Mauro Uliassi named Chef of the Year by Food and Travel Italia
The Senigallia chef and Don Alfonso 1890 took the two main titles at a gala in Salento that handed out 40 prizes in one evening, from pizzaiolo to airline of the year.
Mauro Uliassi was named Chef of the Year at the Food and Travel Italia Awards 2026, held on Friday 2 October in Presicce, in Puglia's Salento. Don Alfonso 1890, the Iaccarino family's restaurant in Sant'Agata sui Due Golfi, took Restaurant of the Year.
The ceremony was the ninth edition of the prize given by the Italian edition of Food and Travel, a magazine distributed in 18 countries. It took place in Piazza del Popolo and was hosted by Pamela Raeli, the Italian publisher, whose father was born in the town.
Mauro Uliassi runs the three-Michelin-star Uliassi on the eastern dock of the port of Senigallia, in the Marche. Il Resto del Carlino, which reported the award on 7 October, describes a family business: his sister Catia, his son Filippo and his daughter Rosa, who handles communication, all work there.
Forty prizes in one evening, from Chef of the Year to airline of the year, and no published vote count.
His acceptance was short. “Thanks to Food and Travel Italia, to Pamela Raeli, and as always thanks to the gang and to everyone who comes through the restaurant,” the chef said, in the newspaper's account.
What Mauro Uliassi and Don Alfonso 1890 won
Forty prizes were handed out in a single evening. The Restaurant of the Year trophy was collected by chef Ernesto Iaccarino for Don Alfonso 1890, which Cookist ties to the Sorrento peninsula and to the family's organic farm, Le Peracciole.
Andrea Berton was named Master of Italian Cuisine and Franco Pepe Pizzaiolo of the Year. Pastry Chef of the Year went to Tommaso Foglia, who started his career in the Don Alfonso 1890 kitchen. Two sommeliers shared their category: Marco Reitano of La Pergola in Rome and Federica Gatto.
The list runs well beyond kitchens. It includes four wines, a winery, hotels, a rooftop bar, an airline (ITA Airways), a cruise company and a press office. It lands days after the Falstaff Restaurant Guide Italia 2027 crowned Piazza Duomo, in a crowded autumn for Italian rankings.
A readers' prize without published votes
Part of the Italian press calls the event the Food and Travel Italian Readers Awards. None of the reports consulted explains how readers voted or how many did, and no jury is named.
Man of the Year stayed close to home: it went to Antonio Decaro, president of the Puglia region, where the gala was held. Woman of the Year was Cristina Mercuri, described in the coverage as the first Italian woman to become a Master of Wine.
Raeli called this year's gala “an edition of the heart, held in the town where my father was born”. For Mauro Uliassi, the trophy adds a magazine title to the three stars his Senigallia restaurant already holds.
