ABOUT THE CHEF

Francesco
Mazzei

Francesco Mazzei at Villa Corinthia: www.corinthia.com

Awards:
Royal Academy of Culinary Arts
In 2019 the President Sergio Mattarella awarded him the OMRI (Order of Merit of the Italian Republic).
Honorary Citizenship of Tropea

TV Appearances:
Saturday Kitchen, BBC
Masterchef, BBC
Snackmasters, Channel 4
Saturday Morning with James Martin, ITV
My Kitchen Rules

Brand Partnerships & Consultancy:
D&D London
De Beers
Grana Padano
Maserati
Peroni
Polenta Valsugana
Ondine
Ferrero Rocher
Flora
Le Blanq
Deliveroo
American Express

Restaurateur – Malta, London, Milan
Author – Mezzogiorno – recipes from Southern Italy.
TV chef – ITV, BBC, Channel 4

Calabrian born Francesco Mazzei was raised with a passion for food, often in the family kitchen baking bread and making pasta with his nonna and mamma.

Today he can be found in the kitchens of the Corinthia Hotel Malta. With his residency as Chef Patron as well as ambassador for high end brands in London.

Previously as Chef Patron at D&D’s Sartoria on Savile Rowe in Mayfair. At the same time running restaurant Radici which showcased simple Calabrian cooking in a relaxed and rustic Islington site. Francesco’s also headed up Fiume in Battersea, inspired by southern Italian flavours from the coastal regions and islands off Italy including the Amalfi coast, Sardinia and Sicily, the modern Italian restaurant overlooks the Thames.

His professional travels have included opening the Santini restaurants in Edinburgh and Milan and the Royal Sporting Club in Bangkok, as well as joining restaurateur Alan Yau as he opened a series of venues in the United States, Mumbai and across the UK.

Back in London, he has worked as Yau’s head chef, in his Italian restaurant Anda in Marylebone and has consulted on the pastry sections of both Hakkasan and Yauatcha. In 2005 he opened Franco’s on Jermyn Street for the Hambro family, followed by Chris Corbin and Jeremy King’s St. Alban in 2006, where he credits the pair with teaching him the ‘commerce behind cooking’. Over the course of his working career, Francesco has worked repeatedly with long-time mentor Yau – who is now the brains behind Sake No Hana, Hakkasan and the original blueprint for Wagamama.

L’Anima, Francesco’s first restaurant opened in London with a menu inspired by traditional cooking from Calabria, Puglia, Sicily and Sardinia.

Francesco went on to release his first cookbook Mezzogiorno: Francesco Mazzei Recipes from Southern Italy and became a regular feature on James Martin Saturday Morning, BBC’s Saturday Kitchen, MasterChef, and the Italian version of Hell’s Kitchen.

Website: www.cheffrancescomazzei.com