In 2017, TuttoToscana returned to the James Beard Foundation with “Fragments of Tuscany,” a multidisciplinary culinary and cultural project developed by Florence University of the Arts. Continuing the evolution of TuttoToscana as an experiential learning platform, the 2017 edition explored Tuscany through its provinces, presenting a poetic and contemporary interpretation of the region’s cultural, sociological, gastronomic, and artistic identities.
Created through the long-standing collaboration between Florence University of the Arts and the James Beard Foundation, TuttoToscana had grown into far more than a study away program. It became a living educational laboratory where culinary arts, hospitality management, wine studies, creative writing, visual communication, photography, publishing, and event production converged through real international hospitality experiences. Students collaborated directly with chefs, faculty members, sommeliers, writers, designers, and hospitality professionals, participating in every phase of production — from menu development and storytelling to culinary execution, branding, communication, guest experience, and visual design.
The 2017 dinner theme focused specifically on the provinces of Tuscany and the fragments of identity that collectively define the region. Rather than presenting Tuscany as a singular unified image, the menu celebrated its diversity through dishes connected to individual cities, landscapes, and territories. Each course indicated its native Tuscan area of origin, transforming the dinner into a gastronomic map of regional culture.
The menu combined culinary tradition with poetic narrative and contemporary interpretation. Aperitivo selections referenced places such as Arezzo, Livorno, Viareggio, Garfagnana, Chianti, and Montagna Pistoiese through ingredients deeply rooted in local food culture, including tarese del Valdarno pancetta, chestnut flour, Tuscan blue cheese, pecorino, and vinsanto.
Throughout the evening, each dish unfolded like a fragment of a larger Tuscan story. Courses were accompanied by narrative texts inspired by folklore, memory, symbolism, and regional traditions, blending gastronomy with literary storytelling. Dishes such as Heretic Ravioli from Maremma, barley mantecato with “toad skin” pecorino from Chianti, duck breast with mushroom coffee sauce inspired by Casentino, and pine nut short pastry from Pisa transformed local ingredients into contemporary culinary compositions rich with emotional and cultural meaning.
A defining feature of the 2017 edition was its strong interdisciplinary collaboration across multiple Florence University of the Arts departments. Creative Writing students developed the poetic menu texts and narrative concepts accompanying each course, while Visual Communication students created the menu design and visual identity of the event. Culinary Arts, Baking & Pastry, and Front of House students worked directly on food production, service execution, hospitality coordination, and guest experience under the guidance of faculty chefs and staff members.
The event itself became the culmination of months of collaborative academic work where gastronomy, visual arts, literature, hospitality, and communication merged into a single immersive cultural production. By integrating storytelling and regional identity directly into the dining experience, “Fragments of Tuscany” reinforced TuttoToscana’s mission of presenting Tuscany not only through food and wine, but through the emotions, myths, memories, and cultural nuances embedded within the region’s many local identities.
Through this edition, TuttoToscana further established itself as an innovative international platform capable of translating Tuscany into a multidimensional cultural language where cuisine becomes narrative, hospitality becomes performance, and education becomes real-world professional experience.