FESTA Italiana Manchester, the city's festival of Italian food, drink and culture (July 26-29), is this year hosting the first ever ‘Suburbia Meets City’ banquet. Designed to showcase the finest Italian food, created live by two of the region’s most talented chefs, it will be hosted by food critic and tour guide Jonathan Schofield, on Saturday, July 27, in the Festa Marquee in Cathedral Gardens.
The chefs in question are Francesco Scafuri (above) from Tre Ciccio, which has restaurants in Bramhall, Altrincham and Ramsbottom, and Maurizio Cecco (below, owner of city centre Salvi’s and organiser of the festival. Together they aim to create the ultimate Neapolitan banquet…with a side of great anecdotes from the pair.
Both Maurizio and Fran hail from around Naples, part of the Campania – an area known for producing some for the finest food that the world has to offer from the most exquisite buffalo mozzarella to the best pizza on the globe.
Neapolitan cuisine is based around incredible ingredients treated simply and with respect to produce truly stunning dishes. Both men honour this tradition.
For the banquet chefs will create two dishes each in a live cooking extravaganza. There’ll also be Neapolitan music courtesy of a band flown over for the occasion. The Festa Marquee will be dressed for a beautiful, rustic banquet and guests will be seated communally. Tickets to the banquet are £50 and are on sale now here.
• Gennaro Contaldo is star guest at Festa Italiana 2019.