ABOUT US
Melius, which in ancient Rome meant “best”, was born from an idea of Rosario Scarpato and his deep wish:
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to take advantage of almost 25 years of expertise / knowledge of the Italian restaurant industry outside Italy,
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to create a global fellowship of Italian restaurants, those truly committed to quality and authenticity
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to gear a business alliance among them, not just another club, with the aim of collectively promote their competitive advantage: quality and authentic Italian cuisine, in the best interest of the consumers
Food and wine writer (Gambero Rosso, Sobremesa, Cuisine & Vins, The Age-Epicure), award winner TV producer and Event director, Rosario Scarpato has been proactive in the promotion of Italian cuisine and restaurants out of Italy since 1993 (Italian Cuisine Expo, Melbourne-Australia). The reliability and trustworthiness of Melius stems from the prestigious initiatives promoted by Rosario Scarpato, including:
ITALIAN CUISINE AND WINES WORLD SUMMIT
The Summit, from its original edition in Hong Kong in 2009, has touched several cities over the years, managing, and often anticipating, institutional and commercial initiatives, to provide a network of chefs to present the best of authentic Italian products. Also, thanks to our group of chefs, true ambassadors of Italian style and good taste, a significant number of our Italian producers have been able to penetrate both old and new markets worldwide.
The numbers of the Summit are impressive and show the strength of this international network, set in motion by Italian chefs working throughout the world: over the years 250 chefs, representing a total of 130 Michelin stars, have participated; 2000 dinners in more than 150 restaurants served, and dozens of small and large producers have presented the best of “Made in Italy”.
ITALIAN CUISINE IN THE WORLD FORUM
Italian Cuisine in the World Forum is an initiative promoted by itchefs-GVCI www.itchefs-gvci.com,
a network of 2500 chefs, culinary professionals, restaurant managers working in 70 countries.
The Forum is a unique occasion for:
1. Debate topics related to the Italian restaurant industry abroad.
2. Develop B2B relations between selected “Made in Italy” food & wine producers and the delegates.
3. Provide a professional training to the delegates
The delegates are part of a sector including over 80,000 restaurants in the world, authentic ambassadors of
the Italian Cuisine, daily offering millions of clients an authentic and quality food&wine proposal.
The Italian restaurant industry in the world is the most important showcase for spreading the “Made in Italy” food & wine in the world and other connected products and services, included tourism.
ITWINES
ITALIAN WINE LIST AWARDS
The Summit promotes also a series of connected events, including the Italian Wine List Awards, an initiative that aims to raise the level of Italian wine, within the lists of Italian and international restaurants.
The awards promote the restaurants whose wine list is either made exclusively of Italian wines or containing a significant selection of them.
The awards were born in Hong Kong in 2010 and have been celebrated also in Dubai and Beijing.
ITALIAN WINES WORLD SUMMIT
: CHINESE CUISINES MEET ITALIAN WINES
An unprecedented attempt to marry two great gastronomic cultures. Italian wines maintains its singular place among connoisseurs and Chinese cuisines remain among the best in the world. Separate they remain wonderful, but, as partners, it’s a whole new world to love and share. The Chinese cuisine-meets-Italian wine program, is an integral part of the Italian Wines World Summit.
IDIC – INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ITALIAN CUISINES
To cement the community of culinary professionals of Italian cuisine in the world, January 17, 2008, Rosario Scarpato launched the first edition of the IDIC – International Day of Italian Cuisines. For this day he asked the cooks of the itchefs network – and not only to them – to cook a dish of Italian tradition, of those more used abroad, according to the recipe or the original heritage. Beyond its cultural and patriotic significance, the initiative has a clear marketing objective: if Italian cuisine loses its identity, it fails its market.
It began with the Carbonara, and over 1000 restaurants in the world joined. Tens of thousands of customers of Italian restaurants were able to taste the true Genovese pesto, tagliatelle al ragu bolognese, tiramisu, risotto alla Milanese – to name a few of the famous dishes. The world day of Italian cuisines also ended up in the New York Times, and since then they have been celebrated as many as 11, the last (2018) was dedicated to a plate of Gualtiero Marchesi, recently deceased, while the next (2019) will be a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci, on the occasion of the 500th anniversary of his death. The events of the IDIC were celebrated, among other things, in New York, Moscow, Sapporo, Rio De Janeiro, Delft, Stuttgart, with the participation of cooks and artisans of taste.
ITCHEFS-GVCI: GRUPPO VIRTUALE CUOCHI ITALIANI
It is a network of chefs, restaurateurs and culinary professionals working in the Italian cuisine industry outside Italy. They belong to the moderated internet Forum (in Italian) of GVCI, Virtual Group of Italian Chefs, which has over 2200 associates working in 70 countries in the world. Today this site has become a fundamental point of reference as well as for restaurant managers, sommeliers, food & beverage managers, other hospitality managers, food and wine manufacturers, importers, distributors, retailers and media people, and all those who have an involvement with Italian food and wine all around the world. In the last few years thousands of Italian food lovers have visited daily our pages, to follow the activities of chefs and restaurants and our events.