HOLLYWOOD STARS ARE CRAZY FOR MADE IN ITALY CUISINE. THE HUNT IS ON FOR CULINARY SPECIALTIES. TOP PREFERENCES: MOZZARELLA DI BUFALA AND PARMIGIANO REGGIANO

Enough with exotic food, fast food and ethnic restaurants: today, Italian food products fascinate Hollywood stars. They prefer mozzarella di bufala (40%) and Parmigiano Reggiano cheeses (44%) to oysters and Champagne. But, they are not just interested in culinary preferences or assiduously frequenting Italian restaurants: in the last few years more and more stars have bought farms, taken over local production companies in Italy and opened restaurant chains with Italian origin chefs that cook Italy’s specialties. For example, Sting, who decided to buy and manage a farm in Tuscany and Danny De Vito who produces "Premium Limoncello", made using lemons from Sorrento, just to name a couple - not even close to dream mansions and luxury yachts. Many stars, including Lady Gaga, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert De Niro have decided to open Italian restaurant chains, turning their passion for Italian food into business.

Hollywood stars’ passion for Italian products is an international trend: the "Polli Cooking Lab" monitored and analyzed over 200 international publications (newspapers and magazines) and 1200 websites to understand the characteristics of the winning "Italian Style" products in the world that bewitch the celebrities.

Which Italian excellences have the most prestige and luster today? Seven international publications out of 10 (69%) speak only of qualified and certified "Made in Italy" food products. What are these products? Wines like Amarone (36%), cheeses like Mozzarella di Bufala (40%) and Parmigiano Reggiano (44%), cured meats like San Daniele (34%) and Prosciutto di Parma (38%), which find more space on international media than the usual luxury products like oysters and champagne.

What are the symbols of Italian excellence? Leading international newspapers celebrate Made in Italy as a sense of belonging (59%), innovation (51%), aesthetics, or the love for beauty and taste (46%). What are the characteristics and qualities of local products that are so highly appreciated abroad? They are, first of all, taste (56%), creativity (45%), craftsmanship and attention to detail (38%), variety (34%) and ability to relate and socialize (31%).

From Piedmont to Sicily, farms, estates and dairy farms that produce the excellence of Made in Italy are the hot spots for international celebrities. In an article published in "The Guardian" dedicated to Sting’s 60th birthday, the rock legend spoke of his farmhouse in Tuscany. He owns 300 acres near Figline Valdarno, 30 km south of Florence and produces extra virgin olive oil, chestnut and acacia honey, jams, fruit and vegetables. The former Police lead singer has confessed that he loves his farm because nature provides food for thought, animating his artistic inspiration.

What Italian regions have the Hollywood stars got their eyes on? Tuscany is in first place (31%), followed by Veneto (23%), Piedmont (19%), Emilia-Romagna (16%), Campania (11%) and Sicily (9%). What does eating Italian mean for Hollywood stars? According to the stars Italian food is synonymous with good taste (32%), credibility (27%) and positivity (21%). "Time" magazine indicated as one of the top 10 products produced by celebrities the “simpatico” Hollywood star Danny De Vito’s Limoncello. The actor of films such as "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "War of the Roses", is famous in America for producing Premium Limoncello, the popular liqueur made exclusively with lemons from Sorrento, in a distillery on the Sorrento Peninsula that makes one of the best Limoncellos in the world.

From passion to business, the love for Italian cuisine has inspires many American stars in the worlds of music and cinema. For instance, Lady Gaga. The "New York Times" dedicated entire pages and articles about the Grand Opening of the restaurant "Joanne", run by her parents. The restaurant is located on the Upper West Side in New York City, on Columbus Avenue. Typical Italian dishes are served in an atmosphere that recreates Tuscany and the walls are decorated with paintings of Tuscan landscapes. In recent years, American stars have left the management of the various "Planet Hollywood" restaurants and have preferred chain restaurants, which celebrate Italian cuisine. One example is Sylvester Stallone, the famous actor of Italian origin, along with two other great actors, Danny DeVito and Charlie Sheen, has recently bought the "Buca di Beppo Restaurant", located in Universal City in California.

Other great artists have also been infected by Italian cuisine, like Francis Ford Coppola, the Italian-American film director and his restaurant "Café Zoetrop" in San Francisco is proud to offer its guests typical Italian specialties. A passion that has infected even the most eccentric stars like the former Wrestling champion Hulk Hogan, who has created "Pastamania," a chain of Italian restaurants distributed in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, India and the Middle East. What are the most popular dishes served in most of these restaurants? Spaghetti with clams (45%), penne with tomato and basil (41%), risotto with Parmesan cheese (35%), vegetable soup (29%), Tuscan chicken (21%) are the favorite dishes, as well as minestrone , mozzarella balls, ravioli stuffed with shrimp, sweet peppers and tomatoes.