written by Savvy Sleevar for SPEL: Journalism

At candlelit tables filled with garnished plates and good company, dozens of diners at Ganzo, the school restaurant of The American University of Florence, had the opportunity to savor a full-course gala dinner menu — one that’s about to go global.

Ganzo recently hosted its first themed dinner of the Fall 2024 semester, which aligned with the end of the three-week intensive academic session. Just like every Ganzo dinner service, students and faculty from the APICIUS International School of Hospitality worked together to prepare and serve the evening’s featured dishes to tables of guests.

Ganzo’s recurring themed dinners typically revolve around specific styles of cuisine, challenging APICIUS students to familiarize themselves with specialized menus, and encouraging members of the public to come and get a taste of it.

For this themed dinner, “500 shades of Tuscany: A new renaissance,” students had a particularly important task at hand: cooking and serving the same dishes and hand-selected wines that they’ll showcase at the James Beard Foundation gala dinner in New York City.

“(It’s) a micro gala dinner,” says Ganzo manager Lapo Bartalesi. “Obviously, we are not in New York, we are in Florence, but the idea of service is exactly what they are going to do then.”

Students participating in the Sept. 27 gala dinner flew across the Atlantic to execute the service, bringing modernized Tuscan cuisine to the James Beard House kitchen. Featuring flavors of the Renaissance with a “contemporary twist,” the “500 shades of Tuscany” menu boasts a variety of fruits and rich proteins that reflect the indulgent ingredients prized by the Italian aristocracy. At the same time, the menu honors the versatile root vegetables that sustained the Italian peasantry in centuries past.

The collaboration between the JBF and AUF is made possible by the TuttoToscana program. Students in the program spend three weeks studying in Florence for the intensive session, and the trip to New York is the program’s capstone. During the week leading up to the final gala dinner, students will put their hospitality skills to use by helping to manage an array of JBF events. 

This year’s gala dinner showcased the work of the students in the TuttoToscana program and highlight the culinary significance of Tuscan cuisine, but it also marks a historical milestone that ties Italy to New York. 2024 marks the 500th anniversary of Florentine explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano’s arrival in the New York Bay during an expedition that led him to North America’s East Coast by sea. 

To honor the connection forged between Tuscany and New York half a millennium ago, the “500 shades of Tuscany” menu not only includes a fresh take on the cuisine that shaped Tuscany during Verrazzano’s lifetime, but also a carefully crafted list of Tuscan wine pairings for every course on the menu. These wines, Bartalesi explains, have their own unique connection to Verrazzano. 

“The best partnership for us is a winery that has his name,” he says, referencing the Florentine explorer’s birthplace, Castello di Verrazzano (Verrazzano Castle) in Tuscany’s Chianti region. Formerly home to Verrazzano’s family, the castle is now an emblem of historic Tuscan wine traditions and modern-day agrotourism. 

Between serving Verrazzano’s namesake wine, recreating the dishes they paired with it at the Ganzo themed dinner and keeping a week’s worth of JBF events running smoothly, the students responsible for bringing “500 shades of Tuscany” to life will gain valuable hands-on experience in New York, Bartalesi notes. 

“The back-of-house students are going to the market to select the product,” Bartalesi says. “The front-of-house students are, according to the availability of JBF, choosing the glasses. They are creating the setting of the tables.” 

Whether a student specializes in front-of-house customer service or back-of-house cooking, each student will learn how to prepare their respective workspaces for successful culinary events that leave attendees dazzled. 

To see snapshots of the TuttoToscana program’s annual journey to New York City, visit the APICIUS website and explore the TuttoToscana blog.