stanley tucci italy food tour

Cast & crew
User reviews

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines. Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines. Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines.

Stanley Tucci
Felicity Blunt
Tess Masazza
86 User reviews
5 wins & 20 nominations total

Episodes 14

Self - Host

Self - Chef
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

More like this

Did you know

Connections Referenced in Late Night with Seth Meyers: Tiffany Haddish/Chloe Sevigny/Company/Aric Improta (2022)

User reviews 86

patrickwelty
Feb 18, 2021
How many seasons does Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy have? Powered by Alexa
February 14, 2021 (United States)
United States
BBC Programmes
史丹利圖奇：尋味義大利
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 1 hour

More to explore

Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy

About the show, delicious miss brown, the pioneer woman, 24 in 24: last chef standing, guy's grocery games, chef boot camp, what's new.

Behind the Scenes of Selena + Restaurant with Selena Gomez 17 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Ciao House, Season 2 12 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Chopped Battle Italiano 17 Photos

Meet the Bakers Competing on Next Baking Master: Paris 11 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing in the All-New 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing 25 Photos

Get an Insider’s Look at the Premiere of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing 15 Photos

24 All-Star Recipes from Michael Symon and Esther Choi, the Hosts of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing 25 Photos

Meet the Competitors of Spring Baking Championship Season 10 13 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Tournament of Champions, Season 5: The Qualifiers 17 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions, Season 5 28 Photos

11 Food Hacks and Facts I Learned From Guy’s Grocery Games 12 Photos

Worst Cooks in America, Season 27: Meet the Recruits 17 Photos

Meet the Competitors of Kids Baking Championship, Season 12 13 Photos

Chopped: Julia Child’s Kitchen — Meet the Competitors 16 Photos

Behind the Scenes of Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays 21 Photos

Meet the Teams Competing on The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown 7 Photos

Guy's Grocery Games: Flavortown Academy — Meet the Competitors 8 Photos

Meet the Competitors of Holiday Baking Championship, Season 10 13 Photos

Meet the Teams Competing on Holiday Wars, Season 5 12 Photos

Meet the Contestants of Outrageous Pumpkins, Season 4 9 Photos

Halloween Baking Championship Season 9: Meet the Competitors 13 Photos

Meet the Teams Competing on Halloween Wars, Season 13 10 Photos

Meet the Titans and Chefs Competing on Bobby's Triple Threat, Season 2 15 Photos

Worst Cooks in America, Season 26: Meet the Recruits 17 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Chopped: All-American Showdown 17 Photos

Meet the Grill Masters Competing on BBQ Brawl, Season 4 13 Photos

Meet the Teams from The Great Food Truck Race: Season 16 10 Photos

Meet the Competitors on Beachside Brawl, Season 2 11 Photos

Meet the Bakers Competing on Summer Baking Championship 11 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Ciao House 11 Photos

Selena Gomez Takes Her Culinary Journey to the Next Level in All-New Series Selena + Restaurant Apr 1, 2024

10 American Bakers Say Bonjour to All-New Pastry Competition, Next Baking Master: Paris Mar 27, 2024

Guy Fieri Recruits Noah Cappe and an Elite Bite Club to Find the Best Bite in Town on All-New Series Apr 22, 2024

24 Chefs Face 24 Challenges in 24 Straight Hours on All-New Series 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing Apr 22, 2024

Fill Out Your Tournament of Champions, Season 5 Bracket NOW! Feb 15, 2024

Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions Season 5 Brings Intense Culinary Battles, Randomizer Wild Cards and Unpredictable Upsets Jan 22, 2024

Tiffany Derry Joins Anne Burrell to Mentor Pampered Cooking Disasters Dec 6, 2023

Selena Gomez Doesn't Drink Coffee — Here's What She Drinks Instead Dec 5, 2023

‘Tis the Season of Holiday Wish Lists and Watch Lists Nov 29, 2023

Food Network Chefs Are Spending the Holidays in Selena Gomez’s Kitchen Dec 5, 2023

Talented Chefs Embrace the Legacy of Julia Child in New Chopped Tournament Nov 13, 2023

We're Unwrapping Holiday Magic with All-New Series The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown Dec 13, 2023

Selena Gomez Invites Four Culinary Superstars to Her Home in Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays Nov 29, 2023

Treat Yourself to the Ultimate Creepy Watchlist Sep 20, 2023

Scary Good Things to Watch This Month Sep 7, 2023

Franco Noriega Turns Up the Heat with Sizzling Recipes on Hot Dish with Franco Oct 27, 2023

Eight Culinary All Stars Face Off in Flavortown Aug 9, 2023

The Winners are Back in Flavortown Aug 2, 2023

Forecasting Unpredictable Flavors in Flavortown Jul 18, 2023

Skilled Chefs Face Off in a Nostalgic Showdown on All-New Series Battle of the Decades Hosted by Jonathan Bennett Sep 19, 2023

Next Up in Flavortown Cafeteria: Tostada Tuesday Jun 22, 2023

Sledding Into Flavortown’s Coldest Competition Yet Jun 29, 2023

The Great Food Truck Race Returns with Food Truck Pros vs Talented Rookies May 11, 2023

Baking Championships Heat Up with New Summertime Competition Apr 5, 2023

Fearless Military Chefs Take Their Skills to the Chopped Kitchen Mar 16, 2023

Fill Out Your Tournament of Champions, Season 4 Bracket NOW! Feb 13, 2023

Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions Returns for Its Wildest, Most Unpredictable Season Yet Jan 19, 2024

Sun, Sand, Eats and Drinks: SOBEWFF 2023 Returns Jan 9, 2023

Food Network and NFL Team Up For An All-New Primetime Event Nov 28, 2022

Chef Kathy Fang Innovates Chinese Cuisine While Honoring Longtime Family Traditions in New Docuseries Chef Dynasty: House of Fang Nov 16, 2022

Our newsletter.

Get your fill of the tastiest topics (from trends to craveworthy recipes) delivered weekly.

By entering your email address, you agree to our Terms of Use and acknowledge the Privacy Policy . Food Network and its affiliates may use your email address to provide updates, ads, and offers.

To withdraw your consent or learn more about your rights, see the Privacy Policy .

an image, when javascript is unavailable

‘Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy’ Makes For a (Mostly) Charming Tour: TV Review

An otherwise charming, luxurious trip through Italy's best food gets off to a strange start.

By Caroline Framke

Caroline Framke

Chief TV Critic

How Streaming TV Turned the Premier League Into a Great American Pastime 1 year ago
FIFA, Qatar and Cowardly Hypocrisy Has Sucked the Joy Out of Watching the World Cup 1 year ago
‘Pitch Perfect: Bumper In Berlin’ Is a Spinoff Without A Purpose: TV Review 1 year ago

“ Stanley Tucci : Searching For Italy” opens with the actor striding down a bustling Naples street in a perfectly tailored summer suit, dodging Italians on Vespas and scanning the sidewalks for his next delicious meal. It’s exactly the picturesque scenario you might expect and want from a travel series hosted by Tucci, an extraordinarily charming presence who knows and loves Italian food, judging by his demonstrated knowledge on the show and excellent 2012 cookbook, a compendium of beloved Italian classics simply titled “The Tucci Cookbook.” And yet, the first words Tucci speaks on his new CNN travel show are words of reassurance to explain the fact that this episode was filmed during the summer of 2020, mere months after COVID-19 devastated Italy beyond measure.

“It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago the first wave of COVID-19 had emptied the streets of Naples, and Italy was in lockdown,” Tucci’s opening voiceover muses. “Thankfully, I’ve arrived during a brief moment of normality: restaurants are open and masks are not required outside. We’ll be sticking to the local rules.” And with that, Tucci moves right along to sing the city’s praises with only a few masked encounters and occasional elbow bumps to remind the audience of the fraught time period in which he’s visiting.

Launching “Searching For Italy” with this episode is an extremely confusing choice, and not just because we now know that this apparent “moment of normality” didn’t last. Four of the show’s six episodes were filmed in the fall of 2019, months before the pandemic hit. Only two episodes — this premiere in Naples and a future chapter in Bologna — were filmed in 2020. Not every series has to air in the order it was filmed to make sense, but in this exceptional case, treating an enormous event such as a pandemic like an inconvenient asterisk does a disservice to both the show and the country it covers. It also feels like a missed opportunity from a narrative perspective. “Searching For Italy” spends much of its time detailing the country’s rich restaurant culture and how important gathering to eat is for Italian families overall. If Tucci and company were determined to go back to Italy in 2020, months after they wrapped shooting their initial episodes, why not seize the moment to speak more specifically to how the pandemic disrupted those traditions and examine how the country had to adjust? That might have meant finding a different Italy than the show was originally searching for, but it at least could have justified the visit.

Popular on Variety

This bizarre initial decision is made even more frustrating by the fact that the series is otherwise very smart and endearing. The second episode to air, for example, will see Tucci exploring Rome, a city too often dismissed as mere tourist bait. But Tucci makes an effort to seek out its less obvious spots and meals, including four signature Roman pasta dishes and a fascinating detour into the inventive ways Italian chefs have transformed offal, or all the organs and bits of gristly meat that poorer Italians learned to work into delicacies. In one particularly good segment, Tucci visits a Jewish chef who grew up in a ghettoized section of Rome and only narrowly escaped the Nazis as a child. Now, she runs a restaurant specializing in artichoke hearts, an ingredient long left to the city’s poorer Jewish community. When she gives Tucci her own version of a fried artichoke, its leaves miraculously splayed in the shape of a shining sun, his face lights up as he declares it the best artichoke heart he’s ever had.

In a later episode, Tucci returns to Tuscany, the city his family once called home and which quickly changed the trajectory of his own life. Tucci’s comfort in Italy and palpable love for its culture is genuinely infectious — not just for those he meets and charms along the way, but for this viewer, too. And in the all important test of how voraciously a travel show host actually eats the food on offer, Tucci passes with flying colors, happily engulfing every bite with vigor.

Without being able to travel to Italy anytime soon, it’s a sincere pleasure to spend some time there vicariously through a host as game and genial as Tucci. Should he ever decide to expand his tour of the country and actually unravel its thorny new reality instead of glossing over it, it would probably make for even more fascinating, revealing television. But in the meantime, he invites us to join him for some good conversation over thick twirls of pasta, bright panzanellas, lavish cuts of meat and glimmering glasses of wine — an offer that’s ultimately just too good to refuse.

“ Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy ” premieres Sunday, Feb. 14 at 9 pm on CNN.

Production: Executive producers: Adam Hawkins, Eve Kay, Stanley Tucci, Amy Entelis and Lyle Gamm.
Cast: Stanley Tucci

More From Our Brands

Dionne warwick on her rock hall induction: ‘i’ve never considered myself a rock & roller’, gen zers are spending like maniacs on watches: report, deion, colorado still haggling over nike co-branding deal, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, baby reindeer creator, star implore fans to stop ‘quite sad’ online ‘detective work’ in search of netflix series’ real-life figures, verify it's you, please log in.

Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy season 1: the Hollywood star guides us through his gastronomic tour of Italy

Join Hollywood actor Stanley Tucci as he travels around the regions of Italy sampling the most delicious Italian dishes.

Sampling the delicious dishes in 'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy' on BBC2 and CNN.

Hollywood star Stanley Tucci discovers the secrets and delights of Italy’s regional cuisines in his new six-part BBC2 travelogue Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy , which was originally shown on CNN in the US last year.

"I’m Italian on both sides and for many years it’s been a dream of mine to make this show,’ says Stanley 61, whose films include Road to Perdition , The Devil Wears Prada and The Hunger Games series.

So here's everything you need to know about Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy including a word on the food and destinations from Stanley himself...

Stanley's culinary tour of Italy has been a dream of his for a long time.

'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy' release date on BBC2

Having previously been shown on CNN, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy now gets an air date in the UK where it starts on Sunday February 27 at 7.20pm on BBC2. It's a six-parter and all six episodes will be available on BBCiPlayer after the first episode has been shown on BBC2.

Is there a trailer for 'Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy'?

Yes a trailer was released for Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy in 2021 when the travel series was shown on CNN in the US. Take a look below...

Stanley Tucci reveals the food and places he visits...

Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy begins in Naples, a city that gave the world its favourite food – pizza!

"Naples is a truly thrilling city. The second you arrive you’re engulfed by a magnificent chaos and there’s no point in fighting it. People here do things their own way.|

Pizza is everywhere in Naples and Stanley gets to try a traditional fried pizza and a classic Margherita named in 1889 after Italy’s then queen, as well as a simple tomato-based pizza created by chef Enzo Coccia, who runs the first-ever Michelin-starred pizzeria. "Mass-produced pizza brands always use sugar, fat and flavouring in their dough," explains Tucci, who speaks fluent Italian. "But in Naples there are only four ingredients – water, flour, salt and yeast – and a lot of skill."

But it’s not all about pizza, as Stanley discovers. The actor also learns about how the people of Naples have learned to live in the shadow of famous volcano Vesuvius and how poverty and crime gangs have always been a part of life in the city.

Meanwhile, on the island of Ischia, the traditional dish isn’t pizza or pasta, but rabbit, and Stanley returns to a restaurant he first visited with his late wife, Kate, to experience how to create a simple rabbit stew with garlic, white wine and tomato.

"Fourteen years ago, my late wife Kate and I took a ferry from Naples to Ischia just an hour away," recalls Stanley. "One night we went to a restaurant halfway up a mountain where they served rabbit. Now I try to come back whenever I’m lucky enough to get the chance."

Stanley helps catch the rabbits that live wild above the restaurant using chestnuts to lure them out of their warrens, and then shares a special Sunday lunch with chef Riccardo D’Ambra and his extended family. "Traditional cooking like this tells you the story of a place,’ he says. ‘It also connects us and that’s why even today families across Ischia sit down every Sunday to enjoy a rabbit in a pot together."

'Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy' episode guide

Episode 1: Naples and the Amalfi coast See above for Stanley talking about Naples experience sharing the history and ingredients of Naples famous pizza through finding the freshest mozzarella and the best San Marzano tomatoes. He explores the island of Ischia and enjoy spaghetti and zucchini on the Amalfi Coast

Episode 2: Rome Stanley heads to the Italian capital Rome in search of the famous Four Pastas. He orders rigatoni all'amatriciana, samples carbonara and tries a selection of cheeses and sausages made from the sheep and pigs farmed in the region.

Episode 3: Bologna Bologna is seen by many as the food capital of Italy. The region of Emilia-Romagna is home to globally renowned protected food products: parmigiano, prosciutto de Parma and traditional balsamic vinegar to name a few. Stanley finds out about it all.

