Tag: food

Morganti Caffè Bar opened in London bringing the taste of Italy in UK

London (Giulia Faloia) – Morganti Caffè Bar and patisserie A. Tornatora are now offering a piece of Italy in the center of London.

You can sit in the middle of Tottenham Court Road and taste the flavors of Rome thanks to coffee,  cornetti, snack on tramezzini, drink aperitivo, feast on gelato and dine on home-made food.

You can find the fragrance of the Italian bakery at 187 Tottenham Court Road, Fitzrovia, W1T 7PQ, getting the opportunity to try the Italian cornetto, that is a croissant very light and crumbly and made with very little sugar.

The opening in London is just the beginning of an international expansion programme and it keeps on increasing the reputation of an historical brand.

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In fact Morganti Caffé Bar was founded in Rome in 1890 and it has been hosting very famous consumers during the years. The Vatican for example – in particular Pope John Paul II – is one of Morganti’s greatest fan.

The family patisserie and bakery A. Tornatora is an historical brand too and it offers the very best in sweet and savoury artisanal gastronomy and home-made gelato of the highest quality.

Everything is handmade daily, using fresh, quality ingredients with the artisanal touch. Quality creations, including gluten-free, include mignons, classic pastries, cakes, ice-cream cakes, and custom made cakes. The deli counter offers light, tasty dishes, carpaccio, seafood and spelt salads, seasonal salads, savoury croissants, mini pizza and much more.  Ice creams are a feature, strictly home-made, with seasonal fruit and wholesome, high quality ingredients. 

Coffe and cakes in the centre of London that bring you on the shores of the Tiber. Everything you can ask for whether you prefer the Italian or the English taste.

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Morganti Caffè Bar loves the planet too. With the motto ‘greener every day’, they have been recycling everyday waste since 1985, they use roasting equipment which uses less fuel thus producing less emission and their coffee machines use less than half the energy than other machines.

You can have the opportunity to taste their creations at any time, since the Caffè is open seven days a week from 7 am to 10 pm for coffee, breakfast, brunch, express lunch and supper, including takeaway service. 

The lovers of the happy hour will be happy to try the Aperitivo Italiano, served every day from 6 pm for a fixed price of £9.50, to include a choice of Aperol Spritz, a glass of prosecco, a glass or wine or beer, with a generous selection of bite-size deli foods, prepared daily.

The very best choice for every kind of palate, try to believe. 

Food Sustainability Media Award launched at Radici by Francesco Mazzei

London – by Chiara Fiorillo

Food Sustainability Media Award is an initiative, organised by Thomson Reuters Foundation and Barilla Center For Food & Nutrition, to raise awareness of the importance of food, going beyond its taste. It recognises that food is good when it benefits people and the planet.

Today, food sustainability is a global concern and the media has a key role to play in it by informing people about what is going on, in order to create a more sustainable future.

Entries for the award are open to journalists and emerging writers from all over the world. Its aim is to raise awareness of the issue of sustainability through all kinds of media, from written articles, to videos, to photography.

Food Sustainability Media Award was launched on 9 May 2017 at Francesco Mazzei’s recently-opened restaurant Radici in Islington, London.

Antonio Zappulla, Chief Operating Officer at Thomson Reuters Foundation, opened the event, by explaining what the award is about. Then, Luca Di Leo, Head of Media Relations at Barilla and BCFN Foundation, talked about the importance of food sustainability: “When you throw away an apple, you are throwing away 70l of water. Think about that.”

Credits: SpiceDeli/Twitter

This means that a huge quantity of food is wasted while people in other parts of the world die because of hunger.

Then, Francesco Mazzei talked about what food sustainability means to him. The famous Italian chef, indeed, tries to avoid food waste not only when he is at work, but also in his private life. At the opening of the event, he told the guests how he usually turns the meat he cooks for lunch on Sunday into kebabs for his daughter and son to eat in front of the TV in the afternoon. By doing so, he makes sure that nothing goes into the bin.

About 1.3 billion tons of edible food is wasted every day, that is four times the amount needed to feed the 795 million undernourished peole around the world.

During the night, Francesco Mazzei prepared a surprise four-course meal: from pasta, to fish, to meat, to meringue, he showed how chefs can create “beautiful food without waste”. And for this reason, he said: “The risotto I served last night is your arancini starter today. Cooking with leftovers has been a great exercise.”

The power of the media to increase food sustainability is huge. And this is what the award is about. Anyone can take part in it. Both published and unpublished work can be submitted. Information can be found on the website of the Award.

Italian chef Massimo Bottura to launch his third Refettorio in London

London – by Chiara Fiorillo

Massimo Bottura, top Italian chef and founder of three-Michielin-star restaurant Osteria Francescana in Modena, will cook in London for the first time during London Food Month.

