ICI Team
Following the tradition of European advanced culinary training, all of your instructors are chefs active in the field. Chefs at the Institute are not only chosen for their awards but for their present status as Italy's & Europe's most innovative masters.
John Nocita
ICI President, Master Chef, Sommelier, Gelatician, Casaro, Maestro Olearo
John founded the Italian Culinary Institute to constantly update cooking techniques and menu development for restaurateurs, chefs and patisserie in the world’s increasingly competitive environment. Courses concentrate on techniques that are continually being developed by the team through its participation in international culinary competitions. John leads ICI’s faculty of more than ten of Europe’s most renowned culinary masters and MOFs presenting programs in three locations in Italy in unique real life learning environments.
John is among Europe’s leading consultants for designing menu concepts, the ongoing evolution in dining trends and the recipe development necessary for both. He is an award winning chef, a member of the exclusive Maestri Oleari and a sommelier. John’s style of cuisine is based on traditional regional Italian cooking which is then value added for commercialization on the international fine dining scene. His profound understanding of raw materials, flavor assembly and subsequent plate construction continues to earn him a position as trainer for master chefs in Italy and the world.
As a chef, John’s fortes include the preparation of dishes reflecting all regions of Italy particularly Mediterranean style cuisine. His style is distinctly ‘cucina espressa’ (express cooking) giving every plate an expression of the freshest products available from land and sea.
His memberships include the Italian Culinary Federationn and Italian Master Chefs Society. His many awards include Outstanding Contributions to Promote Fine Dining from the Distinguished Restaurants of North America whom Wine Spectator describes as “the authority on fine dining”. John has received the CondeNast Traveler Haute Cooking Award and much more.
John is an international culinary judge and is on the board of several culinary associations and public and private universities. Through his company ICI he publishes gastronomic texts and contributes columns to trade magazines and newspapers internationally. John was featured in Forbes Magazine twice in 2016 and 2022 for innovations in consulting. He holds an M.A. in Economics and an EdD in gastronomic science.
Luigi 'Gigi' Ferraro
Master Chef
His recipe is simple: In Italy he combined work experiences in Tuscany, Lazio (Rome), Basilicata, Campania (Naples and the Amalfi Coast), Sardinia, Lombardia, Calabria and more… Then he added Sharm el Sheik, Stockholm, Bangkok, London, New York and Moscow… This is the recipe of knowledge and practical expertise…the recipe of success. This is chef Luigi Ferraro.
For the past twenty years, chef Luigi, has worked at over twenty restaurants around the globe. His roots are unmistakably Italian. But through the years he has learned that his style of Italian regional cuisine would undergo a constant revision, an evolution and, in some cases, a revolution!
As most of us already believe, chef Luigi agrees that it was ‘Nonna’ who continually prepared the best of Italy. The demands of international high end dining made it necessary for chef Luigi to integrate the simplicity of Nonna’s cooking with the highest quality of Haute dining. As a result, chef Luigi has pushed authentic Italian regional flavors to the limits with plate presentations that have never been seen and, most importantly, tasted before…
“Everyone of our senses should be touched in every plate we enjoy”, says the chef, “our limits are as endless as our imagination”. His humble words leave out the fact that each dish chef Gigi prepares encompasses an array of techniques that require strict attention to detail and execution.
Nicola Stratoti
Master Baker, Maestro Scultore, Executive Chef
Pane Artistico, or Artistic Baking, is the newest form of decorative food styling on the international culinary scene and is already a main competition attraction at the world’s top events including Bocuse d’Or, SIAB, Rimini and the IKA International Culinary Olympics. To date, Chef Nicola has won a gold medal in all nine events that he’s competed!
Chef Nicola creates fragile masterpieces for spectacular plate presentations and continues to earn praise both from culinary judges and from his vast clientele. These showpieces are not only a showstopper among the professional competition circuit but are a success among chefs and caterers who are able to use large pieces for months effectively replacing fruit and vegetable art which last only days.Nicola instructs advanced courses at ICI as well as several other culinary academies in Italy and Europe. Emphasizing that he is a chef not a sculptor or even a baker, Nicola not only transmits this intricate technique to other professionals but shows how it is done in a conventional kitchen.
Paolo Caridi
Master Baker, Chef Pâtissier, Gelatician
Maestro Caridi is a pastry chef based in Reggio Calabria, Calabria. Along his trajectory as a pastry chef he has mastered to perfection a large array of traditional Italian recipes and formulas. He keeps an always-active agenda of demonstrations and lessons all over Italy and abroad, where he shows students his Italian culinary roots with brilliant expertise.
His work on sweet rich naturally levitated dough is legendary, making his Panettone a work of art. The vast knowledge he holds on the best seasonal Italian products make his confections unique, he is a strong advocate of local, naturally produced, Italian “materia prima”, on which he has been building his career from the beginning.
Maestro Caridi also holds some Guiness World Records, like “Largest torrone in the world” and “Largest Cassata in the world”; awards from his many successful participations on national competitions; and the recognition from several professional Italian pastry associations.