Episode 4: Milan Stanley enjoys an aperitivo, feels inspired to make pizzoccheri — a noodle made from buckwheat — and enjoys classic Milanese of veal chops and risotto.

Episode 5: Tuscany Stanley explores his former home region where he does a wine bar crawl, celebrates the importance of the lowly loaf and samples dishes which use stale bread as the key ingredient.

Episode 6: Sicily At the end of the foot of Italy, Stanley arrives in Sicily, for his final experience of the series. Here, he tries a salty crunchy sensation, tastes the grapes grown in the region's unique soils, and reflects on Sicilian hospitality.

* Best BBC documentaries * Marcus Wareing's Tales From A Kitchen Garden * Kelvin's Big Farming Adventure * Best Channel 4 documentaries * Best Channel 5 documentaries on My 5 * Fishing Scotland’s Lochs and Rivers * Watercolour Challenge

Get the What to Watch Newsletter

The latest updates, reviews and unmissable series to watch and more!

I'm a huge fan of television so I really have found the perfect job, as I've been writing about TV shows, films and interviewing major television, film and sports stars for over 25 years. I'm currently TV Content Director on What's On TV, TV Times, TV and Satellite Week magazines plus Whattowatch.com. I previously worked on Woman and Woman's Own in the 1990s. Outside of work I swim every morning, support Charlton Athletic football club and get nostalgic about TV shows Cagney & Lacey, I Claudius, Dallas and Tenko. I'm totally on top of everything good coming up too.

Why is The Late Show with Stephen Colbert not new this week, April 22-26?

The Bold and the Beautiful spoilers: the Golden Son falls?

The Bold and the Beautiful recap for April 22, 2024: Deacon learns about Sugar

Stanley Tucci’s Piedmont Tour

Searching for italy, in 2021 italian american actor stanley tucci wins the emmy award with his nonfiction program “stanley tucci: searching for italy”. in the season two of the show, tucci travels through the italian region of piedmont, in the very north west of the italian peninsula., in the second episode of season two, piedmont becomes the true protagonist of the story. with its precious white truffles, the risottos, the italian coffee and the finest wines, the region reveals itself as the gastronomic paradise that it is. tucci capably describes the region as a magical place defined by ambitious and passionate people., here you can read more about our guided tours:, piedmont wine tasting tour, piedmont truffle hunt tour, torino walking tour, stanley tucci decides to explore both the capital city of the region, torino, and the countryside. the tv show offers a beautiful picture of the city of torino, with its historic palaces, the porticos, the magnificent squares with equestrian statues, the first italian parliament, and the many cafés and chocolate and gelato shops. along this piedmont tour, it is a continuous encountering of cuisine specialties., torino is the city of coffee, chocolate, vermouth, gelato and a lot more. here it was invented the famous bicerin, a cup of three layers made out of coffee, chocolate and cream that must not be stirred, but enjoyed in all its complexity and simplicity. to tucci, this drink sums up the exceptional reputation that torino has for coffee. today you can find bicerin in most of the historic and modern coffee places, but there is only one true original bicerin and this you will find at the caffè al bicerin, in a tiny and quiet square in front of a famous church. this place opened in 1763 and it truly is a jump in the past to sit at one of its tables. the appearance of this special café as we see it today dates back to the 1850s. aristocrats, poets, writers, travellers would come here and enjoy this “powerful punch”, as tucci calls it, seeking peace and tranquillity inside the decorated walls of this small shop. in 1917 caffè al bicerin passed from the hands of men into those of capable woman and since then it has been run by female generations., stanley tucci also offer a short history class to its audience. together with a local guide, he explains how torino was the very first capital city of italy after its unification in 1861. there was a second city that served as capital too before rome, and that was firenze (florence). while walking through the historic centre of the city, in his piedmont tour, tucci soon faces the beautiful palazzo carignano that had been chosen as the first italian parliament at the time., right in front of palazzo carignano, tucci meets the michelin starred chef matteo baronetto at the ristorante del cambio, one of the icons of the city of torino. here he learns how piedmontese cuisine nowadays often aspire to merge tradition and contemporaneity., 2. slow food, after his torino walking tour, tucci travels south, toward the province of cuneo, and in the tiny town of pollenzo he meets with carlo petrini, the founder of the university of gastronomic sciences and also per person responsible for the creation of the slow food movement. carlo petrini explains how and why slow food was invented. it all happened in the 80s, when it seemed that the culinary world had been contaminated worldwide by an urge of living life always in a hurry, meaning… fast food. in piedmont, in 1986, petrini started what is now an international slow food philosophy., 3. italian risotto, after torino and pollenzo, tucci continues his piedmont tour to vercelli, in the north east of the region. half of the rice production of italy comes from this area. here he meets the michelin starred chefs costardi brothers. and it is during a very tempting risotto tasting that tucci mentions lavazza coffee, the most famous coffee brand from torino., 4. piedmont truffles, a special place in the piedmont tour of the episode two of “searching for italy” is hold by truffles. tucci talks fondly about the white truffle, the most precious of all, and then shows the audience a little bit of what the truffle hunting can be like. he finds himself discovering the amazing land of langhe, where the finest piedmont truffles and wines come from. as you can imagine there is a lot of competition between the truffle hunters who guards their secret very carefully. the real hunt takes place at night, so that indiscreet eyes can’t spy on where the truffle hunters go. what is very interesting in this kind of experience is to witness the bond between men and their truffle dogs, who really seem to be playing rather than working, but have actually undergone a special training., 5. piedmont wines, but piedmont has something else very special to share with the world: its wines. piedmont counts about 41770 hectares of land planted with vineyards, and 18000 wine producers. among the most famous piedmont wines we can find barbaresco, nebbiolo, barbera, alta langa doc, roero arneis, asti docg, roero docg, pelaverga, dolcetto d’alba docg, langhe doc, dogliani. but the king of all wines is barolo, and it can only be produced in a little corner of the wine region among 12 little villages., if piedmont is on your bucket list, learn more about the region and the experiences it has to offer. piedmontours will be happy to show you the hidden gems of this very special region of italy..

Recent Posts

Spring and Summer Tours of Piedmont - February 26, 2024
Turin Travel Guide - December 27, 2023
Wine Tastings in Piedmont - December 15, 2023

Searching for Italy package

Searching for italy with stanley tucci: retrace the steps and taste the typical italian dishes that you saw in the amazing series.

Historical interest 90% 90%
Fun 100% 100%
Activity Level 100% 100%

Package Overview

Searching for italy with stanley tucci: a very popular series aired on cnn channel. it is now a real tour....

Searching for Italy tour lets you visit the locations Stanley Tucci has been to, try the delicious Italian dishes he had, and experience cooking classes where you can learn to prepare delicious Italian dishes. This Searching for Italy tour combines food tastings, cooking classes and visits to the best spots of the main Italian cities – the same activities and experiences Tucci had!

Searching for Italy tour brings you to Naples and the Amalfi Coast . Naples is the city where pizza was born and where Stanley Tucci tasted the most famous one. The Amalfi Coast is also the land of limoncello and amazing coastal panoramas.

Rome : The Eternal City par excellence, and the destination where Tucci enjoyed many typical roman dishes including rigatoni alla carbonara, amatriciana pasta, the typical cacio e pepe and fried artichokes . This r omeanditaly group tour also offers a beautiful sightseeing tour of the highlights of one of the most ancient cities in the world.

In Bologna , homeland of the famous Bolognese sauce , you will be able to try it along with tagliatelle, Parmigiano Reggiano, balsamic vinegar, and mortadella (that Americans call “Bologna”, in honor of the city where it originated). This city is also famous for its culture, its beautiful porches, and the spectacular towers.

Searching for Italy tour will also take you to Milan and the Como Lake . Milan is the city where the Italian happy hour was born, and you will taste many typical drinks here, Martini or Aperol being just two of the most famous ones. You will also taste the most typical Italian risotto, born right here in Milan: “ risotto allo zafferano ” (saffron risotto). You will also have the chance to visit the city of Milan, considered the most modern city in Italy.

Florence : The Italian city of art, cradle of the Renaissance. Here you will have the chance to visit the highlights of the city center, and to discover the most famous Florentine market. The Searching for Italy tour will also allow you to taste the typical Bistecca alla Fiorentina (florentine steak), known all around the world for its great quality and unique taste. You will taste delicious red wine, served from the “ buchette del vino ”, which will pair perfectly with the Bistecca alla Fiorentina and other typical dishes like “ribollita“, “pappa al pomodoro”, and “panzanella“.

Finally, r omeanditaly group brings you to see Palermo and Catania , two cities in the biggest Italian island: Sicily . The best place to spend summer (and winter!). Along with its amazing art treasures and panoramas, Sicily is also renowned for its food specialties: “cannoli”, “arancini”, granita, fresh fish… and much more!

Highlights and what's included

Duration: 12 Day
Cities and Landmarks: Milan, Bologna, Florence, Rome, Naples, Sicily
Dates: From January to December – no stop
Departure: Every Day
Languages: All languages available on request
Prices from: 9950 euros

Meeting at Milan airport and transfer to the hotel.

Lunch at restaurant Ratanà: risotto allo zafferano ( saffron risotto). Alongside Tucci, chef Cesare Battisti served veal cutlets and risotto allo zafferano, a creamy dish characterized by its brilliant yellow color, given to it by the saffron.

Transfer to cooking class via private vehicle. A chef will teach you how to make risotto allo zafferano yourself!

Visit of the Navigli and aperitif .

After some free time to spend however you like, you will overnight at the hotel in Milan.

BITTO AND COMO LAKE

Visit to Bitto center in the morning, where you will have a tour and a cheese tasting. Tucci here met cheese maker Paolo Ciapparelli, who devoted his life to preserving the process employed at Bitto Storico Ribelle.

You will have some free time and have lunch, as well as spend an afternoon by the Como Lake.

Dinner at the restaurant Osteria del Treno , where Tucci and his wife Felicity Blunt dined. The actor said that it embodied “The history and spirit of Milan like almost nowhere else.”

A private vehicle will then take you back to the hotel.

A private vehicle will escort you to the railway station. From there you will travel in second class to the city of Bologna. At your arrival, an assistant will be waiting for you with a sign to then take you to the hotel.

In the morning you will visit the Caseificio Rosola, where you will be able to participate in a tasting of Parmigiano Reggiano . This cheese here is made from the milk of a local breed of cow, the Bianca Modenese. Here chef Massimo Bottura showed Tucci a creamery in Zocca, a town about thirty miles outside of Bologna. At the end of the tour, you will be driven back to the hotel for lunch and some free time.

An assistant will be waiting for you at the hotel to take you to the cooking class, where a chef will teach you how to prepare ragù alla bolognese.

You would spend the remainder of the day however you want, and then spend the night in the hotel in Bologna.

MODENA AND RIMINI

For this part of the tour, a private driver will be at your disposal for the whole day. In the morning you will visit the Gran Deposito Aceto Balsamico Giuseppe Giusti , where you will have a tour and a tasting of traditional balsamic vinegar. The Giusti family has crafted this signature balsamic vinegar for more than 400 years, using grapes from the vineyards near Modena.

After lunch and some free time, a driver will take you to the city of Rimini, where you will have dinner at Piazzetta Treatini. Here Stanley Tucci enjoyed freshly made cappelletti and strozzapreti at the restaurant Osteria Io e Simone.

You will then spend the night at the hotel in Bologna.

TUSCANY: FLORENCE

A private vehicle will take you to the railway station where you will travel in second class to reach the city of Florence. There, a driver will meet you and take you from the station to the hotel.

In the morning, a private guide will meet you at the hotel and you will start a walking tour. You will discover the Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio , “the liveliest market in Florence”. Here Tucci tasted wine offered to him through the unique “ buchette del vino ”, small openings in the outer walls of bistros through which wine is served. The typical buchette del vino are not found anywhere outside of Tuscany!

You will have lunch at Osteria delle Donne, where Tucci tasted local foods such as dessert wine, Vin Santo, and almond biscotti. You will have some free time in the afternoon to spend however you like.

The Osteria Cinghiale Bianco is, according to the actor, “where old bread would choose to come and die”. For your dinner here you will enjoy dishes like pappa al pomodoro, ribollita, and Panzanella.

You will have some free time and then spend the night in the hotel in Florence.

TUSCANY: FLORENCE and LIVORNO

An assistant will take you from the hotel to the cooking class, where a chef will teach you to recreate ribollita, pappa al pomodoro and Panzanella.

In the afternoon you will visit the city of Livorno. Here, in Torteria da Gagarin , Tucci tasted a pancake made from chickpea flour.

After the tour you will have a private transfer to the hotel and you will have some free time and spend the night at the hotel in Florence.

A private vehicle will take you from the hotel to the railway station, from where you will travel in second class to Rome. At the train station in Rome an assistant with a sign will meet you and take you to the hotel.

In the morning you will be offered a walking tour. At the Bar San Calisto you will taste the typical sweet maritozzi.

Stanley Tucci stopped at the restaurant Armando al Pantheon to enjoy a classic roman dish: rigatoni all’amatriciana . Here is where you will have lunch.

After spending some free time after lunch, you will have dinner at the Pommidoro , where you will enjoy a traditional carbonara made with guanciale, eggs, black pepper, and fresh pecorino cheese.

You will then spend the night at the hotel in Rome.

In the morning you will be offered a walking tour and visit the city’s old Jewish ghetto. You will also taste fried artichoke (carciofo fritto) in the restaurant La Reginella.

An assistant will then take you to your cooking class, where a chef will teach you how to recreate dishes such as amatriciana, carbonara al cacao, and pepe sauce.

In the afternoon you will have some free time.

You will have dinner at the Santo Palato restaurant , where chef Sarah Cicolini offered Tucci several dishes, including a frittata with chicken offal, roman tripe cooked in tomatoes, and wagyu heart tartare.

You will be spending the night at the hotel in Rome.

NAPLES and AMALFI COAST

In the morning you will have a private transfer to the railway station where you will take a train to Naples, traveling in second class. At the station there you will find an assistant with a sign waiting for you and you will be taken to your hotel in Naples.

In the morning you will have a walking tour with a private guide. Stanley Tucci enjoyed fried pizzas and fagottini filled with pork and ricotta at the fast-food restaurant Pizza Fritta da Fernanda.

Then, during a cooking class, a chef will teach you how to cook pizza, and you will taste it afterwards.

After some free time in the afternoon and dinner, you will spend the night at the hotel in Naples.

AMALFI COAST

Our driver will be at your disposal for picking you up and then returning you to the hotel. A private guide will show you the best spots in the Amalfi Coast.

