.

Born in the Romagna area of Italy, he’s 48 years old, has a wife from the Adriatic coast and 3 children: Livia, Pietro and Elettra. Giorgio is a full-time "wine and food writer" and the curator of Enologica, the most important wine and food event in the region of Emilia-Romagna. In his career he has collaborated with Luigi Veronelli, Slow Food Editore and Gambero Rosso. Wine is his main interest, but he is also passionate about olive oil and productive chains. Restaurants are the last stage, the synthesis of an investigation that starts with nature and arrives, many miles down the road, at your table. The guiding principle of all his activity is “language”, meaning everything that comes after good.

Stefania Monaco was born in Calabria and has a punk character. (Everything and now. I’ve changed idea. I’m not very interested in the future, I’m interested in now).
She dreams of pacifism, but wants to take part in a revolution.
She is intolerant of people who don’t have a fine palate or a good sense of taste; for the quality of food, for the message it contains, she stays well clear of un-tempting tables and, as far as music is concerned, clear of the San Remo Festival.
She is very aware that if one million people from the Southern region of Calabria were taken to the Northern region of Veneto and one million from Veneto were taken to Calabria the situation in Italy might improve.
In the meantime she makes friends and observes the people of the Veneto region. She is in love with a guy from the Lucania area, who she rescued on the road to Damascus (he was buying food at a discount supermarket).
Her mother is part from Emilia, part Austro-Hungarian, her father is part from Calabria and part from Puglia, but she lives in Rome with a piece of heart still in her native Castrovillari.
 

He was born in Potenza, Basilicata, in 1992. Having moved to Milan, he went to the Scientific Technological High School, where he discovered a passion for photography. He soon understood that this was the career he wanted to pursue and having finished school he signed-up at the Italian Institute of Photography, where he graduated in 2013. During his years as a student he collaborated with a top-end cuisine magazine and, perhaps influenced by the genes of his chef father, he became passionate about the immense world of food.

Born in 1991, Lorenzo was overcome by an overwhelming passion for the world of gastronomy during an enlightening trip to Barcelona, when he was nearing his 18th birthday. Since then he has been heading off to wherever he can get to on his student budget, seeking new tables, products and flavours to write about on blogs, internet and sector magazines (even well-known ones). His fiery and enthralling gourmet attitude characterizes his life and work.

Andrea Sponzilli was born on the 21st of June 1981 and lives in Rome. He’s an atypical industrial engineer with a strong passion for the Italian landscape that has induced him to permanently occupy his time with food and drink, products and artisan know-how of Italy. Among his interests, aside from an unrestrained use of knives and forks, are photography and cooking, both of traditional dishes and of his own creations.

Paolo Trimani was born among the counters of a wine shop from a family that in Italy is synonymous with wine. He has always been tasting and for some time he has been writing: understanding where one finishes and the other commences is not easy, while understanding his popular and cultured narrative is extremely easy.