It’s official: Italian food is the best in the world — or at least, it’s the first cuisine ever to be granted Unesco status.
The art of Neapolitan pizza-making has long been recognised, but Italy is now the first country in the world to have its entire culinary tradition added to Unesco’s heritage list.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, who has pushed for this recognition since taking office, said: “For us Italians, cuisine is not just food or a collection of recipes. It is so much more: it is culture, tradition, work, wealth.”
In its statement, the cultural agency said Italian cuisine serves as “a means of connecting with family and the community, whether at home, in schools, or through festivals, ceremonies and social gatherings”.
London’s Italian community, who have been celebrating since the announcement, couldn’t agree more.
“It makes us feel very, very proud,” says Francesco Mazzei, one of the capital’s leading Italian chefs. “To be the first country in the world is a huge deal.”
Italians are often teased for getting angry when others break their food rules — adding cream to carbonara, pineapple to pizza or Parmigiano Reggiano to fish dishes — but Mazzei believes this commitment to tradition is precisely why the recognition was awarded.
“We stick to our rules, our tradition, generation after generation,” he says. “Our classics stay the same — our minestrone, our ossobuco — nobody can change them. Our food is like a prayer — it’s sacred — and nobody can change a prayer except God.”
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At his newly opened restaurant, Mezzogiorno by Francesco Mazzei, the Calabrian chef showcases dishes from his corner of Italy, including a lasagna layered with fried aubergine, mini meatballs, egg, spinach and a sweet and salty pork ragu. “I’m giving food from the south of Italy — cucina povera — the respect it deserves,” he says. “But the thing about Italy is there is so much to celebrate: every single town, region, neighbourhood has a different recipe.”
Francesco Mazzei
DAVID M. BENETT/DAVE BENETT/GETTY IMAGES
This hyperregionality is partly shaped by Italy’s geography, says Vincenzo Zaccarini, who has supplied London restaurants with top-quality Italian produce for more than two decades through his company Vincenzo Ltd. “Italy may be a small country on the map, but it is enormous in flavour and identity,” he says. “Where else do the snow-capped Alps meet the warm winds that blow up from north Africa across Sicily? That natural drama gives us several thousand varieties of fruit and vegetables, making Italy the world leader in agricultural biodiversity.”
“For chefs working with Italian food, Unesco status should be a wake-up call to go deeper,” he adds. “Italian cuisine is regional, seasonal and inseparable from the land it comes from. There is no point cooking with radicchio if you cannot point to Veneto on a map. We do not need more cultural appropriation dressed up as creativity, we need more genuine students of food. People who go to Italy, meet growers and artisans, walk the fields, smell the markets and understand why an ingredient tastes the way it does.”
But plenty of countries are fiercely regional in their cooking, and many have held on to their culinary traditions for generations — so what really sets Italian food apart?
Mazzei puts it down to what he calls “sophisticated simplicity”: deceptively straightforward dishes that just taste really good. “Spaghetti pomodoro, pizza, mozzarella with tomatoes — wherever you go in the world, people want to eat these dishes.” They’re not overworked, fussy or difficult to grasp, which is why, he says, they’ve been embraced everywhere. On top of that, he adds, the Mediterranean diet is widely considered one of the healthiest in the world. “You can eat Italian food every day and feel great.”
For Andrea Asciuti, the owner and head chef of 081 Pizzeria in Peckham and Shoreditch, the reason Italian food is so revered comes down to one thing: passion.
“Food is literally everything to us,” he says. “It’s the heart of our culture, our identity, and it’s our love language. Honestly, 90 per cent of life in Italy revolves around food, and the rest is just waiting for the next meal.
A selection of dishes at 081 Pizzeria
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“Growing up in Naples, I was surrounded by that intensity — the passion, the effort, the obsession around food. Pizza itself wasn’t just a dish, it became a spiritual mindset for me, something sacred. That’s why this recognition means so much. It celebrates not just the food itself, but the generations of families, artisans and chefs who have poured their entire hearts into keeping our traditions alive.
“This is a huge moment for Italy — and for every Italian who carries that love for food wherever they go.”
And for many Italians, that emotional connection is exactly why Unesco’s recognition feels so personal.
The chef Gennaro Contaldo, Jamie Oliver’s long-term mentor, says food is inseparable from what it means to be Italian. “Italy is an emotion,” he says. “And food is the language. When you talk about Italy, you’re talking about food. Though there are so many recipes across the country, we’re one big family united by food. We don’t just cook to fill our stomachs, we care deeply about what we eat.”
So if you’d like to mark this historic accolade — or if all this talk of pizza, pasta and pomodoro has made you hungry — here’s where London’s Italians go to eat and shop for the real thing.
1. Mezzogiorno by Francesco Mazzei, Embankment
For authentic and exquisite Italian food in London, Gennaro Contaldo suggests heading to Mezzogiorno by Francesco Mazzei, inside the five-star Corinthia hotel. “Francesco and I come from a similar place in the south of Italy, so we have the same culture. People talk about cucina povera but Francesco is actually cooking these recipes and they’re so beautiful. You have to go.” The Calabrian lasagna and giant tiramisu, served tableside, are a must.
2. Da Mario Delicatessen, Highbury
This legendary deli is a favourite among London’s Italian chefs and community. “It’s the kind of place where you don’t mean to buy anything and you come out with biscotti, panettone, pasta fresca and 50 quid down,” Mazzei says. “It is the place to go to buy Italian food. And Carlo, the salumiere, is a great guy — he always greets you with a big smile and he’s so happy to tell you about the prosciutto.”
3. Prezzemolo & Vitale, various locations
Michele Pascarella, the owner of Pizzeria Napoli on the Road — soon to open a new site in Soho — loves shopping for Italian ingredients at Prezzemolo & Vitale, which has several branches around London. You can find everything there, from fresh produce and sweets to cheese, cold cuts, pasta and a huge array of extra virgin olive oil.
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4. Bar Italia, Soho
For a classic negroni, Salvatore Aloe, the co-owner of the artisan pizza chain Berberè, says: “It has to be Bar Italia or Bar Termini everyday. I also love Manteca for Italian food through a British lens.”
5. Seasonitaly by Vincenzo
Forget Ocado — if you want brilliant, fresh produce delivered to your door, Gennaro recommends Seasonitaly, a subscription service that does boxes of the finest fruit and veg sourced from top organic Italian growers. “This is the very best stuff,” Contaldo says. “I get everything from Vincenzo.”
6. Legare, Bermondsey
For perfect pasta, Andrea Asciuti of 081 Pizzeria recommends the restaurants Legare, Manteca or Bocca di Lupo. “Each of them brings a real homemade spirit, incredible freshness and their own individual style that reminds me why Italian cuisine deserves to be protected and celebrated,” he says.
7. Primo Italian Provisions, Primrose Hill
Though not Italian, the chef Theo Randall has been cooking Italian food for many years and has written several books on the cuisine. His favourite place to shop for ingredients is Primo Italian Provisions in north London. “Every time I shop in this amazing store I always learn something. Italian food is so inspiring. Natale is from Calabria and he always has some knowledge to share on produce that makes going to this wonderful shop so rewarding.”
Dining and Cooking