You will have lunch at the Lo Scoglio restaurant where you will taste one of Tucci’s favorite dishes: spaghetti alla nerano . You will also be offered a tasting of limoncello and a typical dessert . At the pastry shop Pasticceria Sal De Riso you will have a chance to enjoy what is called a lemon delight cake (delizia al limone), a typical dessert of this area.

You will have some free time in Naples for dinner and then spend the night at the hotel.

SICILY: PALERMO

A private vehicle will take you to the airport from where you will fly (in economy class) to the city of Palermo.

A private vehicle will take you from the airport to the hotel.

A private vehicle will take you from the hotel to the cooking class.

During a cooking class a chef will teach you how to recreate two staples of Sicilian cuisine : cannoli and arancini.

You will have some free time in the afternoon.

In the restaurant of Pupi , in the city of Bagheria, chef Tony Lo Coco showed Tucci his interpretation of the traditional Sicilian dish spaghetti alla Bottarga . You will have the pleasure of dining in this Michelin star restaurant.

You will spend the night in the hotel in Palermo.

SICILY: CATANIA

A private vehicle will take you to your hotel in the city of Catania.

In the afternoon, a driver will take you to a wine tasting experience in the area near the Etna volcano.

You will have dinner at the restaurant Me Cumpari Turiddu , where chef Roberta Capizzi offered Tucci pasta alla norma, a pasta dish with fried eggplant, ricotta cheese and basil.

After some free time, you will spend the night at the hotel in Catania.

BITTO and COMO LAKE

MODENA and RIMINI

You will then spend the night at the hotel in Bologna

All the voices mentioned above 2nd class High speed train tickets English Speaking local guide at disposal Food tasting: the dishes that Stanley Tucci ate in the program

the dates of the tours may change based on the availability of the locations, the restaurants are subject to availability, in any case the same foods as the program will be offered.

NOT Included

All the other voices not mentioned above All lunches and dinners if not mentioned above Hotel city tax All drinks

Accommodation

Centrally located hotels, 4 stars category in a double room basis with breakfast included.

Pre-Post Tours

Contact for information.

Your Name *

Your Surname *

Specify tour or service required *

Your Email *

Select Your Country * ----- United States Canada Brazil Mexico United Kingdom Afghanistan Albania Algeria American Samoa Andorra Angola Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Argentina Armenia Armenia Aruba Australia Austria Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Bahamas Bahrain Bangladesh Barbados Belarus Belgium Belize Benin Bermuda Bhutan Bolivia Bonaire Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) British Indian Ocean Territory (C.Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria Burkina Faso Burundi Cambodia Cameroon Cape Verde Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad Chile China Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia Comoros Congo Congo Cook Islands Costa Rica Cote d'Ivoire Croatia Cuba Curaçao Cyprus Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Djibouti Dominica Dominican Republic Ecuador Egypt El Salvador Equatorial Guinea Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Faroe Islands Fiji Finland France French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon Gambia Georgia Georgia Germany Ghana Gibraltar Greece Greenland Grenada Guadeloupe Guam Guatemala Guernsey Guinea Guinea-Bissau Guyana Haiti Heard Island and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras Hong Kong Hungary Iceland India Indonesia Iran Iraq Ireland Isle of Man Israel Italy Jamaica Japan Jersey Jordan Kazakhstan Kazakhstan Kenya Kiribati Korea Korea Kuwait Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon Lesotho Liberia Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Macao Macedonia Madagascar Malawi Malaysia Maldives Mali Malta Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia Moldova Monaco Mongolia Montenegro Montserrat Morocco Mozambique Myanmar Namibia Nauru Nepal Netherlands Netherlands Antilles New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua Niger Nigeria Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway Oman Pakistan Palau Palestinian Territory Panama Papua New Guinea Paraguay Peru Philippines Pitcairn Islands Poland Portugal Puerto Rico Qatar Reunion Romania Russian Federation Rwanda Saint Barthelemy Saint Helena Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Martin Saint Pierre and Miquelon Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Samoa San Marino Sao Tome and Principe Saudi Arabia Senegal Serbia Seychelles Sierra Leone Singapore Sint Maarten (Netherlands) Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia South Africa South Georgia & S. Sandwich Islands Spain Sri Lanka Sudan Suriname Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland Sweden Switzerland Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan Tajikistan Tanzania Thailand Timor-Leste Togo Tokelau Tonga Trinidad and Tobago Tunisia Turkey Turkey Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu U.S. Virgin Islands U.S. Minor Outlying Islands Uganda Ukraine United Arab Emirates Uruguay Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela Vietnam Wallis and Futuna Western Sahara Yemen Zambia Zimbabwe

Your Message *

The consents: I have read the privacy policy and I authorize the processing of data (Require)

Packages you may also like

Food art and motors package, under the tuscan sun – package 6 days.

A 6 days tour to retrace the shot of the amazing movie “Under the Tuscany Sun”

Best of Italy package

Meet the romans package, discover apulia package, searching for italy package – south of italy, searching for italy package – north of italy, southern italy package, organic food tour of tuscany package, meet the pope package.

PRIVATE TOURS SHARED TOURS SHORE EXCURSIONS PRIVATE TRANSFER SKIP THE LINE HELICOPTER TOUR VIP SERVICES ACCESSIBLE SERVICE OUR VIDEO NEWS

Thank you Sta nley

Exploring the Regions of Italy

News network CNN and accomplished actor Stanley Tucci collaborated to provide travel lovers with a much needed deep dive into the true beauty of Italy. In addition to exploring the history, culture, landscape and food, Stanley connects us to Italy's greatest asset, its people.

Following Stanley is a comprehensive guide that brings his episodes to you with interactive maps, links and a few extra gems to consider.

Check out the episodes!

C8E530CE-00CA-4855-A59D-54C267F5C8D4_edi

THE EPISODES

The recipes, follow stanley.

7FCFFDF9-5029-4307-8169-434AC22B2228.jpe

TO THE BLOG

Mar 16, 2021

EPISODE 1: Campania

Mar 15, 2021

EPISODE 2: Lazio

Mar 14, 2021

EPISODE 3: Emilia-Romagna

Mar 13, 2021

EPISODE 4: Lombardy

Find anything you save across the site in your account

The Timeless Fantasy of Stanley Tucci Eating Italian Food

By Helen Rosner

Stanley Tucci sitting on a window ledge in front of a view of Rome

Several episodes of the CNN series “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” open with a message that’s part apology and part warning: “The following episode was filmed prior to the start of the COVID -19 outbreak.” For the couch-bound viewer, any travel show is a portal to fantasy. But a show like this—airing in a time like this—is escapism of another order. Here there are olive trees and cow-dappled hills and the blue-green sea, sure, but also cheek-kiss greetings and crowded piazzas, tiny café tables and narrow alleyways. Tucci , the show’s host, wanders through Italy’s regions unmasked, unfettered, chatting amiably with cheesemakers and pizzaiolos, sipping aperitivos on rooftops, picking up petals of artichoke from a plate in a cramped restaurant kitchen. Everything, always, is drenched in heavy yellow sunlight, as if the nation were basking in the languor of eternal late afternoon.

“Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy,” which concluded its first season this past Sunday, is ostensibly educational. Each episode takes viewers on a tour of a specific region, and in each Tucci spends a bit of time with scholars and activists, discussing some aspect of the region’s history or politics or social strife. But mostly he eats, and talks about eating, and visits the farmers and producers and venders who provision his marvellous meals. Italy is beautiful. The food of Italy is beautiful. Not insignificantly, Stanley Tucci is beautiful, too. He strolls the narrow thoroughfares of Florence and Naples with the physical eloquence of a dancer, at once smoldering and restrained. He gazes at wheels of cheese and swirls of pasta as if the food must be seduced before it will consent to be devoured. The Tucci of “Searching for Italy” is a figure out of time: thick-framed glasses, white pants, a rich leather belt, a linen shirt tailored narrowly to the trapezoid of his torso, cuffs rolled just so , the hint of a bronzed and muscled forearm. He delivers sly jokes and engages in patter with shopkeepers in a mix of Italian and English. “This bread, it’s an aphrodisiac,” he says, standing outside a bakery in Bologna, and adds, “I’m all alone in a hotel; why would I want to do that?” His suave exterior shows cracks only in moments of sensory ecstasy. Taking a deep whiff of a split wheel of Parmigiano-Reggiano, or letting the funk of a ribbon of prosciutto blossom on his tongue, he moans, he sighs, he murmurs. The whole thing verges on obscene: Tuccissimo .

At the age of sixty, Tucci is enjoying a somewhat unexpected late-career reinvention as a sex symbol. Students of the Tucci allure have pointed out that it is in no way new. It dates back at least to his appearance in a nineteen-eighties ad for Levi’s 501s , in which he shows off an A-shirt and exquisite deltoids on the streets of New York City. His breakout role, as the debonair restaurateur Secondo in the film “Big Night” (1996), was less explicitly sexy, but it had the effect of linking Tucci’s persona forever to the intimacy and sensuousness of food. The movie, which Tucci co-wrote and co-directed, is about a pair of Italian brothers in the nineteen-fifties who are trying to save their struggling New Jersey restaurant with a huge, blowout dinner. The movie is most beloved for its feast scenes, when the brothers serve their guests a fusillade of Technicolor courses, including an extraordinary timpano centerpiece. But the greater food sequence takes place in the movie’s final minutes, when Secondo makes an omelette for his brother and their lone employee. It is filmed in one unbroken shot, without dialogue or music; its choreography of silence and motion, solitude and togetherness is like something out of Fellini. Cracking eggs, setting the pan over the flame, laying hunks of bread on plates, Tucci makes cooking a physical language.

Tucci has returned to food often in the course of his career. He’s authored two cookbooks (the second with his wife, the literary agent Felicity Blunt, who makes a few cameos in “Searching for Italy”) and played Julia Child’s adoring husband, Paul, in “Julie & Julia.” A culinary memoir, “ Taste: My Life Through Food ,” is due out in the fall. Sure, Tucci has played other roles as well: supervillain, serial killer, fashionista, wizard. In his most recent film, this year’s tender “Supernova,” he plays opposite Colin Firth as a man navigating early-onset dementia. But the Stanley Tucci of our hearts is a man who cooks and eats and enchants while doing so. An ur-Tucci moment came to us, last April, in the form of an Instagram video. It shows Tucci in his home kitchen, making a Negroni for Blunt. Wearing a tight shirt, he titrates the Campari with beguiling sangfroid—an eyebrow flicker, a kittenish half smile. “ Enjoy This Powerfully Erotic Video of Stanley Tucci ,” the Cut recommended, and by god we did.

Plenty of Hollywood stars know their way around a kitchen. Cookbook best-seller lists are perpetually full of names better known from IMDb pages than the James Beard Awards. But most often the stars who cross over into food are women. And, often, those women have turned to the kitchen after aging out of Hollywood’s cruelly narrow definition of female desirability. In the field of professional domesticity, youth is a novelty rather than a currency, and success comes from being likable more than fuckable. It may be that fewer male movie stars have second acts as culinary personalities because the sex appeal of men has no clear expiration date. Instead of a low-budget stand-and-stir programmed for the midafternoon mom brigade, Tucci gets a prestige travel show in which he charms his way around one of the most beautiful countries in the world, like an aged-up Alain Delon in “Purple Noon” (minus the murder). Before the first season of “Searching for Italy” had finished airing, it had already been renewed for a second. It doesn’t feel entirely fair.

In a recent Variety profile, Tucci said that he found the process of hosting a documentary series to be surprisingly challenging. “I’m not a journalist; I’m not an interviewer,” he said. His lack of experience is not inevident. “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” is a good show, but not quite a great one. Its culinary discoveries (balsamic vinegar in Modena, pizza in Naples, risotto in Milan) are not new, and its gloss on the less glamorous aspects of Italian culture and history are rarely more than decorative. The Italy we are shown is suspended in a dreamlike past: every cheese has been made for centuries, often with the same tools; every drizzle of balsamic vinegar is a triumph of preserving the old ways against the encroaching, soul-sapping efficiencies of the modern age. Tucci samples mortadella in Bologna with a leftist organizer and goes fishing in Lombardy with a far-right hard-liner, the latter of whom he engages with genteel distaste. But the substance of their conversation is overwhelmed by the ambience of their surroundings, and of Tucci himself. Stanley Tucci plays a travel-show host; Italy, with a bit of corsetry and airbrushing, plays itself.

“He’s no Bourdain,” one CNN devotee in my life said, of Tucci, unprompted, a few weeks ago. I suppose I agree, though that’s sort of like saying that a langoustine isn’t a porterhouse. Like Tucci, Anthony Bourdain was rich in charisma and possessed unlikely sex appeal. But Bourdain the travel-show host served as a spotlight, fondly illuminating the people and places around him. Tucci is an electromagnet. Even when he’s in a crowd, he seems like the only person on the screen, and the show is at its best when it stops fighting the desire to focus entirely on him. He chops carrots for a soffritto in a rented apartment in Florence with his mother. He adds another knob of snow-white butter to a massive skillet of garlic and cabbage as he makes pizzoccheri , a Lombardian specialty, as a gesture of appreciation for his crew. At one point, Tucci takes the camera away from his director of photography, so that the man can eat. It’s the best moment in the series: Tucci on camera, then behind the camera, then back on camera again—at once the cook and the creator, the lens through which we see the meal, and the meal itself.

The Food Scene

By signing up, you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By Ian Parker

The Haredi Jewish Family of “Shtisel” Returns for a Third Season

By Alexandra Schwartz

By Adam Iscoe

Affiliate Disclaimer
Privacy Policy
Support Italofile

Searching for Italy: All the Places Stanley Tucci Went in Season 2

Searching for Italy , the CNN-produced hit series starring Stanley Tucci, was a balm during the pandemic. So, of course, the Emmy-winning travel and food show came back for a second season.

During Season 2, Tucci travels to Venice and its region Veneto; Turin and its region Piemonte (Piedmont); and Umbria for episodes 1, 2, and 3, respectively. Episode 4 takes place outside of Italy in London, which has a large Italian expat community.

After a break of several months, Tucci and co. returned with four more episodes featuring the regions of Calabria, Sardinia, Puglia (+ Basilicata), and Liguria.

Episode 1: Venice

The city of gondolas and canals, Venice is a city “between earth and water” and the first stop for Stanley Tucci in the first episode of Season 2. Venice was an obvious choice given the rich and unique culinary heritage of the former city-state known as La Serenissima. It also helps that the city is extremely telegenic.

Tucci also travels beyond the city of Venice to the marshes of the Veneto and to the neighboring region Friuli-Venezia Giulia to explore the diversity of northeast Italy’s cuisine.

