Cristiano Tomei Marvel debut: Lucca chef joins Iron Man
The chef of L'Imbuto appears under his own name, brigade included, in a Panini Comics anthology that previews at Lucca Comics & Games on 28 October.
The Cristiano Tomei Marvel story is not a rumour: the chef of L'Imbuto in Lucca appears under his own name alongside Iron Man in a Panini Comics anthology that previews at Lucca Comics & Games from 28 October.
The story, “L'imbuto del caos”, is written by Marco Rizzo and drawn by Giuseppe Camuncoli, with inks by Roberto Poggi and colours by Mattia Iacono. Tony Stark lands in Lucca and the restaurant becomes the set for a plot involving the chef and the Avengers. Italia a Tavola describes it as the first Marvel story produced in Italy in the new millennium.
It sits inside Spider-Man: Meals to Astonish – Cucina da Eroi, a 72-page hardcover published by Panini Comics with Foodmetti, the food-and-comics festival held within the fair. The regular edition carries a cover by Peach Momoko; a variant by Gabriele Dell'Otto is sold only in Lucca. The price is €12, and the book reaches bookshops, comic shops and Panini.it on 5 November.
Iron Man finally gets a table in Lucca, and the chef gets the speech bubble.
Tomei is not the only chef on the menu. José Andrés opens the volume in “Grandi portate, grandi responsabilità”, in which Peter Parker and Daily Bugle food critic Chet Chekowski cover a restaurant opening until Electro interrupts dinner. Paul Carmichael stars in “Jeff's Table”. Readers who stay in Tuscany after the fair can work through the regional canon with our guide to what to eat in Florence.
How the Cristiano Tomei Marvel cameo was cooked up
The idea grew at the table. According to Italia a Tavola, Camuncoli met Tomei at a work dinner during an earlier edition of the fair, and Marvel editor-in-chief C.B. Cebulski is among the regulars he has brought to L'Imbuto since. Tomei and Camuncoli later sketched out Foodmetti – Artisti delle tavole during a conversation in the restaurant; Tomei is now the festival's president, LuccaInDiretta reports.
“For those of us who have always kept our inner child alive, this is a dream come true,” Tomei said in the publisher's announcement. L'Imbuto, on Via della Pieve Santo Stefano on the edge of Lucca, is listed in the Michelin Guide.
A Panino Primitivo at Lucca Comics & Games
Foodmetti's fifth edition moves to the Spazio delle Carrozze on Via di Mezzo. On Wednesday 28 October, from 18:00 to 20:00, Tomei will cook the Panino Primitivo that appears in the story, with Cebulski, Rizzo and Camuncoli alongside him and tastings for the audience. Signings run daily until 1 November.
Tomei also serves a three-course business lunch at the venue daily from 12:30 to 14:00, with 12 seats and booking required. Marvel heroes have saved New York from worse; finding a free chair at that lunch may be the harder mission.
