Women in Wine: A Multifaceted Success
5:00pm – 6:30pm Monday May 22nd, 2023
ICE New York 33 E. 67th St. New York, NY
Olivia Becker
Olivia Becker is the owner of Dalla Fonte, an ecommerce platform dedicated to bringing Italy to consumers when they can’t be in Italy. Each quarter, its subscription club members are surprised with a collection of curated Italian specialty foods paired with a bottle of wine.
After a lifechanging trip to Italy, Olivia finds herself always seeking the Mediterranean. Her early career led her to a maritime company in La Spezia, and, after years in management consulting, she has pivoted to a life filled with more wine and biscotti.
Sherrill Flaum
Sherrill Flaum is the Advertising Director for Wine Enthusiast magazine, which is an award-winning print publication and online resource that showcases wine and food trends, enotravel, and over 25,000 ratings and reviews annually. Sherrill leads a team of Sales Account Managers to bring in revenue for Wine Enthusiast across print, digital, social media, and events. She has 20+ years of experience on media and sales teams for major international brands and agencies including MasterCard, Johnson & Johnson, and The Honda Motor Company. Her passions include building branded creative, wine, lifestyle, fashion, food, and travel.
Shelley Lindgren
Shelley Lindgren is the wine director and owner of San Francisco’s Italian restaurant A16. She has received the James Beard Award for Outstanding Wine Program; has received the 2023 Slow Wine Fair Award for Best Selection of Good, Clean, and Fair Italian Wine; and has been knighted by the Italian government, receiving the prestigious “Cavaliere dell’Ordine Della Stella Italia” (Dott.ssa) distinction for her professional dedication to Italian wine. She is a member of Les Dames d’Escoffier and has served on the boards of La Cocina, the Guild of Sommeliers, and Slide Ranch.
Kellie Mclean
Kellie McLean, MPH, RD, CDCES, CDN is a registered dietitian and adjunct professor with a background in nutrition counseling and type 2 diabetes management. Kellie has an extensive teaching background, having taught a myriad of nutrition and food safety courses as an adjunct professor for various CUNY colleges, including serving as interim Assistant Professor and Acting Director for a nutrition and culinary management program. Kellie also teaches as an adjunct professor for the Department of Nutrition and Food Studies at New York University.
Li Valentine
Li Valentine, PhD, is the founder of The Wining Hour, Inc. Both a boutique and blog, The Wining Hour is dedicated to wine lovers across the globe marketing premium wines and wine-related items and sharing wine tastings, reviews, press tours, travel, and Italian experiences. Held Tuesdays at 9pm EST, the #WiningHourChat functions as an easygoing vinous chat open to a community of learners and wine-lovers reaching over 6 million people each week. Li is an Italian Wine Scholar (IWS) and member of the Wine Scholar Guild and has been recognized by the Vinitaly International Academy.
Italian Restaurants in America: Where Are We Heading?
5:00pm – 6:30pm Tuesday May 23rd, 2023
ICE New York 33 E. 67th St. New York, NY
Fabrizio Facchini
Fabrizio Facchini is a chef and restaurateur that has been recognized and published in the Michelin Italy Guide since 2012, as well as in other prestigious guides, magazines, and press around the world. He has been recognized by the Italian American Chamber of Commerce in New York for his work in bringing authentic Italian cuisine to the United States, and is a member of the Associazone Italiana Ambasciatori Del Gusto and Slow Food Chef Alliance in both Italy and the United States.
Fabrizio has opened and developed several restaurant concepts throughout both Italy and the United States, and most recently has founded the Cucina Italiana in Chelsea’s new Renaissance Hotel and Stellina Ristorante in Oyster Bay.
Marisa Iocco
No one has done more to introduce the Boston region to creative, authentic fare than Marisa Iocco. A native of Southern Italy’s Abruzzo region and trained in architecture, fine art and the fine art of cooking, as Boston’s only Italian-born female executive chef, Marisa’s decades-long legacy of soulful, edgy, groundbreaking interpretations of traditional Italian has tempted, tickled and filled the stomachs of loyalists who have followed her remarkably crisscrossed path of restaurants across the city. Her restaurants include Galleria Italiana, La BeKola, South End Galleria, Bricco, Umbria, and Mare, among others.
As Boston’s foremost Italian-born female executive chef and restaurateur, Marisa is a role model for female cooks entering the field. Her passion, talent, and strength of body and spirit—both in the kitchen and in the community—have broken barriers for females in top city kitchens.
John Mariani
John Mariani is an author and journalist of 40 years standing, and an author of 15 books. He has been called by the Philadelphia Inquirer, “the most influential food-wine critic in the popular press” and is a three-time nominee for the James Beard Journalism Award. For 35 years he was Esquire Magazine’s food & travel correspondent and wine columnist for Bloomberg News for ten. His Encyclopedia of American Food & Drink was hailed as the “American Larousse Gastronomique”.
Fabio Parasecoli
Fabio Parasecoli is a Professor in New York University’s Department of Nutrition and Food Studies. He has a Doctorate in Agricultural Sciences (Dr.sc.agr.) from Hohenheim University, Stuttgart (Germany), MA in Political Sciences from the Istituto Universitario Orientale, Naples (Italy), BA/MA in Modern Foreign Languages and Literature from the Università La Sapienza, Roma (Italy). Fabio’s research explores the intersections among food, media, and politics, in particular in the fields of food heritage and intellectual property. Fabio also served for many years as the U.S. correspondent for Gambero Rosso, Italy’s authoritative food and wine magazine.
Gianfranco Sorrentino
Originally from Naples, Italy, GIANFRANCO SORRENTINO carries over 35 years of experience in restaurant management, some of these include Quisitana Hotel in Capri, Dorchester Hotel in London, Four Seasons Hotel in Tokyo, Bice Restaurant in New York, Sette MoMA Restaurant at The Museum of Modern Art of New York, Union Bar and Grill in Great Barrington, MA, Mozzarella & Vino, and Leopard at Des Artistes, in the New York landmark the Hotel des Artistes. With his wife PAULA BOLLA- SORRENTINO, and his talented Executive Chef VITO GNAZZO, they also run IL GATTOPARD Restaurant and MOZZARELLA & VINO enoteca. Gianfranco is the President of Gruppo Italiano (Gruppo-italiano.com)
Featured Artist at the fashion Show, Wednesday, May 24th
Mafalda Minnozzi
A singer of international stature: the insiders say it, the public says it and the numbers confirm it.
In 35 years of career Mafalda Minnozzi has performed over 1,000 concerts on three continents, has produced 18 CDs, 2 DVDs, dozens of video clips and more than 250 videos recorded on the stages of theaters, auditoriums and festivals to document a career built “live”. Her voice is featured on dozens of compilations and soundtracks of television series and films, in which she has also appeared as a composer.For Mafalda, singing is a necessity. With determination and courage she placed music at the center of all her life’s choices, considering it to be the most powerful tool of cultural integration. Around the music she has created encounters, collaborations and projects to which she has dedicated all her energies. The approval of the critics and the unfailing “standing ovation” of the public at each concert, have paid off and continue to constantly reward her for her dedication. Her very soul is in fact international, because she welcomes the spirit of the three countries in which she has written the main chapters of her history to date: Italy, Brazil and the United States.