Near the Rialto Bridge . Tucci begins the show with a walk to a bar that is “2 minutes from the Rialto Bridge.” But, it’s very easy to get lost in Venice. Stanley jokes that “two hours and 45 minutes later, I find the bar.”

All’Arco ( reviews ). He finds Matteo Pinto, the proprietor of All’Arco, a proper Venetian “bacaro” that serves cicchetti. These tapas-like finger foods are typically Venetian and can have all sorts of toppings. Tucci notes that he is having these cicchetti (pronounced chee- kett’ -ee) with a glass of wine (un ombra) for breakfast . But, of course, these snacks are available all day, particularly at aperitivo time.

Ai 4 Feri Storti ( reviews ). Tucci remains in the San Polo sestiere to try even more cicchetti, this time with gondolier Tobia Pattias. While it’s common knowledge in any city that the taxi drivers are the ones to ask for honest food recommendations, in Venice you ask the gondoliers. Tucci and his dining companion sample several varieties of cicchetti, including the most famous cicchetto— baccalà montecato —a food that “is to Venetians as pizza is to Neapolitans.” Venice expert Monica Cesarato tells the story on her blog of how a Norwegian fish became a Venetian staple. Tucci also writes about Venetian codfish pâté in The Tucci Cookbook .

Rialto Market ( tour ). Venice’s famous market is an obvious stop for Tucci and crew. He visits the millennium-old market with Gianni Scappin, his recipe advisor for The Tucci Cookbook and the foodie film Big Night. Here, Stanley and Gianni buy small cuttlefish ( seppia ) to prepare the famous dish Risotto al Nero di Seppia (Black Risotto with Cuttlefish). They purchase 10 cuttlefish (not squid!) for a meal for two and use carnaroli rice rather than arborio to create a dish that is “as theatrical as Venice.”

The Gritti Palace . Between Tucci’s visit to the Rialto Market and the kitchen, the CNN producers provide us with a long shot of the sign of The Gritti Palace , one of Venice’s most famous and luxurious hotels. Located on the Grand Canal and not far from the modern art masterpieces of the Peggy Guggenheim Collection, The Gritti Palace is one of a number of Marriott hotels in Italy .

Piazza San Marco . St. Mark’s Square is the famous heart of Venice, but Tucci spends time here only to set the scene for his next adventure, inspired by the “foul habit” of the doges of Venice—duck hunting.

Harry’s Bar ( reviews ). Ernest Hemingway was once a regular at Harry’s Bar, one of Venice’s most famous watering holes. Here, Stanley meets up with historian Andrea di Robilant , author of five nonfiction books about Venice, including the recent Autumn in Venice . Robilant explains how duck ( anatra ) is also an important flavor in Venetian cuisine, particularly in the fall. During the time of the Venetian Republic, it was customary for the doge to commission state-run boats for shooting ducks so that there was always an ample supply to donate to legislators before Christmas (as many as 5,000). These duck hunts made their way into Venetian art, including some prized panels by Vittore Carpaccio in the 15th century, one of which is in the Museo Correr ( tours ). The author of the previously-linked Carpaccio article also provides us with this cool bit of Italian culinary trivia:

The Venetian raw meat dish that we know as carpaccio is named after the painter Vittore Carpaccio, supposedly because of his characteristic use of brilliant reds and whites. Guiseppe Cipriani, the founder of Harry’s Bar, invented the dish in 1950, the year of the great Carpaccio exhibition in Venice. He was responding to a request by the Contessa Amalia Mocenigo, a frequent customer, whose doctor had placed her on diet forbidding cooked meat. CARPACCIO’S DOUBLE ENIGMA : HUNTING ON THE LAGOON AND THE TWO VENETIAN LADIES

Valle Pierimpiè . Tucci decides to observe a caccia (hunt). So he rises before dawn and heads west to the vast marshlands of Venice. His guide, Oliver Martini, is the owner of 500 hectares of wetlands in the Campagna Lupia known as Valle Pierimpiè. The scene is not unlike this literary description from the SI Vault:

Alone, the hunters wait for dawn. Far in the distance the sound of gunfire can be heard and, high above, the first sound of beating wings brings guns to hand in haste and error. Hold fire. No shooting here, not yet. Only when the horn is blown—announcing dawn—can firing commence. Now, from across the marsh, they hear it, and now they raise their guns. With the first shot the air is suddenly filled with birds—teals and curlews, pintails and mallards. A Duck Hunt in Venice—published in Sports Illustrated, 1956

Villa Seicento ( reviews ). All the talk of duck means that Tucci eventually eats some of it. Andrea di Robilant joins Tucci at Villa Seicento on the island of Torcello. Chef Nicola Codolo prepares them a meal that features bigoli, a spaghetti-like pasta from the Veneto, in a duck ragù. Here’s a video from the Pasta Grannies on how to make bigoli al sugo d’anatra (though this recipe is from Vicenza, another city in the Veneto).

Back in “mainland” Venice . Tucci joins journalist Maurizio Dainese for a scartosso of fried calamari. This quintessential Venetian “fast food” is easy, thanks to plentiful calamari in the lagoon and salt, which is available even in the crevices of buildings. Dainese explains that the regular flooding of Venice (the acqua alta) means that saltwater gets in everywhere, bloating bricks.

Mazzorbo . Next, we head north to meet Matteo Bisol, whose family rediscovered the indigenous Dorona grape, the only variety to be able to withstand the stress of the salty earth around Venice. The Bisol family’s 16th century vineyard, in operation since 1542, is also home to Michelin-starred restaurant Venissa ( reviews ). Read more about the Bisol family, the Dorona di Venezia, and Venissa. You can also stay at the 6-room guesthouse of the Venissa Wine Resort ( reviews ), but expect a long wait list for reservations.

Orient Experience ( reviews ). One of the things that I appreciate about Stanley Tucci’s show is that he highlights non-traditional restaurants with a community assistance component, such as Chikù in Naples and Cucine Popolari in Bologna (see season 1 ). When he visits Hamad Ahmadi, the Afghan-Venetian owner of Orient Experience in the sestiere of Cannaregio, he points out that while Italians rarely eat non-Italian food, Venetians are more open to foreign fare because of their heritage as a trading post along the Ancient Spice Road . The refugee-run Orient Experience, which features a mélange of dishes from Africa and the Middle East, is, notes Tucci, a “project [that] will work anywhere.” And, in fact, there’s a second Orient Experience in the Dorsoduro district.

Friuli-Venezia Giulia . In what almost seems like an afterthought, Tucci and his team head east to of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, a region at the crossroads between the Venetian Republic and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He says that the food of Friuli is rarely in the spotlight. But, of course, you can find Friulian recipes from Lidia Bastianich, originally from Gorizia, FVG, and in the recent award-winning cookbook Friuli Food and Wine: Frasca Cooking from Northern Italy’s Mountains, Vineyards, and Seaside .

L’Argine a Vencò ( reviews ). Tucci’s final stop in season 2, episode 1 is at L’Argine a Vencò, in Dolegna del Collio in the province of Gorizia. Run by Chef Antonia Klugman and her sister Vittoria, the small, modernist restaurant has one Michelin star and only nine tables. Klugman makes pork goulash, a recipe passed down from her Austro-Hungarian grandparents. The succulent stew, spiced with bay leaves, juniper berries, cumin, and paprika, and sweetened with dry apricots, is interesting because of its complexity, proving that “Italian food” is anything but a cliché.

Episode 2: Piedmont

Modern Italy would not exist were it not for Piemonte (Piedmont). In the second episode of Season 2, Stanley Tucci heads to Turin (Torino), the capital of Piemonte and the first capital of unified Italy. Turin, Italy’s fourth-largest city, is where Italian coffee and chocolate were born. Just south of Turin lies the Langhe, a subregion known for its fine wine and white truffles.

Tucci also visits Vercelli, known for its rice production and risotto, and the neighboring region of Valle d’Aosta, a picturesque valley below the Alps.

Bicerin . Tucci begins the Piemonte episode drinking a bicerin , a mocha-like coffee beverage invented in Turin. The sweet drink takes advantage of two ingredients that the Torinese, by way of the Savoy royal family, introduced to Italy—coffee and chocolate—and tops them with cream. Tucci made a stop at Caffè al Bicerin ( reviews ), founded in 1763. You can read a little bit about Turin’s famous coffee drink here .

Ristorante del Cambio ( reviews ). Right across the street from Italy’s first parliament building ( Palazzo Carignano ) sits Ristorante Del Cambio, Turin’s oldest restaurant, founded in 1757. The favorite restaurant of Italy’s first prime minister Camillo Benso Conte di Cavour, Ristorante del Cambio displays a plaque above the table where Cavour would hold court when he wasn’t at parliament. (You can learn more about Cavour and the history of Italian unification at the Museo del Risorgimento (reviews), located inside Palazzo Carignano.)

Del Cambio has one Michelin star thanks to chef Matteo Baronetto , who likes to combine classic French and Italian flavors—a common pairing for Piedmont, given its geography. Chef Baronetto serves Tucci foie gras accompanied by sautéed cavolo nero (black cabbage). Later, he serves Tucci two versions (traditional and modern) of Finanziera , a “rough stew” made with offal. It was a favorite dish of Cavour and is the dish that Del Cambio is known for.

Pollenzo . Next, Tucci heads to Pollenzo, a tiny town south of Turin that is home to the University of Gastronomic Science . Opened in 2004, the university is the brainchild of Carlo Petrini, the founder of the internationally-renowned Slow Food movement. Begun in the mid-1980s as a reaction to a McDonald’s opening next to Rome’s Spanish Steps, Slow Food campaigns worldwide for honest food and homegrown traditions in opposition to “bland, industrial food.”

Piola da Celso ( reviews ). Back in Turin, Tucci finds the Slow Food philosophy at work in the kitchen of Elisabetta Chiantello, proprietor and chef at Piola da Celso. Chiantello teaches Tucci how to make Bagna Cauda , a warm, garlic and anchovy dip that is a traditional Piemontese dish rarely found on a restaurant menu. Also on the menu at Piola da Celso are vitello tonnato , agnolotti , and roasted veal shoulder.

Vercelli . Approximately one hour northeast of Turin lies Vercelli, the rice capital of Italy. Here, like in Venice, Tucci makes yet another reference to a certain food being the same “as pizza is to Naples.” In this case, he’s talking about risotto.

Christian and Manuel Ristorante ( reviews ). Tucci pays a visit to Hotel Cinzia, where the Costardi brothers—Christian and Manuel—have elevated the art of the risotteria . Their restaurant, which has been awarded one Michelin star, has 20 varieties of risotto dishes, including one served in a Warholesque tin can and made with coffee, beer, and Grana Padano cream. They also serve a rice dessert that includes crispy rice, chestnuts, and chocolate; it’s called “rice field in winter” because the plating evokes the crispy, cracked veneer of the waterlogged Piedmont plain during the coldest months of the year.

Truffle hunting ( tours ). Tucci ventures again into Le Langhe, a UNESCO -recognized area known for its white truffle (tartufi bianchi) and fine wine. Tucci attends a truffle auction, probably the International Alba White Truffle Fair . One 2kg truffle fetches $100,000 during the auction. Unlike black truffles, which can be cultivated, white truffles grow wild, making them precious and expensive.

To learn more about what it takes to find the elusive tartufo bianco, Tucci joins truffle hunter Igor Bianchi. The white-bearded Bianchi, the “King of the Truffle Hunters,” and his trusty dogs (“pigs can’t be trained,” he scoffs) do not find any white truffles during their televised walk in the woods. But later, Bianchi treats Tucci to a quick dish of egg and shaved white truffle .

Serredenari . Still in Langhe, Tucci visits the vineyards of the outstanding young winemaker Giulia Negri. Also known as Barolo Girl , Negri has been harvesting Nebbiolo grapes since the age of 24.

Valle d’Aosta . The snow-capped Alps frame so many of the landscapes in Piemonte that Tucci decides he needs to heed the call of the mountains. So he heads to Valle d’Aosta, Italy’s smallest region, which is nestled between Piemonte, France, and Switzerland.

Ristorante Alpage ( reviews ). Situated at the foot of Mount Cervinio, better known to English speakers at The Matterhorn, the Alpage restaurant serves a mélange of hearty, mountain dishes in an alpine setting that is to die for. Tucci dines on snacks of ham and cheese, including the local bleu d’Aoste cheese, and other Franco-Provençal specialties with owner Cecilia Lazzarotto. Then, they dig into a pot of Fonduta, the Italian version of fondue which is made with fontina cheese—never gruyère or raclet.

Plateau Rosa Cable Car ( reviews ). Finally, Tucci ends the second episode with a funicular (funivia) trip to the top of the mountain. At the top, is the Italian-Swiss border and an invigorating glass of génépi , a wormwood liqueur typical of Valle d’Aosta.

Touring Turin? Check out these Turin and Piedmont culinary tours

Search now for Italy tours

Episode 3: umbria.

Episode 3 of Searching for Italy Season 2 is set in Umbria . The “green heart of Italy,” Umbria is known for its delicious mushrooms and pork products.

Often called “the next Tuscany,” Umbria is a more casual region compared to its neighbor. It is the “Italy before the Romans” and the “land of saintly legends, impossibly perched hill towns , and rustic cuisine.”

Montefalco ( visit ). Tucci’s first Umbrian encounter is with Giorgio Barchesi, better known as Giorgione or “Big George.” Giorgione, a popular TV chef and prolific cookbook author , has a restaurant in the Umbrian hill town of Montefalco called Alla Via di Mezzo ( reviews ). He also has a farm and kitchen where he shows Stanley how he prepares maialino (whole suckling pig) with guanciale (pork cheek) and merletto (lacy innards). The porky dish sets the tone for the rest of the episode, which features a ton of meat.

Assisi ( visit ). Next, Tucci heads to Assisi, the birthplace of Italy’s patron Saint Francis and Umbria’s most popular tourist destination. Here he meets with Matteo Grandi , who guides him on a tour of the Basilica of Saint Francis ( tours ). Inside are 28 astoundingly colorful Giotto frescoes depicting the Life and Legend of Saint Francis. The most famous of these is the 15th one in the series: Sermon to the Birds.

Spoleto ( visit ). Stanley transitions from Saint Francis, who communed with the animals, to Claudia Ferracchiato, who hunts them. Ferracchiato is the leader of “La Caccia Si Tinge di Rosa” (the pink-tinted hunt), an all-female squad of boar hunters. Wild boars, which are particularly abundant in central Italy, have no natural predators (other than man—and woman). So organized boar hunts in this area are a long tradition and have shaped the Umbrian diet.

