New Cucina Italiana: What to Eat, What to Cook & Who to Know in Italian Cuisine Today

Thirty-two young Italian chefs are profiled here, selected for their ability to apply new ideas to Italian cuisine.

Author Laura Lazzaroni, an Italian food journalist, has selected chefs from 11 regions of the country who she feels have managed to add to the ancient conversation about just exactly what Italian cuisine is.  She wanted cooks whose alternatives to a restrictive list of traditional dishes did not amount to hyper-conceptualized experiments that excited the intellect more than the palate.

Writing in a crisp, vivid voice Lazzaroni does a remarkable job making the case for her selections in profiles that do much more than reiterate someone's career path. She looks for and highlights their motivations and inspirations with uncommon clarity, while also making the case for why a particular chef belongs in this book. A cut above the usual chef survey. Among those featured here:

• Martina Miccione and Carla De Girolamo of Tipografia Alimentare in Lombardy
• Antonia Klugman of L'Argine a Vencò in Friuli-Venezia Giulia
• Gianluca Gorini of DaGorini in Emilia-Romagna
• Gianni Dezio of Tosta in Abruzzo
• Francesco Capuzzo Dolcetta of Marzapane in Lazio
• Isabella Poti and Floriano Pellegrino of Bros' in Puglia