moved to the United States at the age of seventeen from the small town of Jalisco, Mexico, near Guadalajara where he grew up. His journey in becoming a chef started quite simply as a dishwasher. He admits his desire to become a chef developed quickly as he worked his way through the kitchen from prep cook to kitchen manager.

In 1996, Benji started working for Il Fornaio as a pantry cook at our Sacramento restaurant. His passion and natural skills in the kitchen helped promote him to chef partner in 2000, after working in various positions at several Il Fornaio restaurants.

After five years as a Chef-Partner, he was rewarded with a coveted invitation to participate in the Il Fornaio Chef's Tour. In 2004, Benji traveled to Italy as part of this extraordinary tour which is designed to totally immerse our chefs in local Italian cuisine and culture. Il Fornaio Executive Chef Maurizio Mazzon leads the group across Italy visiting face-to-face with our key vendors. A highlight includes an extensive tour of the Dievole winery in Tuscany, as well as our private vineyard there.

Benji personally spent a great deal of time studying the different food preparations, sampling Puglia's unique flavors.

He credits his experience in Puglia as fundamental in the development of this month's authentic regional menu. Two of his favorite dishes from the trip, Gamberoni alla Benito and Spigola al Forno con Olive are prepared precisely as he saw firsthand in Puglia.

"I immediately fell in love with the Apulian people and their culture. It truly reminded me of my home."

Three of the five provincial capitals are on the sea, so seafood is ample year round. Risotto alla Tarantina (risotto with mussels, scallops and shrimp) is typical of the coastal cuisine. Potatoes, artichokes, fava beans and cherry tomatoes are grown in the rich soil of Foggia and Taranto. Fresh produce is the focus of many classic dishes of the region. Olives and wine grapes are also major crops, and a great source of income for Puglia.

Although few tourists visit Puglia, the province of Bari is well known for the greatest concentration of trulli, beehive shaped houses constructed with mortarless overlayed stones and a conical roof. They are usually whitewashed in groups of two or three to create a unique landscape. They tell a story of a regional civilization with a rich cultural and culinary heritage.

are the three pillars of the Apulian diet. Each province of Puglia has developed its own style of cooking, but there are many similarities: pleasant in spirit, subtle seasonings and old dishes inspired by an old civilization. Focaccia Pugliese, focaccia with black olives, cherry tomatoes and unpeeled garlic cloves reflects this tradition in the best possible way.

Puglia is the heel of Italy's boot and has the longest coast of any Italian region. The regions form, penetrating out in a south-easterly direction to divide two seas, the Adriatic and the Ionian, has made it into a historic point of contact between Italy and Greek civilizations.