Following the hunt, Stanley and Claudia return to the latter’s home, where her mother Giuseppina is preparing wild boar ragù . This hearty pasta topping is traditionally paired with homemade pappardelle. “If Umbria has a flavor, this is it,” explains Tucci.

Find an agriturismo or villa in the Uncinano Hills near Spoleto

Norcia ( visit ). Since the 13th century, Norcia has been synonymous with pork products and butchers. In fact, a pork butcher’s shop in Italy is called a “norcineria.” Tucci pays a visit to Norcia, which is still recovering from the 6.6-magnitude earthquake in 2016 that heavily damaged the city center, including the church of Saint Benedict (San Benedetto). Here he finds Maestro Peppe, the last true “Norcino” and proprietor of Brancaleone da Norcia ( reviews ).

Tenuta San Pietro a Pettine ( reviews ). Outside the wonderful hill town of Trevi (located between Assisi and Spoleto) is the truffle farm and restaurant of Carlo Caporicci . Here, Tucci learns how Caporicci has learned to cultivate the black truffle, a signature flavor of Umbrian cooking. Following a walk through the truffle plantation, Carlo and Stanley join Carlo’s daughter Alice for dinner in the estate’s restaurant. Black truffles are “our daily bread,” says Alice.

Perugia (visit). Speaking of bread, we travel next to Perugia, where Tucci learns about the Umbrian capital’s long history of rebellion against the Catholic Church. A particular episode in 1540, in which Pope Paul III levied a tax on salt, led the Perugians—and by extension, Umbrians—to bake bread without salt. To this day, Pane Sciocco (bread without salt) is most common in the central Italian regions of Umbria, Tuscany, and the Marches. (Tucci also encounters pane sciocco in the Tuscany episode in Season 1 ).

During this segment, Tucci rejoins Matteo Grandi for a guided walk around Perugia. He visits the Perugina shop on Corso Vannucci, Perugia’s main street, and they also discuss how this ancient city is also very youthful thanks to its two universities and popular jazz festival . (As an aside, I find it odd that Tucci glosses over Perugia’s chocolate connection, which is very strong. The city is the birthplace of Perugina Baci, has a chocolate museum and cooking school , and also hosts the Eurochocolate Festival in the fall, usually October .)

Next, they visit La Prosciutteria ( reviews ), one of many outlets of a popular Italian franchise that was actually born in Florence . This type of shop, where you can enjoy panini and salumi and glasses of wine in an informal setting, is nothing new, but is based on the tradition of the “fiaschetteria osteria.” No doubt, it’s a great hangout for students and weary travelers.

Orvieto ( visit ). Lovely Orvieto, with its incredible jewel box of a church , is next on Tucci’s itinerary. But Stanley isn’t here for touring churches but for learning about pigeons. With Valentina Santanicchio, Tucci visits the Orvieto Underground ( reviews ), a subterranean labyrinth in use since Etruscan times. The Etruscans carved caves, cantinas, and cubbyholes for colombi (pigeons) in the tufaceous rock on which Orvieto stands.

Santanicchio, chef and proprietor of Capitano del Popolo ( reviews ), later shows Tucci how she cooks with pigeon, using traditional flavors with new methods and accompaniments. You can learn more about Santanicchio, her roots and recipes, in an interview in the book The Butcher’s Apprentice .

(As a bonus, here’s Valentina Santanicchio in a cute video about a food crime! This was created by our friends at The Beehive, a hostel in Rome. The owners split their time between Rome and Orvieto.)

Città della Pieve ( visit ). Tucci finishes the episode on a less meaty note by visiting a sustainable farm, restaurant, and shop in Città della Pieve. Run by twins Alessandro and Nicola Guggioli, Quinto Sapore (reviews) practices “ agriconcura ” or “farming with care.” It is here at the farm that Tucci and friends have a rustic open-air feast of grilled eggplant and tarragon bruschetta followed by a simple pasta with fresh tomato passata and garlic.

Umbria on your itinerary? Book a delicious Umbria food and wine tour

Episode 4: London

There are more Italians living in London than in either Bologna or Pisa, Tucci proclaims in the intro for episode 4.

This is a fascinating detour for the show—not many people know about Italian cuisine in the English capital. But, since this is a website about Italy, I’m going to briefly list the locations he visited:

Terroni of Clerkenwell
Mercato Mayfair
La Mia Mamma
Camisa & Son
La Latteria

I wrote about Stanley Tucci’s visit to Italian London for episode 4 on my other blog.

Episodes 5-8 (aka Season 3)

Episodes 5 through 8 of the second season kind of felt like the third season since their original airing came many months after the airing of Episode 4. Nevertheless, it was nice to see Tucci continue his journey to some lesser-known areas.

Episode 5: Calabria

Tucci, who has Calabrese roots, mentions Calabria in the first season of Searching for Italy and even takes a ferry from Calabria to Sicily. But he had yet to explore his family’s region for the show.

In this episode, Tucci—along with his parents Joan and Sam (whom we saw in the Florence episode of Season 1 )—returns to his ancestral homeland of Calabria, a region that is “as troubled as it is beautiful.” Beyond wanting to learn what his family—including both sets of grandparents—left behind, Tucci journeys to this poor southern region “between rock and sea” to understand how Calabrians remain so tenaciously hospitable.

Marzi . Tucci’s first stop is Marzi (pop. 900), the village from which his paternal grandfather Stanislao Tucci emigrated. As they walk through Marzi, down Via Morti and other alleyways searching for the old family home, Stanley learns that Tucci is still a very common name in the town.

Here they also learn about the importance of bread to the Calabrian meal. They stop first at Panificio Cuti , a bakery in Rogliano (20 minutes east of Marzi) that uses very old starters to make its dense sourdough bread. We then get to see the ingenious origin of the “bread bowl.” Explaining that Calabrese laborers would carry a stuffed bread with them to keep them from going hungry throughout the day, the affable baker hollows out a loaf and fills it with a mixture of broccoli rabe and sausage. The cut-out “lid” of bread is then placed back atop the contents and the whole thing gets wrapped in a kitchen towel, ready to be transported. Man, that looks delicious!

By the way, the most typical filling, historically, is morzello , an offal stew.

Tropea . The next stop on the episode is Tropea , the gorgeous “crown jewel” of Calabria that sits atop 150-foot-high cliffs. In addition to its beauty, Tropea is known throughout Italy for its red onions ( cipolle tropea )

Here, we are introduced to Michele Pugliese, a local restaurateur who meets Tucci at an onion farm next to the sea. Tucci learns that the sandy soil of the Tropea coast is the secret to the onion’s renowned sweetness. He takes a bite of the onion as if it were an apple.

The title of this segment is “Roots Run Deep” because it is also here that Stanley pieces together his family history . His mother’s family—the Tropiana family— hailed from this town. Tropeana became Tropiana when the family moved to the United States.

Tucci follows Pugliese back to his aptly named restaurant Osteria della Cipolla Rossa Tropea , where Michele’s wife Romana cooks a delicious dish of spaghetti with Tropea onions. A recipe made with the simplest of ingredients—onions, garlic, vegetable broth, and ricotta cheese—is, like so many dishes in Italy, a revelation.

Scilla . Calabria, which has the sea on three sides , relies on the sea for sustenance. This fact brings Tucci to the seaside town of Scilla .

Inhabited since ancient times, when large swaths of southern Italy were part of a “Greater Greece” (Magna Graecia), Scilla is forever linked to Homer, whose Scylla and Charybdis sea monsters in the Odyssey menaced the perilous sea passage known today as the Straits of Messina. These sea monsters were probably swordfish ( spada ), a still-mythical fish prized for its size and flavor.

At the Scilla fish market, Tucci meets Gianni Giordano, owner of Il Principe di Scilla (The Prince of Scilla) hotel and restaurant. Giordano serves Tucci two different swordfish dishes. The first is spada carpaccio, i.e., raw, fresh swordfish dressed with lemon, parsley, and Calabrian olive oil It’s “as if prosciutto and salmon had a love child,” coos Tucci. The second dish is tagliatelle in a swordfish ragù. The sauce is made with a soffrito of garlic and Tropea onion, swordfish, small tomatoes ( pomodorini ), olives, parsley, and capers.

Aspromonte Mountains / Santa Cristina d’Aspromonte . Next, Tucci ventures to the Calabrian backcountry in the Aspromonte Mountains. Very few come to this very rugged land, which is what makes it so attractive to Chef Nino Rossi . Obsessed with the food and flavors found within these undiscovered hills, Rome-born Rossi opened his restaurant Qafiz in 2016 and earned a Michelin star in 2019.

Rossi’s cooking is informed by the interior of Calabria, including the wildfires that ravaged the landscape in 2021. For Tucci, he makes a dessert called Fire, which includes charcoal powder in a meringue. Made of citrus, balsamic vinegar, apple, white fir, charcoal meringue, “Fire” and Qafiz’s other dishes “capture the alchemy and enduring beauty of this place.”

Martone . Staying in the Aspromonte, but traveling to its northernmost point, Tucci goes next to the town of Martone, which is ailing from depopulation (due to emigration), social and economic hardship, and threats from the ‘Ndrangheta , Calabria’s brutal local mafia.

In this segment titled “Seeds of Change,” Tucci meets organic farmer Annalisa, who has formed a group of food-minded locals who have pushed back against the ‘Ndragheta’s threats and bullying.

Tucci and Annalisa visit the latter’s friends at La Collinetta , a little restaurant run by Giuseppe “Pino” Trimboli. After speaking out against the mafia, local people began to frequent his restaurant to gather around him as protection. This bold approach has kept the restaurant and the community cooperative safe for more than five years, proving that food is a powerful tool for social change.

Cittanova . Finally, Tucci travels to Cittanova for a big family feast with his extended family. They dine on Stoccafissa alla Cittanova, a stew similar to a codfish and tomato stew Tucci ate growing up in the U.S.; zeppole con alici (savory fried beignets with anchovies); and roasted goat. This “feast to remember” reminds us that “the food that we share together strengthens the bonds” we have with one another.

Calabria is often overlooked as a tourist destination, but that might not be the situation once Tucci leaves his mark on it. Book one of these Calabria tours now to get there before everyone else does. For beach vacations, consider these hotels in Tropea and Scilla .

Episode 6: Sardinia

In episode 2, Tucci travels to Sardinia (Sardegna), the second-largest island in the Mediterranean (Sicily is first). While on board one of the many ferries to Sardinia ,” Tucci explains that the fiercely independent-minded “mini continent is “a little bit Italian and a little bit something else entirely.”

Cagliari . He starts in the capital, Cagliari, where he meets Letitia Clark, author of Bitter Honey: Stories and Recipes from Sardinia . The UK-born transplant then takes him to the San Benedetto fish market, a good place to start as he explains the island’s long history of being conquered and invaded by different cultures. “Eating [in Sardinia] is like the culinary equivalent of an archeological dig.”

Clark then introduces Tucci to bottarga , one of Sardinia’s most famous culinary contributions. The preparation of the prized grey mullet ( muggine ) fish roe came to Sardinia by way of the Phoenicians. Tucci notes that Sicily has its own bottarga as Letitia calls bottarga the “caviar of Sardinia.”

Editor’s Note : Because they are islands and autonomous regions , Sicily and Sardinia are often compared. Indeed, they do share some similar cultural and culinary traits. But then, they are quite different, like the yin and the yang of Italian island life.

What is Bottarga? 8 Ways to Cook With Bottarga (Italian Fish Roe) Read on masterclass

Nora . Next, Tucci heads south to Nora , a small seaside town within the metropolitan city of Cagliari known for its lagoon and open-air archeological park. Here, Stanley meets Francesco Stara, head chef at Fradis Minoris ( reviews ), one of five Michelin-starred restaurants on the island.

Chef Stara demonstrates how Sardinians make fregola, a grainy, cous-cous-like pasta that has origins in ancient Africa/Phoenicia. In olden days, knowing how to make fregola made a woman “good marriage material” in Sardinia, Clark explains, giving us insight into how important this pasta type is to the island—or, at least, this end of it.

Fregola con frutti di mari is the signature dish at Fradis Minoris. Fregola is traditionally served with fish and/or seafood. Chef Stara toasts his fregola before blanching it, then serves it with freshly cooked octopus, bottarga, mussels, shrimp, and herby tomato sauce.

In the kitchen, the trio drinks beer—probably Ichnusa, the most popular Sardinian beer (there are many artisanal ones, too). But when they dine on the fregola ai frutti di mare, they appear to drink white wine. This is likely a Vermentino, among the best-known of Sardinia’s wines .

Editor’s Note : Sardinia is also known for Su Filindeu, aka “threads of God,” which has been deemed the rarest pasta in the world because so few are left who can make it. You can see my original videos of it being made here . Stanley Tucci did not cover this on the show, but I wish he had been able to.

Ales . From the coastal ruins, Stanley ventures into Sardinia’s wild interior, which is dotted with Nuraghe. These are the ancient stone fortresses of the Nuragic people , a civilization that inhabited the island in the 18th century BCE (aka the Bronze Age).

Tucci’s destination is Ales, a village in a land “between thistles and thorns.” These mountains have long been a safe haven, both for innocent Sardi escaping invaders and for bandits on the lam. Here in remote Ales is where we meet Luigi Manias, a beekeeper whose family has maintained beehives here since 1631.

Luigi treats Tucci to a bite of the honeycomb which is surprisingly sweet. Then, Luigi takes Tucci indoors to show him his most-prized nectar: his award-winning Sardinian bitter honey known as Miele di Corbezzolo. The bees that produce this amaro honey feed specifically on the nectar of the indigenous and wild strawberry tree. Calling it the “breakfast of bandits,” Luigi serves miele amaro in the typical way—over whole-roasted lamb.

This “food of the resistance” is the kind that can nourish a bandit all day as he hides out from authority. If you want to try Sardinian honey, Miele Manias is available online.

Barbagia . Deeper still goes Stanley, into the hard hills of Barbagia, the rugged heart of Sardinia. Shepherds here, like Antonio Putzu, let their sheep graze from hill to distant hill, an old and well-tested technique that gives Sardinian sheep the rich, aromatic, and creamy milk used for Pecorino Fiore Sardo cheese.

Barbagia sheep milk is also used in a more notorious type of Sardinia cheese: Casu Marzu (or Martzu ) which is a soft, odoriferous cheese that has live insect larvae (i.e., maggots) moving throughout it. Stanley’s sheepherding friends invite him to sample the cheese, jokingly called “the cocaine of Sardinia,” because those who love it are crazy about it. Also known as the forbidden cheese or the world’s most dangerous cheese , Casu Marzu cannot be bought or sold and is technically illegal in Italy. However, it is protected as a local food product of Sardinia, meaning that farmers, shepherds, and other native Sardinians can make it at home.

