Alessandro Borghese

«To represent Italy in the US for someone who was born in the US to a Neapolitan father and a Czechoslovakian mother is, first of all, an honour. And today, after many years in Italy, working within kitchens and on TV, to land back in the States, where I was born and that I left forty years ago, is fascinating. It was quite impactful from a cultural point of view, from a culinary point of view, as well as in terms of style, art and beauty. I love beauty and bringing all this here, to the United States, is for me a privilege. A way to express my Italian identity but, at the same time, to get in touch with my American side».

«My appointment as Ambassador of Italian cuisine in the US, because the government decided to accelerate and promote the inclusion of Italian cuisine in UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage, pleasantly surprised me. The fact that the government was pleased to promote it in the United States and to exploit me as, let’s say, the spearhead to enter the American market was a great source of pride and achievement for me and my whole team, the staff of my restaurant “Il Lusso della Semplicità”. We told ourselves: “Well, we must have done something nice!”».

«So, if I imagined myself as a conductor with all my ingredients, and I had to create a dish representing Italian cuisine to bring to a market like the US, that dish would be on the same level as an Italian furniture piece, an Italian sartorial item, a car, a pair of glasses. These are all “Made in Italy” products that are already very appealing to the market, but we’d like to adapt a bit of our Italian identity to the American market. This is something that all the true ambassadors of “Made in Italy” should do, making sure that everything is accurately tailored to customers».