STARRED CHEFS (AND PARENTS) FOR CHILDREN – FROM THEIR RESTAURANTS TO SCHOOL CAFETERIAS IN CHIANTI CLASSICO – MOLLICA, BARCIULLI, STABILE, SAPORITO, PROBST, SANTANDREA, DI PIRRO AND SANTARPIA WILL TEACH HOW TO MAKE FOOD MORE ATTRACTIVE AND COLORFUL

From their famous restaurants to school cafeterias, eight starred chefs are ready to serve a special clientele: primary school children. They will teach the staff how to make food more attractive and appealing, especially those that children love the least, like vegetables or fish. This is the idea the municipality of San Casciano (Florence), in the heart of Chianti Classico, decided to experiment, with the project "Stars in the Cafeteria". The "Magnificent 8" Chefs are: Vito Mollica of the Four Seasons (Florence); Matia Barciulli, Osteria di Passignano (Tavarnelle), Marco Stabile, Ora d'Aria (Florence); Filippo Saporito, Leggenda dei Frati (Florence); Maria Probst and Cristian Santandrea of La Tenda Rossa (San Casciano); Gian Luca Di Pirro of Castello del Nero (Tavarnelle) and the "king" of Neapolitan pizza Giovanni Santarpia. Their mission for three months is to meet and teach the school cafeteria staff in the San Casciano area how to make dishes for children more attractive, unusual and colorful.

The idea for the project, explained Chefs Barciulli, Mollica, Probst and Santarpia, “came about because we are Chefs, and we are also parents. We wanted to give a hand in raising children’s awareness to the culture of and interest in food. Broccoli or carrots are less unpleasant if they are cooked and presented in a more playful and different manner. This way we can give children the opportunity to have a sort of culinary imprinting. They are our future and we must focus on them”.

“It is an excellent project”, said Cristina Grieco, Minister of Education of Tuscany Region, “that will stimulate the children’s curiosity, but the basis is educational, to teach them to respect food as well as those who work with food and also to demand quality in the dishes they are offered. We want to show them that lunch break is school time, too, and it has an important educational value. We are really happy because the starred Chefs responded enthusiastically to the initiative and we hope the project will be taken up all over Tuscany”.