Born in Marcon, Veneto, Mauro Mazzon grew up learning how to cook in a family of seven children. “It was like a cooking class with my mother as the teacher and my brothers and sisters as the students”, Mauro explains. “We were busy each summer putting up all the sauces and ‘marmellate’ for the winter.”

When Mauro was thirteen, he worked for a butcher, delivering meats to the restaurants of Venice. His first view of a restaurant was

“ I love the influence Veneto brings to my cooking. It is though I am able to travel there each day I am in the kitchen. One of my favorite Venetian specialties is prosecco, the lightly sparkling wine. In Veneto we have the Strada del Prosecco (Prosecco Drive), a country road linking the towns of Conegliano and Valdobbiande. Drive along this road and you will experience a breathtaking landscape dotted with small villages, vineyards and trattorie serving refreshing glasses of prosecco.

always from the back door into the kitchen, so, as he says “the kitchen was my first love.” He even delivered meat to the restaurant where his older brother Maurizio worked, and later started there as a busboy. “This restaurant, All’Angelo, one of the largest restaurants in Venice, is near the Piazza San Marco and is very famous. I soon moved up to server, then into the kitchen, and I have never stopped working in the kitchen!” Mauro exclaims.

“Cooking to me is like medicine: you have to take it every day or you’ll feel bad. With my wonderful Sous Chefs and crew, I am able to feel great every day! So enjoy this menu of my home region.”
              Buon Appetito.

After the fall of Rome, mainland refugees settled the sparse Venetian islands to escape waves of invaders. They found their subsistence as fishermen, and lived off seafood harvested from the canals of the Adriatic. From fishermen they became sailors, leading inevitably to sea merchants. Combining seafaring skills with their unique geography, the people of the Venetian arc created an empire whose culinary and cultural impact are felt to this day throughout Italy.

Spices fueled the Venetian empire. Venetians began trading salt from their marshes in exchange for cheese and vegetables, rice and greens. Parmesan from Emilia-Romagna, radicchio rosso from Treviso, and produce from across Italy became integral parts of “La Cucina Veneziana.” They soon expanded to more precious commodities, and by the 12th century controlled the European market for rare spices. From saffron to cinnamon to curry from India and Africa, the merchants of Venice became wildly wealthy supplying Europe with these exotic ingredients.

Tonight’s menu features authentic Veneto recipes and ingredients developed by Il Fornaio’s Executive-Chef Maurizio Mazzon and Chef- Partner Mauro Mazzon (yes, they’re brothers and Veneto natives). For instance, the cheese used in the Dobbiaco Ala Trevisiana was flown in directly from Italy solely for this recipe. Other authentic ingredients on the menu are the goose ragu in the Subioti Con L’oca and speck in the Scaloppine Val Gardena. Speck, a specialty of the region, is a very lean meat that comes from boned pork flank. From the beautiful Dolomitie mountains to the historic canals of Venice, discover the flavors of Veneto where taste merges with beauty to delight your palate.