Viola Buitoni was born in Rome and raised in Perugia, Italy. With stories and knowledge from six generations, her dishes cross the best of California agriculture with the finest Italian food imports. After moving to the US to attend NYU, Viola started Buitoni & Garretti, a catering kitchen and Italian fine foods shop in New York City. She later moved to San Francisco, where she began lecturing and teaching Italian food tradition workshops at the SF Italian Cultural Institute and Italian Consulate. In addition to leading frequent livestream classes and workshops with Milk Street, she also teaches at 18Reasons, The Civic Kitchen and at the Puglia Culinary Center. In October of 2022, she will lead an immersive fall foraging workshop in Le Marche. She is a regular contributor to La Cucina Italiana US and to italysegreta.com. Her opera prima, Italy by Ingredient, is due out in fall 2023. In 2020 the President of the Italian Republic awarded her the the title of Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia for her work to further the culture and business of Italian food. She lives in San Francisco’s Mission District with her husband, son and tiny dog.

Photo credit: Molly DeCoudreaux