ANTONELLA RICCI & VINOD SOOKAR

BY CIRO ACAMPORA

Antonella Ricci and Vinod Sookar, 2 examples of Italian cuisine excellence, are starred chefs from Apulia with over 25 years of experience. They both have leading roles on Italian cooking TV shows such as “La prova del cuoco”, “MasterChef Magazine” and “Midnight Dinner”.

They met in 1998 in the treasure of the Indian Ocean, the island of Mauritius, during a cooking seminar that Antonella hosted with a team of colleagues representing Italian cuisine abroad. During her time on the island, Antonella was awed by Vinod’s kindness and profession skills. He had been entrusted to her as an acclaimed local chef with a passion for Italian cuisine. The following year the two became husband and wife and for over 20 years they continue to live a happy life in Italy full of professional satisfactions.

Their desire to travel, speak about and spread the flavors of Italian cuisine across borders unites them and has led them to many experiencing around the world, in addition to their success on Italian TV. In 2015 Vinod and Antonella taught cooking courses in Nevada and offered courses on Italian food and preparation, from appetizers to desserts. In 2018, they were guests of the Canadian event “Sotto una buona stella”, an initiative to promote Italian haute cuisine promoted by the Italian Consulate in Toronto, the Italian Cultural Institute of Toronto and George Brown College, the most prestigious cooking school in Canada for which they held a masterclass for students who were attending the college’s post-graduate in Italian cuisine.

During the Canadian experience Antonella e Vinod were also executive chefs for a sold-out “dinner of the author” at the famous restaurant “Buca”, an event narrated in English and French by food expert and sommelier Antonella Millarte. Antonella has certainly inherited her passion for cooking and travel from her family. Her parents Angelo and Dora Ricci are the founding owners of the historic Italian restaurant “Al fornello da Ricci” in Apulian gastronomical city, Ceglie Messapica. The restaurant holds 19 Michelin stars. Angelo and Dora brought their experience and the flavors of Apulia to the world long before Antonella and Vinod did. Thirty years ago, the Riccis, while heading overseas with suitcases full of local products, were invited by the “Culinary Institute” of San Francisco to give lessons on local Napa Valley produce that was also locally cultivated in Apulila.