With an extraordinary participation of enthusiasts, tourists, journalists and professionals of the sector, the 22nd edition of Festa a Vico, conceived by chef Gennaro Esposito, a reference figure of contemporary Italian cuisine, who over the years has built a career of excellence based on discipline and creativity, ended with great success. With the desire to bring chefs back to the streets and squares, Festa a Vico was born in 2003, an event that inaugurated a new model of gastronomic encounter. Today the event involves more than two hundred professionals – including chefs, pastry chefs, sommeliers and artisans of taste – invited to take part in three days of discussion and participation in Vico Equense.

The program alternates between author dinners, workshops, tastings, masterclasses and public dialogues. From lectures on the identity of Italian cuisine to comparisons between wine territories, from sensory paths to moments dedicated to young chefs, everything is designed to connect skills, experiences and visions. The atmosphere remains informal and open, never celebratory. «Festa a Vico is an event built on people, on individualities, but above all on the great group of Italian cuisine – explained Gennaro Esposito – It was exciting to experience the hugs between chefs during the evenings, that deep brotherhood that unites those who share the same passion and vision».

Another identifying element of the event is its charitable purpose: since its first edition, part of the profits go to nonprofit organizations and social projects. Cooking, understood as a gesture of care and responsibility, thus translates into a concrete and ongoing social commitment.

Among the most anticipated events of the 2025 edition was the Bites of Italy dinner, held in collaboration with La Cucina Italiana, which brought together some of the greatest Italian and international chefs – from Massimo Bottura to Carlo Cracco, Antonia Klugmann, Alex Atala and Manu Buffara – to celebrate cuisine as a shared cultural heritage. Also on the program is Quell’abbinamento a Vico, a luncheon hosted at Gennaro Esposito’s Torre del Saracino restaurant and designed to celebrate the art of wine and cuisine meeting. Among the protagonists were Himanshu Saini (Trèsind Studio, Dubai) and Dom Carella (Carico, Milan), Emanuele and Michela Scarello (Chef and Sommelier de Agli Amici), Matteo Temperini and Francesco Ricco (Chef and Sommelier at Campo del Drago, Montalcino). Closing the event was Il Cammino di Seiano, a journey through auteur tastings, music and landscape.

Also among the exceptional partners of Festa a Vico was Hotel Nani Mocenigo Palace, which presented a selection of typical Venetian cuisine tastings for the occasion, including Venetian cicchetti, marinated snapper croquettes with ginger and lime sauce, sardines in “Saor” and codfish mantecato alla vicentina.