Pizza Today - July 2015 - 12

EXPO SPOTLIGHT

OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER ANNOUNCED!
Chef Fabio Viviani

have some exciting news to share
with you regarding next year's
International Pizza Expo, March
7 - 10, 2016. I'm pleased to announce
that we've lined up another dynamic
keynote speaker to jump-start your
trade show day. Next year, Chef Fabio
Viviani, a restaurateur, reality television
personality, headliner at global food
events and festivals and New York
Times best-selling author, will give our
featured Tuesday keynote address. His
e-books about various food subjects have
appeared on multiple Amazon bestseller
lists within weeks of their release. And
if you're looking for recipes, check out
his Web site fabioviviani.com. In 2014,
he launched a free online magazine,
Fabio's Magazine, which includes new
and original recipes, wine blogs, lifestyle
and health-related articles. He even sells
his own line of ceramic cookware -
Co-Branded Signature Series Aeternum
Evolution by Bialetti - which is the
number one Italian brand of nonstick cookware. He also has several
endorsement and licensing contracts
with Bertolli Olive Oil, Smart Step Home
Kitchen Mats, Picnic Time Giftware and
Yahoo.com.

Visit us at pizzaexpo.com
1 2 / P I Z Z AT O D AY. C O M / J U LY 2 0 1 5

Fabio Viviani won over America
with his thick native-Italian accent
and suave-yet-gregarious persona on
"Top Chef: New York." And while he
didn't win the competition, he did earn
the "fan favorite" title. He returned in
2010 to compete on "Top Chef: AllStars" edition and a spinoff culinary
reality show, "Life After Top Chef." As a
competitor in the "Superstar Sabotage"
tournament of "Cutthroat Kitchen," he
defeated three other competitors, netting
$10,000 for his charity of choice. His
on-screen success has propelled him
to become one of the fastest-growing
household names. Viviani has appeared
in a number of television shows and is
a recurring guest on "The Talk," "The
Ellen DeGeneres Show," "Good Moring
America," "The Chew," "Good Day LA,"
"Access Hollywood" and has been guest
host on the Hallmark Channel series
"Home and Family." He was also the host
of the Telly and Webby award-winning
Internet series "Chow Ciao!" on Yahoo!,
one of the top 10 lifestyle and food
shows.
Since his childhood days in Italy,
Viviani has possessed a passion for food.
As an early teenager, Fabio worked
nights at a local Florence bakery and
held several positions in the restaurant
industry, even serving under the
mentorship of Simone Mugnaini, an
iconic figure in the Italian restaurant
scene. In 1992, he began working at the
acclaimed Il Pallaio, a casual trattoria in
Florence, Italy, and managed to become
sous chef to Mugnaini at the age of 16.
He also had the opportunity to work
under other culinary luminaries such
as Alessandro Panzani and Severio
Carmagini. By the time he turned 27,
he had already operated five restaurants
in Florence, a "farmhouse" and two
nightclubs. Although a well-respected

restaurateur and businessman, he was
ready for a change of scenery and moved
to Ventura County, California. There he
opened Café Firenze in Moorpark and
soon after the popular and trendy Los
Angeles Italian eatery Firenze Osteria in
North Hollywood. Later he teamed up
with Lucas Stoioff and David Rekhson,
partners of the Chicago-based hospitality
company DineAmic Group, and opened
a third restaurant called Siena Tavern in
Chicago in February 2013. Siena Tavern,
a rustic-Italian concept, has received
accolades from the Chicago Tribune,
Michigan Avenue, Thrillist and others
for Viviani's crowd-pleasing made-fromscratch menu consisting of homemade
pastas and Neapolitan pizzas baked in a
Woodstone oven. The partners recently
opened a second location in Miami.
The restaurant's facets appeal to both
diners and nightlife-goers, balancing
a comfortable dining room with an
upbeat tavern. The group also opened
the buzzing sports bars Bull & Beer and
Public House, as well as steakhouse
Prime & Provisions. Fabio also launched
three locations of Mercato by Fabio
Viviani in the past year in Chicago and
San Diego. The fast-casual restaurant
has menu items similar to Siena Tavern.
Mercato serves a great variety of Napolistyle pizzas that are cooked in a fireburning oven, plus salads, sandwiches
and pastas. Each restaurant uses a dough
recipe specific to that restaurant that
is determined by the humidity at each
location.
We think you'll find Chef Viviani's
fascinating life story -- and his ties to
Italian cuisine and pizza -- an inspiring
opening act on the busy first exhibit hall
day at Pizza Expo.
Best regards,
Bill Oakley

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Pizza Today - July 2015

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