Click here to view and download the pictures of the visit to Roseto (PA) 


From Apulia to New York City through Roseto...A tour of the finest organic food & wine from Subappennino Dauno in the heel of Italy

The American visit of a delegation of representatives and producers from the Sub-Appennino Dauno area in the hills of northern Apulia, Italy, recently finished with great success.

From September 22nd to 28th, 2008 the delegation was in New York City to promote
“Apulia Hills”, a series of events to showcase the superior quality of extra-virgin olive oils, sweets, grains, and wines from the Sub-Appennino Dauno area, in the heel of the “boot” of Italy. During their visit, the delegation met special guests and buyers to learn more about the dynamics of the U.S. market. That’s why Mantica Ventures started the week of events with a gourmet discovery tour of US fancy food retailers, wine shops, Manhattan supermarkets, and bigbox retailers, such as: Balducci, Citarella, Whole Foods, Food Emporium, D’Agostino, Gristedes, Kmart, Astor Wines, Union Square Wines, and more.

The tour allowed producers to see how products are marketed in the US, compare prices, packaging, portions and placement of products on shelves, and meet the managers of the stores.

On Monday, September 25th, the delegation was invited to the Italian Trade Commission headquarters and greeted by ICE Director Aniello Musella. There, attended a business meeting with a panel of experts in different fields to get a 360˚ view of the market, which was followed by a Q&A session.

  • Andrea Fiano (moderator), US Correspondent at Milano Finanza and Class-Cnbc, US Correspondent at Class Editori

  • Giuseppe Brusa, CPA President G.C. Consultants

  • Marco Casella, VP Merrill Lynch Private Banking International Financial Advisor and Secretary General CIIM (Confederazione Imprenditori Italiani nel Mondo)

  • Marco Rossi, Rossi Law Studio in Italy and US corporate law and import procedures and regulations

  • Andrea Lovisatti, Partner, Ernst & Young International Tax Advisory

  • Diego Rodino di Miglione, Cushman Wakefield Real Estate

  • Tomaso Veneroso, Presidente CIIM

  • Marco D'Ilario, Sales and marketing director di Alitalia Cargo 

On Tuesday, September 23rd - The first B2B meeting between the operators of the Subappennino Dauno area and American buyers and importers in the beautiful space kindly made available by Banca Monte dei Paschi on 55 East 59th Street.

The first host of the day was Gianfranco Sorrentino, owner of Restaurant Il Gattopardo in NYC and president of GRI - Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani. Mr. Sorrentino welcomed the delegation and gave an important speech on the new reality of Italian restaurants in NYC and in the US.


On Wednesday, September 24th – The delegation took a day off to savor what’s special about New York and get a real feel for the city.


On Thursday, September 25th - The delegation met the press at the International Culinary Center for a special demonstration by Chef Lee Anne Wong (from Bravo’s Top Chef) using the best organic products of the Sub-Appennino Dauno area.

Chef Lee Anne prepared an exceptional menu: cicerchie (typical legume of the area) con calamari e maltagliati (chick peas with calamari on homemade pasta). She freshly prepared the pasta right in front of our eyes, ultimately drenched in remarkably juicy jarred tomatoes from Apulia and pancetta, cooked with the extra virgin olive oil provided by Masseria nel Sole and paired with the amazing wines of Le Terre del Catapano: Divino di Troia, Divino di Troia Riserva 2004 and Vorijett. To finish the demonstration and completely overwhelm the journalists attending, almond biscotti and other delicious crunchy breads and sweets from the region finished the meal.

After the demonstration, Chef Lee Anne answered a few questions from the audience and when a producer asked her which distribution channels she would suggest for these products in the US market, she replied, very pleased by their high quality:

“Gourmet distribution for lovers of true Italian cuisine, for sure these are not products for the mass market.”

Later that day, the delegation met Italian Minister of Foreign Affairs Franco Frattini for a cocktail reception at the Merrill Lynch Conference Center organized by Confederazione degli Italiani nel Mondo (CIIM) to celebrate the minister’s visit to the city for the United Nations general conference. At the event to greet the Mr. Frattini there were: Senatrice Barbara Contini, the Italian Consul Francesco Maria Talo’, the Italian Ambassador to the US Gianni Castellaneta and Hon. Amato Berardi.


On Friday, September 26th after a week rich with events and important meetings, the delegation and 30 selected guests joined for a gala dinner at Restaurant “La Masseria” in midtown. The warm atmosphere of the place, the excellent food and impecable service mixed with the superb Divino di Troia made the night special –particularly during the fascinating speech of special guest Paolo Nespoli - the only Italian astronaut at NASA. Mr. Nespoli might have been to the moon, but after discovering the food from Apulia, he’s setting his future trajectories to the Sub-Appenino Dauno area of Italy.


On Saturday, September 27th The Apulia Hills Delegation concluded an event filled week with a trip to Roseto, PA where 100 years ago immigrants from the town of Roseto Valfortore, located in the Apulia Hills, settled.

Upon arrival the group was warmly greeted by Mayor and Mrs. Daniel Confalone whom then introduced the delegation to the town’s various points of interest. The first stop was LeDonne’s bakery opened by Italians in the early 1930s. The group then proceeded to the Municipal Building where Councilman Pasquale Cirelli of Roseto Valfortore presented Mayor Confalone with various gifts including a commemorative plaque from the Subappennino Dauno Region (Apulia Hills). Councilman Cirelli discussed with the Mayor a proposal to begin a student exchange program between the two cities. Next was a tour of the Roseto Fire Department led by the Fire Chief who then gave fire department t-shirts to all in the group. After lunch at Rose’s Café the Apulia Hills delegation stopped at Ruggiero’s Market specializing in Italian food products.

The final place of interest visited was the Slate Belt Heritage Museum. A room in the museum is dedicated to the early Italian settlers who where instrumental in the mining of slate in this area of Pennsylvania.

It was a very productive day and brought the sister cities closer together.


From Oct. 12 to Oct. 17, 2008, a group of 10 important US buyers met during the events in NY and who appreciated and saw the potentiality of these Italian products, will go for a discovery tour of the real hills of Apulia.

There, they will see the familiar faces of the producers and authorities they met in New York and will experience the whole cycle of production – from the field to the table – so be ready to enjoy more Pugliese goods coming to a table near you.

The Apulia Hill venture has just begun...