Rachel Barnett
ICI Facilities Director, Pastry Chef, Chef
Chef Rachel Barnett began her culinary journey at Schoolcraft College in Livonia, Michigan where she graduated with a degree in culinary arts. She continued her education at the Italian Culinary Institute in Calabria, Italy, completing the Masters program in 2016.
Chef Rachel worked as both Executive Pastry Chef and Sous chef of well known Italian restaurants in the USA. She serves as private chef for A-list celebrities and works with clients providing personal chef services. In 2020, she simultaneously took on the roll of Senior Media Planner for Rosendale Collective.
Rachel has cooked for US National Food and Wine events, the US Masters tournament, globally known music artist/celebrities and has competed in international culinary competitions.
Volodymyr Storozhuk
Chef, Sommelier
Chef Volodymyr has been working in restaurants in Ukraine for almost 20 years. He had a path from waiter to restaurant’s CEO. Most recently he has been working at the most prestigious steakouse restaurant in Kyiv, Beef.
His great love is wine. He is a sommelier and has studied in Italy and france. His specialization is food & wine paring. He was an organizer and trainer in Wine School at Beef. He presented consulting services and organized special events and dinners with winemakers.
Chef Volodymyr was invited to Italy by the Italian Culinary Institute in April 2022 where he is now part of our team. He lives here with his wife and three daughters.
Yi-Chern Lee
Cheese Technologist, Milk Specialist
Yi-Chern currently works with Fonterra, New Zealand’s largest company and world’s largest dairy exporter. Yi-Chern joined Fonterra in 2008 with ice cream manufacturer Tip Top, before becoming a cheese technologist and progressing through the technical graduate program. Yi-Chern also held a technologist role with the Growth Value Add team where he led a number of projects. These include the purchase and installation of new plants and processes. Programs focused on maximizing quality and minimizing losses, leading to the development and implementation of cost saving initiatives in excess of $20 million NZD. Presently, Yi-Chern manages the Consumer Dairy Foods and UHT portfolio across Fonterra globally. His current role helps drive sustainable growth and deliver on Fonterra’s consumer and food service strategy worth $5 billion NZD.
Yi-Chern also provides consulting expertise to Mayfull Fine Foods Corporation based in Taiwan. He was invited to work directly with the CEO to strengthen new and existing suppliers to the business as well as providing safety knowledge through the provision of clear technical expertise and problem solving skills. Yi-Chern is a professional member of the New Zealand Institute of Food Science and Technology (NZIFST) and regularly presents to universities. He is passionate about food and the science behind food manufacture. Yi-Chern has won a number of awards at a regional and national level including the NZIFST Earle Travel fellowship in technology. Yi-Chern holds a Master’s of Science in Food Science from the University of Auckland and a Masters in Dairy Science and Technology from Massey University. Yi-Chern aims to help and inspire people through food, using existing technologies and exploring new ideas and concepts.
Evangelos Triantafyllopoulos
Mixologist
Following ten years of being a roundsman in Athens’ dynamic bar scene, Agelos is the bar manager of the White Monkey Bar in Athens, Greece. In addition to his extensive work experience, his education in mixology includes a collaboration with Ian Burrell, known as the Global Rum Ambassador, the Dead Rabbit Team (voted by Village Voice as the best bar in the world) and many more.
Agelos conducts mixology seminars internationally and is known as an authority on innovative developments of unique flavor, color and texture combinations with cocktails and cordials. In his ‘spare time’ he is a drummer for a popular greek rockabilly group.
Favio Gargiulo
Master Baker, Master Pizzaiolo, Food Technologist
Favio Gargiulo is a distinguished professional in the art of baking. With over 27 years of experience in the field, Favio has honed his skills to become a specialist in bread and pizza preparation. Favio’s expertise extends beyond the kitchen, embracing roles in technical consultancy and sales within the bakery sector.
A dynamic and creative individual. His professional journey includes notable roles with restaurants throughout Europe and technical consulting at Molino sul Clitunno Spa Trevi. Favio’s responsibilities have encompassed everything from dough preparation and oven management to innovative recipe development and menu planning.
Favio is known for his meticulous attention to detail, particularly in the areas of food safety, hygiene, and quality control. His extensive knowledge covers a range of baking techniques, including working with different types of flours and conventional and wood oven baking.
Favio is fluent in both Italian and Spanish, and his educational background includes a diploma
from Escuela Superior Buenos Aires.
Kevo Etoyan
Executive Chef, Food Stylist
Born and having grown up in Beirut, Kevo was 17 when he had his first professional experience at Burgundy, one of Beirut’s finest french restaurants. Throughout the years, he has had the opportunity of working and learning alongside the best chefs in the area enabling him to discover the colours and flavors of refined cuisine.
A turning point in his career came when he began traveling around the world where he worked in upscale restaurants and embraced artistic plating for his delicious presentations. Kevo’s specialties are Mediterranean influenced cuisines that feature complex techniques for contemporary results of classic flavors and aromas.
VISITING CHEFS
In addition to permanent chefs for English speaking courses, several of the world’s best chefs instruct here on a rotating basis.