Click here for a Facebook album of photos from the fair.

More than 320 attendees, 45 Italian brands, 200+ Italian wines and food products, 3 seminars presented by leading food and wine professionals, 1 sommelier competition.

We thank everyone — exhibitors, presenters, sommeliers, and organizers — for a fantastic Taste of Italy 2022, now in its 8th year and now back in-person after a two-year hiatus.

“We had expected a smaller turnout back when we began planning this year’s event in late 2021,” said Italy-America Chamber of Commerce South Central deputy director Maurizio Gamberucci. “But the response and attendance at the fair was an indicator that food and wine professionals are hungry and thirsty for Italian wines and foods. We couldn’t be more pleased with the results.”

“It was such a thrill,” said Taste of Italy emcee and panel moderator Jeremy Parzen, a Houston-based food and wine historian and educator, “to see so many Texas restaurant professionals excited to taste, learn, and interact with the Italians who traveled from Europe to Texas especially for the gathering. It was great.”

Highlights of this year’s event included: Talks by Darrell Corti, a leading U.S. expert on Italian gastronomy, and Dino Borri, CEO for Eataly in the U.S.; a seminar on pairing Texas BBQ with Chianti led by celebrity pit master Ara Malekian and Spec’s Italian wine buyer Tom Dobson; and the awards ceremony for the winner, and second- and third-runners up in the Villa Sandi Houston Sommelier Competition.

If this response to this year’s Taste of Italy is any indication of what to expect for next year, we know we’re going to need a bigger ballroom!

Thanks again to everyone who made it such a memorable and rewarding experience.