What were your favorite foods growing up?
Meat: lamb, beef and veal.

What is your least favorite food?
In my view, processed food should not be consumed.

What is your beverage of choice?
Red wine

What was the most spectacular meal you
have ever had?
My most spectacular meal was a seven-course truffle dinner at a restaurant in Alba, Italy.

What do you eat when you are home?
Pasta, vegetables and light meat meals.

What is your best cooking tip for a home enthusiast?
Consult your food store for the freshest seasonal while buying for one meal at a time.

When did you decide you wanted to be a chef?
Who taught you how to cook?
At age six, when I first prepared mozzarella with my mother.

If you didn't become a chef, what would you be?
An artist, painter or architect.

Who/what has shaped your cooking the most
over the years?
My mother

What are your favorite culinary weapons in the kitchen?
A chef's knife and paring knife can accomplish just about everything.

What are your signature dishes at Macelleria?
Porterhouse, prime beef, homemade ravioli, all made fresh daily.

What is more important for a chef- technique or
ingredients?
Both

Which foreign country inspires your style most?
Italy and France, it's a tie.

If I'm trying to watch my weight and I'm eating at
Macelleria, what am I ordering to eat?
Split a steak and a salad.

When you are not eating at your own restaurants you are eating at?
If I'm not at home, I carefully choose a familiar restaurant.

What are some recent dining and culinary trends you
have been observing?
Unnecessarily complex flavors and ingredients that don't match.

What was the most challenging meal you had to make? Why?
Every meal is a challenge and a new excitement.

What was your worst restaurant disaster?
Trying to cook with an electric stove only.

What is the one rule or value you try to instill in all of your staff?
Enthusiasm and no shortcuts!