After the cheese, Tucci stays a little longer with the shepherds as they make another local pastoral delicacy. Su Zurrette , often compared to the Scottish dish haggis, is sort of blood pudding that is cooked in a sheep’s stomach with pecorino cheese, mint, and pieces of flatbread.

Following a taste of the Su Zurrette, the shepherds engage in an earnest Canto a Tenore (or Cantu a Tenore), a pastoral singing style that is recognized by UNESCO as an intangible World Heritage.

Carloforte . Tucci then moves from the hills back to the coast with a visit to Carloforte . Located on the island of San Pietro, five miles off the southwest coast, Carloforte was originally settled by families from Liguria more than three centuries ago. Today, the town is known for its pastel-hued buildings and its bluefin tuna.

Here, Tucci meets with the “King of Tuna” Luigi Pomata, a star chef with award-winning restaurants in Cagliari and his native Carloforte. At Bistrot di Pomata, Luigi prepares Cassulli alla Carlofortina, a signature local dish that combines cassulli pasta with boiled tuna, tomatoes, and Ligurian pesto .

Alghero . The next stop in the Sardinia episode is Alghero, a city on the northwest coast. Conquered by the Kingdom of Aragon in the 14th century, Alghero still has a Spanish flavor to it. Indeed it is often referred to as Little Barcelona (Barceloneta) and locals speak the Algherese dialect, which borrows from Catalan. Read more about Alghero’s struggle to keep its Catalan roots.

The visit to Alghero begins with a stop at Al Forno Alghero , where Tucci tries sa panada . These stuffed pastries, which get their name from the Spanish “empanada,” are available at bakeries and homes across the island, but particularly in the northern province of Sassari.

Another typical food of this coastal town is lobster. Aragosta from Alghero is considered to be some of the best in the world because it lives in water that is saltier than ocean water and that is filtered by a red coral reef. With the affable and independent-minded Antonietta Solaris, the chef at Mabrouk , Tucci learns about Aragosta alla Catalana, Catalan-style rock lobster , which is boiled and split then topped with a mixture of onion, red wine vinegar, lemon, tomato, and parsley.

Battista . The final stop on Tucci’s tour of Sardinia is the town of Battista, where Tucci meets with Simonetta Bazzu. At her cooking school Arimani , Bazzu is committed to preserving the culinary traditions of Sardinia. She and her lovely assistants demonstrate how to make pane carasau, a Sardinian flatbread that has been around since at least 1000 BC. They also make a Zuppa Gallurese , a lasagna-type dish that uses pane carasau as a base.

Tucci ends this episode in the part of Sardinia that I know best: the subregion of Gallura . Battista is about 30 minutes south of Olbia, where you will find the international airport and transfers to Costa Smeralda , Sardinia’s playground of the rich. There are many wonderful places to stay in Gallura, especially beyond the traffic and hoi polloi of the Emerald Coast. I urge you to check out Villa del Golfo and Gabbiano Azzurro , two lovely hotels where I’ve had the pleasure of staying.

Sardinia is the second largest island in the Mediterranean and such a different world than mainland Italy. But a lot of travelers don’t know how to fit the island into their itinerary, if at all. Check out these Sardinia tours to find ideas.

Episode 7: Puglia + Basilicata

In season 2, episode 7, Tucci goes to the heel of the boot: Puglia (often written as Apulia in English). He walks in a vast olive grove as he tells us that there are 60 million olive trees in Puglia, i.e., approximately one per every Italian in Italy. “Italy at its most elemental,” Puglia has a cuisine based around olive oil, fresh vegetables, cheese, and pasta and bread made from durum wheat.

Bari . In the opening sequence, Tucci moves from the olive grove to Bari Vecchia , the old town in Puglia’s capital Bari. He stops in for focaccia-like Pizza Barese at the bakerty of Panificio Santa Rita .

Bari has been an important port since ancient times. He joins guide Sophie Minchilli , whose grandfather designed the buildings on the seafront during the 1930s .

Minchilli takes Tucci to Molo San Nicola ( map ) in Bari’s old port so he can see the unregulated fishermen selling their catch, grabbing attention with their strong Barese dialect. By the way, a well-known, tongue-in-cheek phrase in Barese is “Se Parigi avèsse lu màre, fosse na piccola Bbàre”—”If Paris had a sea, it would be a little Bari.” Many Italians claim that the Barese dialect is one of the hardest to understand. The Italian website Barinedita highlights some colorful jargon from speakers of the dialect.

While still at the port, Minchilli and Tucci sample “the sushi of Italy” aka Il Crudo Barese , which the people of Bari have been eating since the 1500s. They eat “tagliatelle,” squid that has been cut to look like the pasta of the same name. The seafood is beaten and soaked in saltwater to tenderize it before eating.

Sophie then takes Stanley to Bari Vecchia , of which we have already seen a glimpse. Bari Vecchia, with its maze of alleyways, has long had a bad reputation as a high-crime area. But that has changed a lot over the last few decades. It is now a very popular destination for pasta lovers, who can watch women of the neighborhood making and selling orecchhiette from tables lining the small streets. (Note: you can get Tucci’s recipe for orecchiette and broccoli rape from his cookbook The Tucci Table: Cooking With Family and Friends .)

The segment continues at Urban Bistrot ( reviews ), where Chef Celso La Forga shows the pair how he makes a dish that is unique to Bari and found nowhere else in Italy: Spaghetti all’Assassina. It’s called “The Killer’s Pasta” because it is so spicy (compared to most Italian food). Urban Bistrot is so well known for the spicy, crunchy, “burned” spaghetti dish that it has several varieties on its menu .

Foggia . Walking through a vast green field of wheat dotted with olive trees, almond trees, and grapevines, Tucci meets next with Chef Pietro Zito . Wheat is one of Puglia’s most prized contributions to Italian agriculture, forming the essential ingredient of breads and pastas. The Foggia province is known as the “breadbasket of Italy” because of its production of durum wheat.

Most wheat farmers in this area, Tucci explains, have Mussolini to “thank” for their crops. During the Fascist era in Italy, Mussolini sought to free Italians from the “slavery of foreign bread with the Battaglia del Grano propaganda campaign.

“This campaign was successful in increasing wheat output and lowering the trade balance deficit, but was ultimately economically counter-productive for Italy’s agricultural sector as farmers who grew other produce had to clear their land for grain cultivation which decreased exports and thus resulted in higher food prices which placed Italian families under financial strain.” Battle for Grain, Wikipedia

In those days, when the crops were cleared after harvest, poor people would look for the burned kernels of grain and make flour from them. “Una farina povera.” The stigma of having to survive this way in the Mezzogiorno lingered for decades.

But Pietro Zito is on a mission to revive the flavors of his region. He and Stanley pay a visit to Molino Daddario Antonia in Cerignola (the town that gave the name to my favorite green olive). There they meet Nicola Lagrasta who has developed a technique for toasting wheat that can be used to make dark bread and taralli .

At Antichi Sapori ( reviews ), Zito’s Michelin Bib Gourmand restaurant in Montegrosso (Barletta), his mother concetta prepares orecchiette made with half-burnt flour. The orecchiette form the base of his signature pasta dish topped with a cream of fava beans, buratta cheese, and black olives.

Cisternino . Next, Tucci drives through the Valle dei Trulli, an area dotted with Trulli (cone-shaped houses) typical of the area. The most famous Trulli city in Puglia is Alberobello, a UNESCO World Heritage Site . But Tucci heads instead to Cisternino to meet up with Vito Zurlo. He passes by Arrosteria del Vicoletto before he enters Zurlo’s Trattoria Bere Vecchie . Both places are known as a fornello , a sort of butcher shop whose name is derived from the type of oven used at community fairs. Traditional fornelli “don’t just sell the meat but cook it for you on the spot.” The typical fare includes roasted meats and spiedini , basically Italian kebabs.

Bere Vecchie is known for its bombette , which are choice cuts of pork neck wrapped around lamb offal or anything else…cheese, salami, capocollo, etc.

Andria . In Andria, a town known for the 13th century Castel del Monte (also a UNESCO site), Tucci visits with journalist Agostino Petroni on his family’s olive farm. Puglia’s distinctive, peppery olive oil is revered throughout the world and the region produces about half of Italy’s olive oil.

Unfortunately, “this thriving, historic industry” is under attack by xylella fastidiosa, a bacterial virus that chokes the trees to death. Petroni wrote about the olive tree apocalypse as a 2021 fellow at the Pulitzer Center.

Salento . Still with Petroni, Tucci travels to the southern reaches of Puglia to the subregion of the Salento to see the earliest tree deaths from this virus. Around 2013, when Xylella Fastidiosa began killing off trees that had been resilient for thousands of years, many locals did not want to believe it. They blamed scientists for the problem. But those very scientists also found out that a certain variety of olive tree was resistant to the virus. So olive farmers have begun the difficult but necessary task of grafting the two types of trees together and replanting them, kilometer by kilometer.

Back in Andria . After seeing the ghostly white and monumental trees in the Salento that had succumbed to xylella fastidiosa, Tucci and Petroni return to the latter’s farm to taste olive oil and drizzle it over local produce, cheese, and friselle (a type of dry bread that is popular in Puglia).

Altamura . The town of Altamura, which is dominated by its 13th century cathedral , is known throughout Italy for its bread. Tucci posits that “wherever in Italy there is good bread, there is usually good cheese.”

Tucci has come to Altamura to visit the Caseificio Dicecca , where Vito Dicecca has created a Puglian blue cheese. Vito happens to be quite active on Instagram under the name @cheeseinside . A fourth-generation cheesemaker, the unconventional Dicecca has created 66 types of blue cheese including one made with buratta.

Vito’s cheese bar, also on Instagram as @baby.dicecca , is unique. Operated from a kiosk in the middle of the Mercandante Forest , the cheese bar offers customers a chance to try Vito’s cheese inventions with a glass of wine. It also serves focaccia Barese.

As I mentioned in my post about the first part of Season 2 , CNN and Tucci dropped a hint back in February that he would travel to Puglia when they posted about his recipe for a traditional Puglian pasta dish .

Matera (Basilicata) . The final stop in this episode is Matera, an ancient town that was once part of Puglia but is now part of the region of Basilicata. Matera is an incredible town that was, in 2019, the European Capital of Culture .

But Matera was not always a tourist destination. Local historian Francesco Foschino explains how Matera grew across a craggy slope (La Gravina) and its cave dwellings, known as Sassi, are recognized by UNESCO as heritage site.

Now a bustling tourist hub, Matera was once the “shame of Italy,” becoming so infamous that Italy used the grave living conditions of its inhabitants to secure post-war Marshall Plan funding . The plan was successful; but it meant that residents abandoned the sassi for modern homes on the edge of town.

In the 90s, Matera started to attract artists, hoteliers, and restaurateurs, lured by inexpensive, unusual property and the chance to take part in revitalizing the southern town. Tucci visits Ristorante Vitantonio Lombardo , a Michelin-star restaurant located in one of Matera’s once-abandoned caves. For Tucci, he made a dish of veal and sweetbreads dressed with black breadcrumbs that look like grated black truffles called “Poverty and nobility with a red wine sauce.”

Puglia is a hugely popular summer destination—among Italians and international travelers—so it’s never too early to start researching and booking Puglia tours for the summer.

Episode 8: Genoa and Liguria

Liguria, the crescent of land between France and Tuscany, is a picturesque, yet rugged environment where generations have had to produce sustenance from its terraced hills.

Portofino . Tucci begins the episode in Portofino, the jewel of the Italian Riviera. He climbs multiple flights of steep stairs to arrive at Castello Brown , where you can get a bird’s eye view of the ritzy harbor.

Tucci is in Portofino to meet with Carlo Cracco, one of Italy’s most famous chefs. Cracco, who became a household name on Masterchef Italia, owns Cracco Portofino , a Michelin-starred restaurant along the water. Cracco gets 70% of his restaurant’s ingredients from a farm above town. At the restaurant, Cracco Portofino’s head chef Mattia Pecis prepares Pansotti Preboggion , a typical Ligurian pasta dish of herbs ( preboggion ) stuffed into pansotti (ravioli-like pasta) and topped with a sauce made of walnuts. Tucci notes that this is a kind of “cucina povera”—a cuisine borne of poverty—but Cracco corrects him: “È cucina intelligente.”

Genoa . Next, Tucci heads to Genoa, the regional capital of Liguria and a historically significant Italian port city. Genoa is also known as La Terra del Basilico or the Land of Basil and hosts the biennial World Pesto Championship .

To learn more about the fragrant Genovese herb, Tucci meets with Roberto Panizza, aka the King of Pesto. The two visit a huge greenhouse above town where workers lie on slats while harvesting basil from the sea of green . Here is grown Nano , “the only certified basil in Europe.”

Then they go down to Panizza’s restaurant Il Genovese where the Pesto king shows Tucci the proper way to make the green condiment—with a very large mortar and pestle .

After a delicious lunch of Trenette al Pesto , Tucci meets up with Texas-born, Genoa-based food writer Laurel Evans to explore the historic center of Genoa. In the video montage, we see Genovese landmarks like the Palazzi dei Rolli, UNESCO heritage site mansions on Via Garibaldi; Piazza de Ferrari with its grand, circular fountain; and the maze of back alleys ( carruggi ) that extend beyond Genoa’s Porto Antico (ancient harbor).

In the carruggi, Evans takes Tucci to Antico Forno della Casana , which is a specialist in Genoa’s famous focaccia . Focaccia in Genoa transcends any other that you’ve had before.

Following nibbles of the “working class staple,” the pair head to The Cook , Ivano Ricchebono’s haute cuisine restaurant housed in a frescoed palazzo. It is there that we learn about Genovese corzetti pasta, which was traditionally “stamped” with a noble family’s seal for special dinners. If you’re keen, you can buy a corzetti stamp .

Chef Ricchebono also introduces Tucci and Evans to an extravagant Cappon Magro , a timbale or molded salad made of seafood and vegetables.

Every tour of Liguria includes a stop or a stay in Cinque Terre and there are many tours originating in Tuscany or Lombardy that include a visit to Liguria’s most famous corner.

For more insight into Ligurian cuisine, including exquisite recipes, check out Liguria: The Cookbook: Recipes from the Italian Riviera .

Will There Be Another Season?

