Gelato, heritage of Italian cooking

Danilo Poggio is not only a professional journalist dealing with daily news as editor of a Piedmontese regional TV bulletin. He is also a food-and-wine enthusiast by descent, vocation and choice. A certified wine taster, he sits on the juries of wine and food competitions. For over 15 years he has talked about dishes and wine in print (Avvenire, La Cucina Italiana, Condé Nast Traveller), on radio (Radio Deejay and Radio Capital), on TV (Italia Uno, Rai Scuola and GRP Televisione) and at many live events around Italy — as his videos on Instagram, YouTube and the Spotify podcast I nuovi mosti show. Made a Knight of the Italian Republic for his passion in 'spreading the value of local territories', he loves to taste places, convinced that serious questions can only be asked at the table, and strictly after dessert. He returns to Sherbeth with boundless enthusiasm.

Born in Noto in the early 1960s, Corrado Assenza has run Caffè Sicilia, his family’s historic pastry shop, for more than thirty years. He studied agronomy but left to answer the call of the pastry lab, and has made pastry a way of telling the culture of the Sicilian people. He seeks a synthesis between East and West, science and empiricism, tradition and the present, and looks for the savoury in sweetness. He received the Veronelli Award for best food artisan (2006) and was named Pastry Chef of the Year by Identità Golose (2007). Caffè Sicilia was Gambero Rosso’s Bar of the Year (2008) and has repeatedly earned its Tre Torte. He has taught at the Culinary Institute of America and in Italy, and has spoken at every edition of Identità Golose. In 2018 Netflix’s Chef’s Table devoted an episode to him. Since 2020 he has been a Maestro d’Arte e Mestiere of the Fondazione Cologni.

A Milan-born journalist and writer, Fossati is a prominent figure in the Italian cultural landscape. After spending several years in Paris as a freelance journalist for the Italian press and enjoying a long career at Vanity Fair, she was appointed Editor-in-Chief of La Cucina Italiana in 2017, a historic magazine and a symbol of Italy’s gastronomic culture. Since December 2020, she has also served as Editor-in-Chief of Condé Nast Traveller, the iconic travel magazine published by the New York-based publishing house, pursuing her passion for travel and the world of hospitality. Fossati brings an innovative approach to journalism, placing culture at the heart of her storytelling and weaving it together with contemporary trends and artistic influences. Under her leadership, La Cucina Italiana has launched major initiatives, including the campaign to have Italian cuisine recognized as UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, for which Fossati served as President of the Promoting Committee. This ambitious project has brought significant visibility and prestige to Italy as a whole. She is also a judge and television personality on Celebrity Chef, alongside Alessandro Borghese on TV8, and curator of Forbes Italia’s The 25 Most Powerful Chefs ranking.

Giovanni Ruggieri is Associate Professor of Tourism and Cultural Heritage Economics at the Department of Economics, Business and Statistics of the University of Palermo. He founded and coordinates the international degree course in Tourism Systems and Hospitality Management, where he teaches Tourism Systems Economics, and works on double-degree programmes with the University of Málaga and Florida International University in Miami. He teaches and lectures at Italian and international universities. His research, with over 110 publications, concerns tourism economics, sustainability and the development of island and fragile territories, with particular attention to the economic impact of events and festivals — on visitor spending, businesses, employment and local supply chains — as well as business networks and seasonality in tourist destinations. He is President of the Observatory of Tourism for Island Economics (OTIE) and of its Scientific Committee, founder and co-editor of the International Journal of Island Research, and a member of the editorial board of L'Industria (Il Mulino). He belongs to several scientific associations and has worked with international networks such as CPMR, INSULEUR, NECSTouR and ASCAME, and with the UNESCO Foundation for Sicily on the management plans of UNESCO sites.

Antonio Russo is the gelato maker of Biancamenta, opened in 2013 in Porto Recanati and immediately recognised for an identity different from the tourist gelaterias of the area. Born in Lucania (Basilicata) and adopted by the Marche, after various experiences running pubs, pizzerias and bars he graduated in economics, honing his entrepreneurial skills. During his studies he met Serena Corbo, his partner in life and work, and together they decided to embark on the gelateria adventure. Biancamenta was created with a precise approach: entirely gluten-free production, vegan and lactose-free flavours, and gelato kept in pozzetti (lidded wells), among the first in the Marche to do so. Its distinctive feature is an obsessive attention to the structure and creaminess of gelato, because “structure carries flavour”, with a range oriented towards naturalness, functional and healthy foods and great classics revisited in a modern, distinctive key. Over time Biancamenta has earned recognition such as the regional final of the Gelato World Tour 2017, two Gambero Rosso cones in 2025, three Gambero Rosso cones in 2027 and third place at the Procopio Cutò Award at Sherbeth 2025, confirming an ethical, sustainable and quality-driven approach to production.