In June, “the poet chef” will launch his third Refettorio, run by his non-profit organisation Food for Soul. The project follows the success of similar initiatives during Expo 2015 in Milan and during last year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The location of the Refettorio has not been revealed yet, but its name has: it will be called the Refettorio Felix after Felix Byam Shaw, who inspired a campaign, run by the Evening Standard, to tackle food waste and hunger. The Felix Project will supply ingredients which otherwise would have been thrown away.

The Refettorio Felix will be open for lunch from Monday to Friday, aiming to serve 2,000 meals during London Food Month. Bottura will team up with a different British chef every day to produce healthy food for vulnerable people.

The Italian chef will also teach new recipes and how to create healthy meals with surplus food. He said: “Chefs have risen to celebrity heights. I believe we can use these heights to illuminate the most pressing issues facing society today.”

Credits: Scatti di Gusto

His non-profit organisation, Food for Soul, promotes wellbeing for people who are marginalised or excluded from society. “Chefs are invited to cook nutritious and healthy meals and demonstrate how ingredients from food waste can be nourishing. Volunteers are invited to serve guests at their table; this helps to promote social inclusion through human contact,” Bottura said. “The gesture of sitting down to a meal and breaking bread together is the first step towards rebuilding dignity and creating a community. A warm, seasonal, and delicious meal shared at a table with others is much more than the sum of the ingredients. It is a gesture of love,” he added. 

Jamie Oliver to close six restaurants because of Brexit effect

London – by Rosita Pirulli

The English chef Jamie Oliver has already closed six restaurants out of his 42, firing 120 employees, who probably will be sent to other stores of his chain ‘Jamie’s Italian’.

The post Brexit effect has affected him, revealing the early difficulties to import Italian products in London.

Yes, Jamie is well known as the English chef who cooks great Italian dishes in the UK, and because of this his franchising’s name (Jamie’s Italian) is understandable. The chef has had success over the years thanks to some TV programs such as ‘Jamie’s great Italian escape’ or the BBC’s ‘The naked chef’. His cleverness made him cook for Tony Blair at 10 Downing Street.

However, today his career is facing some economical difficulties born from the increase of empty tables. The referendum expectations made in June about the tourism’s growth after Brexit, are not taking place in Jamie’s world.

Thus, the economy has given him doubts about the present and the future, because of which he has closed some of his stores.

His current situation could be summed up with a statement: ‘Prevention is better than cure’.

Will it happen the same for the other businesses of the UK? At the moment the situation is not very critique and Jamie Oliver’s decision should not create a Domino effect.

Italian Food enraptures the UK: Interview with Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health

Interview by Valentina Celi, Article by Ilaria Edja Gallo  

Interview with Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health.

Last night, Wednesday 28th September, from 6pm to midnight at Le Meridien Piccadilly, we celebrated Italian food, drink and culture. The event has been organised by CLWCA conservative Italian Group 2016 in collaboration with APCI UK, the Association of Italian Professional Chefs in the UK.

Many prominent political guests, such as Jeremy Hunt MP, Secretary of State for Health, Mark Field MP, Vice Chairman of the Conservative Party, Alberto Costa MP, South Leicestershire, Zac Goldsmith MP for Richmond Park & North Kingston and Dr Tania Mathias MP for Twickenham attended this amazing and successful event together with 450 guests.

Zac Goldsmith, LondonONEradio Staff. Photo by Leslie Weir, LondonONERadio- BenTV
Jeremy Hunt, LondonONEradio Staff. Photo by Leslie Weir, LondonONERadio- BenTV

The celebration has been accompanied by the amazing entertainment given by the acclaimed Italian tenor Yuri Sabatini and Giuseppe Mauriello, Laura Araldo, the guitarist Domenico Ranieri and The Tony P Riccio Trio.

LondonONEradio managed to question Jeremy Hunt, Secretary of State for Health about the importance of the mediterranean diet:

Do you think it is important to support the mediterranean diet and to promote it in the UK?

Absolutely, because we now have a huge amount of evidence that mediterranean diet is less salt, less red meat, more fish, olive oil instead of butter and this reduces cholesterol and therefore it reduces the risk of heart disease, cancer, even things like Alzheimer and dementia. So it’s the best way of eating healthily and it’s also delicious. So most of this diet you go on, you have to deny yourself the best things, but actually the mediterranean diet is healthy and delicious so we would love more people to be on the mediterranean diet.

What is your plan of action about obesity? We know that in the past few years Uk developed and faced severe problems linked to obesity.