Tucci has yet to visit every region in Italy . But unfortunately, this series in its current format has come to an end. CNN ended their sponsorship of the show after the end of the second season. There are hints that he is searching around for another sponsor, so stay tuned.

It’s a shame that Tucci didn’t make it to these four regions for the show:

Trentino Alto Adige

Post first published on November 8, 2021

Stay in Rimini for 1 Euro Per Night...But There's a Really Big Catch

How Keith Haring Came to Pisa

Tags: Food and Wine stanley tucci turin venice

The White Lotus Season 2: Stunning Locations in Sunny Sicily

How to Have a ‘Sideways’ Visit in Tuscany

History of the Crucifixion

Paolo Sorrentino’s Naples: The People and Places of “The Hand of God”

All the Recipes from Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Save this content and enjoy it whenever you want

Photo by: Fine Dining Lovers / Stanley Tucci's portrait by Daniel Krieger /

The hit travel show Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy followed the Italian-American actor as he explored the peninsula in search of the country’s rich and fascinating history, all told through the medium of food.

During a period of relaxed coronavirus restrictions, actor Stanley Tucci went in search of his Italian roots, starting off in Naples and the Amalfi Coast, heading north to Rome, Bologna and Milan, and returning south to Sicily. He documented his journey, guided by locals who are all passionate about their food traditions and the cultural learning contained within.

It proves the world’s love affair with all things Italian, and particularly its food, that the programme was so popular. And the great thing about the show’s food is that it’s really quite easy to make at home - you just need to pay attention to the raw ingredients and follow all these easy step-by-step recipes from Searching for Italy .

Naples & Amalfi Coast

Stanley tucci Searching for Italy Naples and Amalfi Coast

The fried pizza at Pizza Fritta da Fernanda in Naples is legendary. You can make it it at home with this fried pizza, tomato Bavarese, buffalo mozzarella and tomato confit recipe by chef Viviana Varese. Pizza is definitely the star of the show in the first episode, and the classic Neapolitan pizza makes an appearance at Pizzeria la Notizia. Here's how to make the perfect Neapolitan pizza at home.

On the Amalfi Coast, Tucci eats a classic spaghetti and zucchini dish, spaghetti alla nerano , at restaurant Lo Scoglio. It's incredibly easy to make and a very satisfying meal to boot. Have a look at the video below for the recipe - it's in Italian, but quite easy to follow the steps.

The famous stretch of coast is known for the lemons that grow there, which are sold on the side of the road by vendors, and are often the size of grapefruit. The lemon delight is a gorgeous fresh dessert that features in the episode, and you can make your own lemon delight cake at home in our authentic step-by-step recipe.

All roads lead to Rome, so they say, but it was certainly true for Stanley Tucci , as he headed to the country's capital to sample its incredible traditional cuisine. Rome has a very strong food identity and its traditions go back to ancient times. The huge city is surrounded by the fertile land of Lazio, which produces some of the best ingredients in the country. The cuisine of Rome is hearty and satisfying, and its four famous pasta dishes will leave you fully sated. See below for how to make the four famous pastas from Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy .

How to Make The Rigatoni all'Amatriciana from Searching For Italy

Lunch calls, and Tucci finds it at Armando al Pantheon, where he orders the Roman classic rigatoni all'amatriciana , one of the city’s four famous pasta dishes. Learn how to make the dish here.

How to Make the Pasta alla Gricia from Searching for Italy

One of the famous four pastas of Rome is pasta alla gricia , the proto pasta of the amatriciana dish. Just remove the tomatoes, as they were only added to Italian cuisine after the discovery of the New World. Pasta alla gricia contains just guanciale and pecorino Romano.

Learn how to make this famous Roman dish in the video below:

How to Make Spaghetti Carbonara from Searching for Italy

Next is a favourite dish the world over - spaghetti carbonara . Tucci learns about it from chef and historian Daniele di Michele . Like the other Roman pastas, carbonara is very simple, made with just guanciale (pigs' cheeks), pecorino, black pepper and eggs. Here's how to make spaghetti carbonara.

Luciano Monosilio is famous for his carbonara. Learn from the best below.

How to Make the Cacio e Pepe from Searching for Italy

Cacio e pepe is the ultimate Roman pasta - simple, satisfying and totally delicious. Learn how to make it through the eyes of Michelin-star chef Riccardo Camanini of Lido84 .

Emilia-Romagna

The city of Bologna in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region can call itself the food capital of Italy. Known as the 'food valley', the region has some of the richest agricultural land in the whole country and its produce (beef, dairy, grain, fruit and vegetables) gave the world its most famous pasta dish, the ragù Bolognese. Discover the recipes from Searching for Italy below:

How to Make Massimo Bottura's Tortellini in Brodo from Searching for Italy

Tucci visits Modena, and Massimo Bottura , who tells him about the city's devout worship of pasta: "If you don't believe in God, you believe in tortellini in Modena." Watch Bottura as he makes tortellini in brodo from scratch at home, with his family for company, during his lockdown series.

How to Make Ragù alla Bolognese like Emilia-Romagna Chefs

Try these two versions of ragù by chefs Aurora Mazzucchelli , Gianni D'Amato and Dario Picchiotti.

How to Make Homemade Tagliatelle from Searching for Italy

Ragù should not be served with spaghetti, locals will tell you, it should be served with tagliatelle. Learn how to make it at home with the Simili sisters:

How to Make Tagliatelle with Ragù Bolognese: The Original Recipe

Learn how to make tagliatelle with ragù bolognese with this authentic recipe from chef Alberto Bettini , owner of Amerigo1934.

How to Make The Strozzapreti Pasta from Searching for Italy

On to Rimini, where where Tucci learns how to make homemade pasta, including cappelletti and strozzapreti. Learn how to make homemade strozzapreti in our Tried and Tasted recipe.

The northern city of Milan - the cosmopolitan capital of finance and commerce, design and fashion - has its own particular food traditions. There, Tucci meets up with locals who guide him thorough the streets of a city that is a mix of the modern and the ancient.

How to Make Risotto Milanese from Searching for Italy

Risotto Milanese is the symbol of the city, and it is a dish that is both warm and hearty, as well as delicate and subtle. Learn how to make it below.

Risotto Milanese from Ratanà as seen in Searching for Italy

This risotto Milanese recipe is from chef Cesare Battisti at Ratanà , the very restaurant featured in Searching for Italy . Slightly different to the traditional recipe, it has a truly golden hue.

Parmesan Risotto Recipe

Watch how to make the perfect parmesan risotto with Michelin-starred chef Riccardo Camanini .

Watch Michelin Chefs Cook Risotto

Risotto is one of those ever-reliable dishes, that once you crack, you'll always be able to whip it up very quickly. Check out these risotto tips and tricks from Michelin-starred chefs.

How to Make Pizzoccheri from Searching for Italy

The winter warmer of pizzoccheri is a northern delight that those who live in the Alpine north depend on in the colder months.

Learn how to Make Delicious Pizzoccheri with Pasta Grannies

Learn How Make Cotoletta Milanese from Searching for Italy

Quite similar to a schnitzel found further north in Austria, the Milanese will tell you it originated in their home city - don't forget the clarified butter.

Here’s Everything You Need to Know About Cotoletta Milanese

And here’s the Real Recipe for Cotoletta Milanese

How to make polenta from searching for italy.

Typical of the north, polenta is easy to make, but it does take time and a little effort to get it right. Have a look at these ten different ways to serve it .

Tuscany

One of Italy's best-known regions, Tuscany has given the world so much in terms of art and culture, science and progress, but the same is true of its food. The local cuisine is rich in oil, with plenty of flavour, and will never leave you hungry.

How to Make the Perfect Steak Florentine from Searching for Italy

Learn all you need to know with Italy's favourite butcher, Dario Cecchini , with all his tips and tricks for cooking the best steak Florentine . Whichever way you like your steak, these tricks can ensure you get the best results every time. Here is the definitive infographic for every single beef cut, all sixty of them explained , with instructions on how to cook them.

Learn How to Make Tuscan Almond Biscuits, Cantucci, from Searching for Italy

Here is recipe for delicious cantucci , as seen in Searching for Italy . Perfect to finish a meal after dipping in Vin Santo.

Learn How to Cook Ribollita from Searching for Italy

One of Tuscany’s oldest recipes, ribollita is actually a bread and vegetable soup cooked twice. It's a simple and hearty dish traditionally made by the peasants who worked the land.

Lean How to Make Tuscan Panzanella from Searching for Italy

Here's a light and refreshing traditional salad dish that is also an excellent way to use up leftover bread.

In the final episode of Searching for Italy , Tucci stops off on the island of Sicily, the heart of the Mediterranean, whose cuisine is known as 'God's kitchen'. The rich and diverse history of this island is reflected in the cuisine, and in this series, Tucci kept the best for last.

Stanley Tucci Searching for Italy Sicily

Spaghetti alla Bottarga from Searching for Italy

Learn how to make a classic spaghetti alla bottarga, as enjoyed by Tucci on the show.

How to make Timpano from Tucci's Big Night

Tucci goes searching in Palermo for 'timballo' or timpani, the baked dish from his 1996 film, Big Night . Try this Tucci-inspired timpano recipe.

How to Make Arancini from Searching for Italy

Use up your leftover risotto by making arancini at home.

Sarde alla Beccafico from Searching for Italy

Learn how to make these stuffed sardines to transport you to Sicily, just like in Searching for Italy .

How to Make Pasta alla Norma from Searching for Italy

Sicilian chef Ciccio Sultano shows us how to make this classic pasta dish from Catania.

How to Make Sicilian Cannoli from Searching for Italy

Get the original step-by-step recipe for cannoli , probably Sicily's most famous contribution to the world when it comes to deserts.

Subscribe to Fine Dining Lovers

Create an account to stay up to date on our content and customise your feed based on the topics that interest you.

Stanley Tucci sat on a sun lounger on a sandy, sunny beach

Latest on FDL+

FDL+ Soft white grape cake

FDL+ Pickled peppers

FDL+ White gazpacho

FDL+ Sciatt by Gianni Tarabini

Searching for Italy: Discover Sicily's Best Recipes with Stanley Tucci

“ What are you looking for? ”

10 Recipes from Stanley Tucci’s ‘Searching for Italy’

Get an Italy fix with these 10 recipes for dishes featured on Stanely Tucci's ‘Searching for Italy.’

Missing Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy ? We understand. For six weeks straight, the actor and autho r transported viewers to Italy, uncovering history, humanity, and culture through the lens of food.

While we’ve got you covered for all the places to hit up on your next trip , we realize that a trip to Italy might be on hold for the foreseeable future – but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy the dishes that dazzled Tucci's palate in il bel paese . Here are 10 recipes from Stanley Tucci’s Searching for Italy that you can make at home.

1. Spaghetti alla Nerano

Here’s our spaghetti alla Nerano recipe , the spaghetti with fried zucchini he enjoyed at Lo Scoglio on the Amalfi Coast during the episode dedicated to Campania. Plus some tips for perfecting the dish .

2. Tagliatelle al ragù

This meat sauce (which some might refer to as bolognese) tossed with silky ribbons of fresh tagliatelle is an indisputable Italian classic. In the Emilia-Romagna episode, Tucci enjoys it at Casa Artusi, named for the late and great Pellegrino Artusi . Here’s our tagliatelle al ragù recipe .

3, 4, and 5. Roman pasta trinity: Cacio e Pepe, Amatriciana, and Carbonara

Cacio e pepe, amatriciana, and carbonara comprise the holy Roman pasta trinity , and Tucci samples all three during the Rome episode. Here are our recipes for cacio e pepe , amatriciana , and carbonara .

Image may contain: Home Decor, Spaghetti, Food, Pasta, and Linen

Carbonara, photo: Riccardo Lettieri

6. Pasta alla Norma

This pasta with tomatoes, fried eggplant, and ricotta salata cheese is one of Sicily’s most beloved dishes – and one of the most simple to recreate at home. Here’s our pasta alla norma recipe .

7. Cotoletta alla Milanese

The Milanese-style veal cutlet is a must-eat in Milan. During the Lombardy episode, Tucci visits Ratanà restaurant where he prepares the dish with chef Cesare Battisti. Here’s our cotoletta alla Milanese recipe .

8. Cacciucco alla Livornese

When in Tuscany, Tucci sampled this historic fish stew from the port city of Livorno, and it stole his heart. Here you’ll find our cacciucco alla Livornese recipe .

9. Bistecca alla Fiorentina

In the final Tuscany-themed episode, Tucci enjoys bistecca alla Fiorentina , the traditional Florence-style steak, with chef Fabio Picchi. Here’s you’ll find our bistecca alla Fiorentina recipe along with some t ips for perfecting the steak .

10. Delizia al Limone

Here’s Sal de Riso’s recipe for Delizia al Limone , an exquisite representation of the Amalfi Coast in the dessert form. The region's storied lemons, Limone Costa d’Amalfi PGI , are what makes the dessert so particular – if you can’t find them, Meyer lemons are a nifty substitute.

Cover photo courtesy of Raw CNN

Image may contain: Human, Person, Glass, Computer Keyboard, Electronics, Keyboard, Computer, Computer Hardware, and Hardware

The Black Saffron Martini Sipped by Stanley Tucci

Image may contain: Drink, Beer, Alcohol, Beverage, Bottle, and Glass

Negroni with Balsamic Vermouth Recipe, as Sipped by Stanley Tucci

Stanley Tucci and a chef dine and talk in Italy

6 Italian Recipes Inspired by Stanley Tucci’s Best Scenes

Stanley Tucci

Get fresh Italian recipes and food news every day!

Subscribe to our newsletters:

Coming soon to Los Angeles, San Francisco, Miami…

Find anything you save across the site in your account

In Praise of Stanley Tucci's TV Travel Uniform

By Caroline Reilly

Image may contain Human Person Clothing Apparel Animal Fowl Bird Poultry Chicken and Sitting

If Stanley Tucci’s new show Searching for Italy , which concluded its first season on CNN in March, is a love letter to the country’s food, his clothing throughout the season is a love letter to Italian style.

All season, Tucci’s wardrobe suited the landscape he traversed. He spent much of his time in Italy marveling over how a few unpretentious ingredients can come together to make something divine, and so it’s fitting that he would likewise explore Italy dressed in a way that is both simple and—sorry, I’ve got to say it—a feast for the eyes.

Image may contain Human Person Chef Furniture and Chair

Throughout the season, Tucci explores Italy from the tip to the toe of the boot, eating his way through the country, and absorbing Italian culture through the eyes of the people who know and love it most. And he does it all in enviable style. In his wardrobe of luxurious staple items in rich cool tones, Tucci doesn't look like an American tourist; instead, he looked like a sharp Italian local, with a classic continental uniform.

