TRIESTE, Italy – illycaffè announces the addition of Gianluca Fusto as the first pastry chef in the illy Chef Ambassador project. This initiative, aimed at coffee and haute cuisine enthusiasts, involves creating a custom coffee blend for each chef involved. Gianluca Fusto, a world-renowned pastry chef and chocolatier, is celebrated for his numerous international awards and for founding FUSTO Milano, a hub for research, experimentation, and training, alongside his wife, Linda Massignan, in 2020.
The author of five internationally best-selling pastry books, Fusto describes himself as a true alchemist of taste. His deep expertise and innovative approach to chocolate make him a distinctive figure in the world of high-quality pastry.
Following in the footsteps of acclaimed chefs like Niko Romito, Viki Guenes, Antonia Klugmann, Massimo Bottura, Chantelle Nicholson, Ricard Camarena, and many others, Fusto now has the opportunity to craft a personalized coffee blend.
Utilizing the Personal Blender – a machine designed by illy and first showcased at Expo Milano 2015 – he will combine the ingredients of the illy blend, featuring some of the best qualities of pure Arabica beans from nine different origins, to create a unique coffee experience for the patrons of FUSTO Milano.
Under the expert guidance of the professors at the University of Coffee, Fusto has developed a blend that reflects his sensory, taste, and olfactory preferences while embodying illycaffè’s values of excellence, sustainability, and quality.
“We are proud to announce our collaboration with Gianluca Fusto as a multifaceted and innovative pastry chef who, much like us at illycaffè, is driven by a philosophy that focuses on excellence and respect for raw materials.
His involvement marks the creation of a new category of illy Chef Ambassadors, further strengthening our connection with the world of confectionery and our shared pursuit of the highest quality.” said Cristina Scocchia, CEO of illycaffè.
“I am honored to be the first pastry chef ambassador of illycaffè,” said Pastry Chef Gianluca Fusto. “Imagining a new creation is like creating a musical work: the choice of notes and instruments follows strict principles. In my case, this involves a careful choice of producers, who in turn select and enhance the raw material.
This is the philosophy that accompanies illy, in which research, quality and excellence are in a symbiotic relationship. Only by working with these prerequisites, i.e. knowledge, creativity, consistency and vision, is it possible to transform the encounter between dessert and coffee into an exciting moment”.
Launched in 2017, the illy Chef Ambassador program is an exclusive initiative that includes some of the world’s most prestigious chefs, categorized into three groups: the illy Masters of Excellence, who are distinguished Starred Chefs; the Sustainable Chefs, who have been awarded the Green Star by the Michelin Guide; and the Pastry Chefs, the masters of contemporary haute patisserie.
Discover more about the illy Chef Ambassador programme at: https://www.illy.com/chefambassador