Well, we have the second largest problem with obesity in the whole of Europe, and we are very worried particularly for children who spend a lot of time behind computers, not as much time as they used to out and about playing. So we have a big plan to change it: we want to get children more active, we want to encourage manufacturers to reduce the sugar content in their food as there’s a lot of sugar in things like frozen pizzas, and actually you can reduce the sugar and not affect the taste. So we want to encourage people, encourage the manufacturers to do that, but we also need to promote understanding among consumers about an healthy diet and certainly mediterranean diet is a big part of that.

So is it possible to say that embracing the mediterranean diet would be the “best thing” for the UK population?

I think that we have to be careful because in this country people don’t like politicians telling them what to eat, so probably if you want to promote a mediterranean diet it’s not helpful to have Jeremy Hunt telling everyone to eat it. But I think you do the best job marketing it yourself. I mean the quality of Italian food that you can get in the UK, now, is transformed compared to 20 or 30 years ago. But I think, what I can do is to encourage everyone to recognize that olive oil is more healthy than butter, that fish is more healthy than red meat, and Italian food is a great way to enjoy those things.

Jeremy Hunt, LondonONEradio Staff. Photo by Leslie Weir, LondonONERadio- BenTV

Last but not least: which is your favourite Italian dish?

My favourite Italian dish? I have absolutely no hesitation in telling you the answer to that. I have a small holiday house in Sicily and the “Antipasti” from Sicily, they are my favourite. I am sorry if you’re from the north of Italy, but they are much nicer than “antipasti” from the North. And my daughter favourite dish,
without doubt, is Gelato, but for me it’s the “antipasti”.

The event had both an educational and charitable aim: in fact, the 20% of profits from the tickets sale will be used to help the people struck by the earthquake in Italy.

The sponsor for this event

“London Calling”… and Italian gastronomy answers!

By Valentina Celi

The first edition of “London Calling” has just wrapped up, fulfilling its aim to represent the high quality of Italian culinary excellence in Britain.

Four days full of events to satisfy even the most demanding palates: this is “London Calling”, the event that sparked the first week of September in the British capital, with the intent to “promote the gourmet food made in Italy through a tasty and multi-sensory journey, involving Italian and British importers companies in the B2B meetings “.

The idea stems from the intuition of Confcooperativa and Confartigianato of the Emilia Romagna Region and the need to facilitate contacts between foreign countries and small and medium-sized Italian companies, the ones who most of all have suffered because of the economic crisis, and who are now seeking redemption thanks to the high quality and craftsmanship of their products.

Here is the complete list of companies that have taken part in “London Calling”:

“4 Madonne”, Dairy Farm, Lesignana (MO)

“Acetaia La Bonissima”, Balsamic vinegar makers, Casinalbo (MO)

“Attinà”, Preserved food factory, Villa San Giovanni (RC)

“Bardini” Chocolatiers, Piacenza (PC)

“BAUM”, Fair Trade, Ferrara

“Busuoli” Pastry, Mirandola (MO)

“Cantina Settecani”, Wine makers, Settecani Castelvetro di Modena (MO)

“Cantina Solopaca”, Wine makers, Solopaca (BN)

“La Contadina”, Preserved food factory, Sant’Antonio Abate (NA)

“Salumificio La Rocca”, Cured pork meat factory, Castell’Arquato (PC)

“Sapori del Duca”, Gastronomic Company, Pesaro

The young and dynamic team of INDIGO – International business developer, was in charge of the organizational part, and not only it garnered the support of some of the most interesting companies in the area, but it also increased the participation by going beyond the borders of the Emilia Romagna region, and involving some innovative factories from Southern Italy.

In the past days we had at LondonONEradio’s microphones one of the organizers, Daniele Catalano, who told us in detail the “London Calling” concept and gave us an insider’s perspective of the project; listen again to the interview on LondonONEradio.

To promote the Italian culinary excellence in the UK, the organisational team has given free rein to the creativity of the managers of the famous “Bacco”, Italian restaurant, who realized an ad hoc menu, to bring out the the maximum from the products, even adding some artistic twists.

Some of the courses of the “London Calling” dinner at Ristorante Bacco
Some of the courses of the “London Calling” dinner at Ristorante Bacco

Bystanders were able to enjoy the company of the producers, who have done their utmost to best explain the pursuit of quality of the raw materials and special processes used in processing their products, which were then tasted thanks to a six-course dinner, in which the Calabrian chef Andrea Librandi was able to give the right push to sponsored products, while enhancing the flavours of the interesting selection of wines.

The menu and wine list selected to represent Italian companies at London Calling
The menu and wine list selected to represent Italian companies at London Calling

In short, “London Calling” … and Italian gastronomy answers!