About Francesca & Tommaso
We are Francesca and Tommaso Tori, sister and brother from Bologna, Italy. Our passion for our country and for Italian traditional food, together with the great experiences we have had through our parents' business --focused on food and wine tourism and started in 1995-- brought us to undertake a 40 day trip together to the US in September and October 2012. Traveling from Fort Worth to Seattle, Bend, Eugene, Portland, San Francisco, Santa Monica and Los Angeles, we taught 25 hands-on pasta classes at private homes, cooking schools and restaurants, meeting and teaching to more than 250 people.
Among the several places we taught at, during our tour we were honored to be hosted for our pasta classes at Flour+Water restaurant in San Francisco (where we held 3 classes in F+W dough room together with our friend and chef Thomas McNaughton), Nostrana restaurant in Portland (we were welcomed in Cathy Whims' kitchen where we prepared a dinner based on hand-made pasta together with Cathy and all her staff), Ginger's Kitchenware in Bend and Cook's, Pots & Tabletops in Eugene.
We had a life-time experience that we are planning to repeat again!
We look forward to seeing again our friends and meeting and making new friends!
Among the several places we taught at, during our tour we were honored to be hosted for our pasta classes at Flour+Water restaurant in San Francisco (where we held 3 classes in F+W dough room together with our friend and chef Thomas McNaughton), Nostrana restaurant in Portland (we were welcomed in Cathy Whims' kitchen where we prepared a dinner based on hand-made pasta together with Cathy and all her staff), Ginger's Kitchenware in Bend and Cook's, Pots & Tabletops in Eugene.
We had a life-time experience that we are planning to repeat again!
We look forward to seeing again our friends and meeting and making new friends!
FrancescaBorn in 1988 and raised in Bologna, Italy, I graduated from the International French High School. There I learned my passion for foreign languages. I speak fluent English, Spanish and French. And of course, Italian!
My passion for food began when I was a little girl when I spent my free time in the kitchen with “nonna” (grandmother) and “bisnonna” (great grandmother) and my mother. I learned from them the traditional and ancient cooking skills including the techniques of hand-made pasta and other wonderful family recipes. Watching them through the eyes of a child, I saw and understood the repeated movements of pasta making that have been the same and have been handed down from generation to generation. After finishing high school in 2006, I have had several experiences, professional and other, that allowed me to cultivate my passions: I made several trips abroad to improve my knowledge of languages, included 3 trips to the US; I worked at a professional pasta laboratory and at a Michelin star restaurant to refine my pasta and cooking skills; I worked in some hotels as a receptionist in Bologna, Spain and in the Dolomites of Italy to deepen and to enlarge my knowledge of the world of tourism. And, in particular, I have worked in my parents' business, focused on food and wine tourism (Bluone food, wine and cooking tours in Italy - www.bluone.com). All of these endeavors helped me develop my knowledge of local food products and historic recipes handed down through the ages. This led to teaching, meeting and relating to many different people and cultures. With Bluone I started to teach hands-on cooking classes together with my mother and in December 2007 we were also featured on the NYTimes on an article talking about Bologna food and the art of making tortellini at home. Through these experiences I saw how much people enjoyed my home made food and appreciated my teaching them how they too could make these delicious recipes. It was then that I realized how satisfying it was to share my joy for cooking with other people. |
TommasoI was born in Bologna in 1992 and I am the youngest of 3 children. In a country and in a city historically so rich of traditions and food culture that unfortunately with the new generations has become less careful to the quality of the food, I was lucky to raise in a family where food is considered not only a need but also and overall an enjoyment for the palate and a moment of conviviality. Compared to most of the people of my age, for me eating good food, made fresh and with first quality products, is very important. And my purpose is to convey to my friends and in general to young people that to eat well you do not need to spend a lot of money or to stay hours in the kitchen. Just select the right ingredients.
Since I was a little boy, I have enjoyed all kinds of sports and in particular soccer. I have played soccer for 15 years, included several years in the competitive regional championship. After watching for all my childhood my mother and sister cooking and tasting their wonderful food and after following as a spectator my family business, for the last couple of years I have got involved actively in the family business and I have enjoyed making pasta from scratch. My sister conveyed me the passion for hand-rolled pasta and taught me the techniques and secrets to roll the best egg-pasta. It is so satisfying to create something so beautiful in aspect and taste from two so simple ingredients! After learning from my sister, I refined my skills taking a pasta course in Bologna and I worked for a brief period at a professional pasta laboratory where we produced everyday fresh hand-made pasta. For the last two years I have participated to a pasta competition in Bologna called “Il matterello d’oro” and I was classified 3rd (April 2012) and 2nd (May 2013) in the young category. A great satisfaction for me. |
For any information, please, contact us at [email protected]