Cesare Casella

Cesare Casella was born and grew up in a small town outside of Lucca, Italy, in and around his family’s restaurant, Il Vipore, which as a young chef he transformed into a world-class establishment with a well-deserved Michelin star. In 1993 he came to New York City as the executive chef at Pino Luongo’s renowned Coco Pazzo restaurant. Later he launched Il Toscanaccio for Luongo and then went on to yet another first-class New York restaurant, Il Cantinori. Diary of a Tuscan Chef is his first book.

Eileen Daspin lived in Italy for three years as a correspondent for Fairchild Publications, and first met Cesare Casella when she interviewed him for W Europe. She is now a staff reporter for The Wall Street Journal.