A book filled with taste

Alessandro Frassica, alias ‘Ino. Who is he? If you tried to ask this question in Florence, people would roll their eyes: virtually everyone knows him in town. To escape this embarrassing situation, we suggest you avoid to playing the «you know, I was in New York these past 5 years» or «I spent the last year in Rome» card, because our good Frassica is also known there. Passionate about bon vivre, ‘Ino was among the first to believe that a sandwich (panino) could be a taste experience, not just a delicious and quick snack.

Early promoter of the gourmet sandwich as an entity itself before being a product of fashion, he enthusiastically pairs it with a good glass of wine and, being a good landlord, he’s never stingy. He has travelled a lot and still does, in search of the most pleasant products that will make his now famous sandwich menu - written on yellow paper and on the blackboards that occupy a large part of the wall in his Florentine workshop in Via dei Georgofili - more and more plush. 

Bright, sociable and curios, ‘Ino has turned this passion into a «story-telling instrument, something that would let him unravel the tales that are stratified there, between the bread and its filling» as he likes to say, being an attentive urban sociologist. Indeed, the faces he so likes to investigate, while they bite his famous ciabatta, are the joyful protagonists of his bright new book, Pan'Ino (Guido Tommasi Editore), in which Frassica tells the story of this world, through Maria Teresa Di Marco’s talented pen, aka La Cucina di Calycanthus, and Maurizio Maurizi’s so “real” shots. The book, 184 pages full of taste, covers the workshop, dwells on the work and the photos of the baker preparing the crispy casing for an infinite number of experiences and offers ideas and detailed recipes for fantastic sandwiches that will give honour and merit even to those who don’t feel much at ease in the kitchen.

The first presentation was on Saturday 17th November in Milano on the 'Ino tram (here you can see the Mychef.tv video), a tram that on this occasion was transformed into a dealership of gourmet sandwiches, ranging from savoury to sweet, but always incredibly balanced. The audience, high on aromas and tastes, was pampered by Gianluca Biscalchin. The most recurrent comment among those who had already flipped through a few pages of the book was «my mouth is already watering» and of this the authors were truly proud. 'Ino had a rerun last Friday at Eataly in Rome, now its second home, and on December 6th at 6 p.m. it will be in Florence, at Riccardo Barthel’s. Which super-chef will accompany Frassica? Expect anything.