All of Tucci’s outfits have one throughline: impeccable tailoring and fabrics. As he strolls through cobblestones streets or pulls up a chair in the kitchen of a family home, his clothing appears molded to his frame. Granted, Tucci is not exactly a hard man to dress – some light googling indicates he’s around 5’8", and it’s not unnoticeable that the man works out. And he’s presumably got the benefit of a costumer and tailor to work with as well. Still, his style on the show is definitively Tucci; if you follow him on Instagram, you know that the man can dress.

Perhaps most importantly, he nails the details. His trousers are midrise, true to more traditional tailoring; they flatter both his height and his trim frame. They are usually navy or tan, and never worn without a belt. His shirts are tucked in, almost without exception. And this is key because it’s that combination of a midrise slack with a perfectly tailored and tucked shirt that creates a delicate balance of proportion and line. Those shirts themselves are simple, solid button downs or refined knits; some of my favorite looks include white linen shirts tucked into simple blue slacks, or a close-fitting navy polo worn tucked into a light tan slack. In cooler temperatures he layers luxurious knits with soft sport coats; he’ll pair turtlenecks and half-zip sweaters with a classic oil cloth jacket or a simple navy peacoat. The effect is less TV host than dapper, relaxed vineyard owner.

Image may contain Human Person Clothing Apparel and Wood

Crucially, everything he wears exudes an easy sex appeal and comfort. He’s like the hot dad that you might stand next to at the hotel bar on holiday. He looks like he smells great, but not overly cologned; he’s youthful and modern without trying too hard and you can’t help but notice he’s sporting quite the physique, made all the more alluring by the fact that his clothing is not designed to show that off but rather to complement it.

But Tucci’s style also stands out among his fellow travel show hosts, who often lean into the, well, travel element of their job—dressing in soft and packable clothing that looks like it was just pulled from a suitcase. Tucci, however, looks like the kind of man who hangs all his clothing neatly in his hotel room when he arrives, and who no doubt steams, and perhaps even irons, everything before wearing it. But he never looks stiff or overly formal; simply neat and clean in a way that communicates that he cares about how he looks. Fashion, presentation, and attention to detail are pillars of Italian culture; even when he visits people’s homes for casual dinners, the table linens are always crisp, the dishware always beautiful. And so Tucci’s rather styled approach to the travel host aesthetic is a nod both to the Italian way of life, and an expression of his own lineage.

At the same time, Tucci’s travels around Italy are largely marked by a lack of pretense. Sure, he visited wealthy families and prestigious restaurants, but he was met with warmth and ease everywhere. The show's core is an embrace of the simple things—good food, good company. And in some ways, Tucci’s wardrobe of refined but unostentatious staples reflects this simplicity as well. You could imagine his pieces hanging in one big closet. This, of course, is the beauty of uniformed dressing: the knowledge that on any given day, you can pair a trouser and shirt and jacket without fuss or anxiety and still know that the world will see you as well-dressed. It’s the Italian understanding that clothes—like ingredients in a good dish—are not meant to overpower, but to work together in pleasureful harmony.

20% off $250 spend w/ Wayfair coupon code

Military Members save 15% Off - Michaels coupon

Enjoy 30% Off w/ ASOS Promo Code

eBay coupon for +$5 Off sitewide

Enjoy Peacock Premium for Only $1.99/Month Instead of $5.99

$100 discount on your next Samsung purchase* in 2024

COMMENTS

'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy'
Stanley Tucci raved about the garlic dip on "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy." Tune in Sundays at 9 p.m. ET for all-new episodes. Behind the scenes: Stanley Tucci falls to make his tour guide laugh
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy (TV Series 2021-2022)
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: With Stanley Tucci, Felicity Blunt, Massimo Bottura, Tess Masazza. Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines.
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy is an American travel and food show that premiered on February 14, 2021, on CNN.The series follows American actor Stanley Tucci, who travels around Italy visiting each region and exploring their cultures, cuisine, and history.. The series has received seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, winning Emmys for Outstanding Hosted Nonfiction Series in 2021, 2022 ...
Episodes
Rome. In the Eternal City, Stanley Tucci searches for the famed Four Pastas, sampling rigatoni all'amatriciana, carbonara, cheeses and sausages from the region. Season 1, Episode 3.
Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy
About the show. Stanley Tucci travels across Italy to discover the secrets and delights of the country's regional cuisines. Watch clips and full episodes of Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy from ...
BBC iPlayer
1. Veneto. Stanley Tucci visits the Veneto, home to the 'floating city' of Venice. 2. Piedmont. Stanley visits Piedmont, the region that made the dream of a unified Italy a reality. 3. Umbria ...
'Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy' Makes For a (Mostly) Charming Tour
CNN. " Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy" opens with the actor striding down a bustling Naples street in a perfectly tailored summer suit, dodging Italians on Vespas and scanning the ...
Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy: air date, destinations
Hollywood star Stanley Tucci discovers the secrets and delights of Italy's regional cuisines in his new six-part BBC2 travelogue Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, which was originally shown on CNN in the US last year. "I'm Italian on both sides and for many years it's been a dream of mine to make this show,' says Stanley 61, whose ...
Stanley Tucci Is Returning to Italy With a New Food Series
Alexandra Hurtado. Jan 9, 2024. Stanley Tucci isn't done exploring Italy! The Emmy and Golden-Globe winning actor will once again be taking viewers on a culinary tour of the country in a new ...
Stanley Tucci's Piedmont Tour
Piedmont truffle hunt tour. Torino walking tour. 1. Torino. Stanley Tucci decides to explore both the capital city of the region, Torino, and the countryside. The TV show offers a beautiful picture of the city of Torino, with its historic palaces, the porticos, the magnificent squares with equestrian statues, the first Italian parliament, and ...
'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy': What's on the menu in Venice
Matteo Bisol gave Tucci a tour of perhaps the most unique vineyard in Italy, located on the island of Mazzorbo, about 5 miles northeast of Venice. Wine played a leading role in the very early ...
Searching for Italy package
Searching for Italy tour lets you visit the locations Stanley Tucci has been to, try the delicious Italian dishes he had, and experience cooking classes where you can learn to prepare delicious Italian dishes.This Searching for Italy tour combines food tastings, cooking classes and visits to the best spots of the main Italian cities - the same activities and experiences Tucci had!
Searching For Italy: Stanley Tucci Visits Sicily
Getty Images for IMDb. For many of us, Sunday nights won't be quite the same. "Sicily," the final episode of the hit food travel show, Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy, will air on CNN at ...
Searching for Italy: Stanley Tucci in Naples and the Amalfi Coast
01 April, 2021. ''. 'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy' is the unmissable CNN travel series that offers the armchair escapism we all need right now. The hypnotic host, Italian-American actor Tucci, transports viewers to the sun-soaked peninsula over six episodes, exploring Italy's love affair with good food and drink, from top to toe.
Following 'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy'
News network CNN and accomplished actor Stanley Tucci collaborated to provide travel lovers with a much needed deep dive into the true beauty of Italy. In addition to exploring the history, culture, landscape and food, Stanley connects us to Italy's greatest asset, its people. Following Stanley is a comprehensive guide that brings his episodes ...
The Timeless Fantasy of Stanley Tucci Eating Italian Food
Stanley Tucci plays a travel-show host; Italy, with a bit of corsetry and airbrushing, plays itself. "He's no Bourdain," one CNN devotee in my life said, of Tucci, unprompted, a few weeks ago.
An Italian culinary tour, with Stanley Tucci
01:48. When a race is also Dubai's most iconic fashion event. 02:02. In his new CNN series, "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy," the actor tours Italy to experience its food and culture up ...
Searching for Italy: All the Places Stanley Tucci Went in Season 2
Searching for Italy, the CNN-produced hit series starring Stanley Tucci, was a balm during the pandemic. So, of course, the Emmy-winning travel and food show came back for a second season. During Season 2, Tucci travels to Venice and its region Veneto; Turin and its region Piemonte (Piedmont); and Umbria for episodes 1, 2, and 3, respectively.
All the Recipes from Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy
The hit travel show Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy followed the Italian-American actor as he explored the peninsula in search of the country's rich and fascinating history, all told through the medium of food.. During a period of relaxed coronavirus restrictions, actor Stanley Tucci went in search of his Italian roots, starting off in Naples and the Amalfi Coast, heading north to Rome ...
10 Recipes from Stanley Tucci's 'Searching for Italy'
Here are 10 recipes from Stanley Tucci's Searching for Italy that you can make at home. 1. Spaghetti alla Nerano. Here's our spaghetti alla Nerano recipe, the spaghetti with fried zucchini he enjoyed at Lo Scoglio on the Amalfi Coast during the episode dedicated to Campania. Plus some tips for perfecting the dish.
In Praise of Stanley Tucci's Excellent TV Travel Uniform
April 2, 2021. Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy Courtesy of CNN. If Stanley Tucci's new show Searching for Italy, which concluded its first season on CNN in March, is a love letter to the ...

Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

Episodes 14

More like this

Did you know

User reviews 86

Technical specs

Related news

More to explore

Recently viewed

Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy

Behind the Scenes of Selena + Restaurant with Selena Gomez 17 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Ciao House, Season 2 12 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Chopped Battle Italiano 17 Photos

Meet the Bakers Competing on Next Baking Master: Paris 11 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing in the All-New 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing 25 Photos

Get an Insider’s Look at the Premiere of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing 15 Photos

24 All-Star Recipes from Michael Symon and Esther Choi, the Hosts of 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing 25 Photos

Meet the Competitors of Spring Baking Championship Season 10 13 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Tournament of Champions, Season 5: The Qualifiers 17 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions, Season 5 28 Photos

11 Food Hacks and Facts I Learned From Guy’s Grocery Games 12 Photos

Worst Cooks in America, Season 27: Meet the Recruits 17 Photos

Meet the Competitors of Kids Baking Championship, Season 12 13 Photos

Chopped: Julia Child’s Kitchen — Meet the Competitors 16 Photos

Behind the Scenes of Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays 21 Photos

Meet the Teams Competing on The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown 7 Photos

Guy's Grocery Games: Flavortown Academy — Meet the Competitors 8 Photos

Meet the Competitors of Holiday Baking Championship, Season 10 13 Photos

Meet the Teams Competing on Holiday Wars, Season 5 12 Photos

Meet the Contestants of Outrageous Pumpkins, Season 4 9 Photos

Halloween Baking Championship Season 9: Meet the Competitors 13 Photos

Meet the Teams Competing on Halloween Wars, Season 13 10 Photos

Meet the Titans and Chefs Competing on Bobby's Triple Threat, Season 2 15 Photos

Worst Cooks in America, Season 26: Meet the Recruits 17 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Chopped: All-American Showdown 17 Photos

Meet the Grill Masters Competing on BBQ Brawl, Season 4 13 Photos

Meet the Teams from The Great Food Truck Race: Season 16 10 Photos

Meet the Competitors on Beachside Brawl, Season 2 11 Photos

Meet the Bakers Competing on Summer Baking Championship 11 Photos

Meet the Chefs Competing on Ciao House 11 Photos

Selena Gomez Takes Her Culinary Journey to the Next Level in All-New Series Selena + Restaurant Apr 1, 2024

10 American Bakers Say Bonjour to All-New Pastry Competition, Next Baking Master: Paris Mar 27, 2024

Guy Fieri Recruits Noah Cappe and an Elite Bite Club to Find the Best Bite in Town on All-New Series Apr 22, 2024

24 Chefs Face 24 Challenges in 24 Straight Hours on All-New Series 24 in 24: Last Chef Standing Apr 22, 2024

Fill Out Your Tournament of Champions, Season 5 Bracket NOW! Feb 15, 2024

Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions Season 5 Brings Intense Culinary Battles, Randomizer Wild Cards and Unpredictable Upsets Jan 22, 2024

Tiffany Derry Joins Anne Burrell to Mentor Pampered Cooking Disasters Dec 6, 2023

Selena Gomez Doesn't Drink Coffee — Here's What She Drinks Instead Dec 5, 2023

‘Tis the Season of Holiday Wish Lists and Watch Lists Nov 29, 2023

Food Network Chefs Are Spending the Holidays in Selena Gomez’s Kitchen Dec 5, 2023

Talented Chefs Embrace the Legacy of Julia Child in New Chopped Tournament Nov 13, 2023

We're Unwrapping Holiday Magic with All-New Series The Elf on the Shelf: Sweet Showdown Dec 13, 2023

Selena Gomez Invites Four Culinary Superstars to Her Home in Selena + Chef: Home for the Holidays Nov 29, 2023

Treat Yourself to the Ultimate Creepy Watchlist Sep 20, 2023

Scary Good Things to Watch This Month Sep 7, 2023

Franco Noriega Turns Up the Heat with Sizzling Recipes on Hot Dish with Franco Oct 27, 2023

Eight Culinary All Stars Face Off in Flavortown Aug 9, 2023

The Winners are Back in Flavortown Aug 2, 2023

Forecasting Unpredictable Flavors in Flavortown Jul 18, 2023

Skilled Chefs Face Off in a Nostalgic Showdown on All-New Series Battle of the Decades Hosted by Jonathan Bennett Sep 19, 2023

Next Up in Flavortown Cafeteria: Tostada Tuesday Jun 22, 2023

Sledding Into Flavortown’s Coldest Competition Yet Jun 29, 2023

The Great Food Truck Race Returns with Food Truck Pros vs Talented Rookies May 11, 2023

Baking Championships Heat Up with New Summertime Competition Apr 5, 2023

Fearless Military Chefs Take Their Skills to the Chopped Kitchen Mar 16, 2023

Fill Out Your Tournament of Champions, Season 4 Bracket NOW! Feb 13, 2023

Guy Fieri's Tournament of Champions Returns for Its Wildest, Most Unpredictable Season Yet Jan 19, 2024

Sun, Sand, Eats and Drinks: SOBEWFF 2023 Returns Jan 9, 2023

Food Network and NFL Team Up For An All-New Primetime Event Nov 28, 2022

Chef Kathy Fang Innovates Chinese Cuisine While Honoring Longtime Family Traditions in New Docuseries Chef Dynasty: House of Fang Nov 16, 2022

‘Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy’ Makes For a (Mostly) Charming Tour: TV Review

Caroline Framke

Popular on Variety

More From Our Brands

Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy season 1: the Hollywood star guides us through his gastronomic tour of Italy

'Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy' release date on BBC2

Is there a trailer for 'Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy'?

Stanley Tucci reveals the food and places he visits...

'Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy' episode guide

Get the What to Watch Newsletter