020 8914 8966
020 8914 8966
Giancarlo and Katie Caldesi are restaurateurs, TV personalities, chefs and entrepreneurs.
Born in Montepulciano, Tuscany, Giancarlo’s interest in food and cooking was inspired by his mother and grandmother, and having come to London in 1974 and worked for various restaurants, he started his own, called Edelweiss, in 1988.
Shortly after it opened, Giancarlo became unhappy with the food being served so he fired the chef, grabbed his apron and began to cook. It’s a position that he has occupied ever since, and where he is at his happiest. He has since opened Caldesi in Marylebone, which showcases his favourite Tuscan peasant cuisine.
In 1997 Giancarlo used all his Italian charm – helped along by ros Champagne and lobster – to persuade artist Katie Beresford to paint the breathtaking Renaissance room, used for Private Dining. And very persuasive he must have been, as Giancarlo and Katie not only work together as a team, but are now married and have two children, Giorgio, 6, and Flavio, 4!
Katie used her creative background to design their second restaurant, Caff Caldesi, as well as their dedicated Italian cookery school, La Cucina Caldesi both also located in chic and trendy Marylebone, and their latest project, Caldesi in Campagna restaurant in Bray.
Katie’s love of food came, like Giancarlo’s from her mother’s cooking and she is a keen cook after a spell at Leith’s School of Food and Wine.
In 2005, Katie and Giancarlo took La Cucina Caldesi to Tuscany, a project which was filmed by the BBC for a series screened on BBC2 called ‘Return to Tuscany’, which offered an insight not only into their joint passion for Italian food and drink, but into a period which included the opening of their cookery school in London and their wedding!
The Caldesi’s have written a number of books including ‘Return to Tuscany’ to accompany the BBC series and ‘Italian Mama’s Kitchen’, which is being reprinted for August 2008.
The two have a great relationship and work well alongside each other with Katie’s calm English temperament acting as a great contract to Giancarlos flamboyant Italian nature. They both regularly hold classes at their cookery school and also have considerable experience of hosting demonstrations at shows as well as on TV.
Other Appearances include, Great Taste Awards as judges, after dinner speakers at BILA dinner, auctioneering at Wentworth Golf Club charity dinner. They have done cookery demonstrations at La Dolce Vita and the Italian Festival of Style, as well as the Gourmet Festival in South Africa.
As After Dinner speakers, Giancarlo and Katie are happy to speak either as a couple or individually.
