Food&Book

The 10th edition of the Food&Book Festival, scheduled from October 24 to 26, 2025, aims, as in previous editions, to enhance the local area through culture, with a particular focus on “The Culture of Food.” The festival seeks to attract qualified visitors, engage a territory renowned for its cultural and artistic appeal, and highlight its vocation for tourism.

This edition will feature a special guest:
Enrico Bartolini, Italy’s most Michelin-starred chef and second in the world with 14 Michelin stars across his multiple restaurants, will be the guest of honor at the Gala Dinner inaugurating the 10th edition of the Food&Book Festival.
Montecatini Terme, where he studied and will meet some of the teachers who contributed to his training.
“Siamo felici – sottolinea l’ideatore di Food&Book, Sergio Auricchio – che Bartolini abbia accettato di venire a Montecatini Terme. Già in passato, e anche all’inizio della sua carriera professionale, avevamo provato ad invitarlo e il fatto che venerdì 24 ottobre sarà con noi, alla Cena di gala dopo altri grandi chef come Chicco Cerea, Gualtiero Marchesi, Aimo e Nadia Moroni, Livia e Alfonso Iaccarino, Gennaro Esposito ci riempie di gioia”.
“We are thrilled,” emphasizes Sergio Auricchio, the founder of Food&Book, “that Bartolini has accepted our invitation to come to Montecatini Terme. In the past, even at the start of his professional career, we tried to invite him, and the fact that on Friday, October 24, he will be with us at the Gala Dinner, following other great chefs such as Chicco Cerea, Gualtiero Marchesi, Aimo and Nadia Moroni, Livia and Alfonso Iaccarino, and Gennaro Esposito, fills us with joy.”
The festival will also provide the opportunity to explore the Art Nouveau city and the MO.C.A. museum, which is hosting an exhibition on Miró and displays one of the artist’s largest canvases, Woman Wrapped in the Flight of a Bird.
Food&Book – The Culture of Food, Food in Culture features an original format involving writers who narrate food in their books and chefs who tell the story of food through their recipes and, often, through their own successful publications. This is the case of Bartolini, who recently published Enrico Bartolini at Mudec (24 Ore Cultura), dedicated to his Milan restaurant located within the Museum of Cultures, where he earned 3 Michelin stars. His other 11 stars come from Le Robinie (Montescano, Oltrepò Pavese), Devero Ristorante (Cavenago Brianza), Casual Ristorante – Villa Elena (Bergamo Alta, 2 stars), L’Andana – La Trattoria di Enrico Bartolini (Castiglione della Pescaia, Maremma), Glam (Venice, 2 stars), Locanda del Sant’Uffizio (Cioccaro di Penango, Monferrato, 2 stars), Osteria Il Poggio Rosso (Castelnuovo Berardenga, Siena), Anima (Milan), Fuoco Sacro (consultant, San Pantaleo, Olbia), Bluh Furore (consultant, Furore, Amalfi Coast).

The Food&Book program is currently being finalized. In addition to chef Enrico Bartolini, confirmed participants include writers Gabriella Genisi, Roberta Schira, Mariachiara Montera, Sofia Assante; professors Pier Luigi Rossi and Marino Niola with Elisabetta Moro; chefs Marcello Leoni and Alessandro Pieragnoli; pastry chefs Salvatore Garofalo and Angelo Di Masso; composer-turned-writer Pino Marcucci; and actor Gino Manfredi.

Food&Book – Festival of Books and Gastronomic Culture, directed by Sergio Auricchio and Bruno Gambacorta, with collaboration from Carlo Ottaviano, journalist at Il Messaggero, and Patrizia D’Attanasio, director of the monthly magazine Leggere Tutti, is organized by Cooperativa Leggere Tutti in collaboration with Agra Editrice, under the patronage of the Municipality of Montecatini Terme.

For information: tel. +39 06 44254205 – info@leggeretutti.it – www.foodandbook.it