In Sicily, two young nomadic chefs cook around the Island with their mothers

by Carlotta Sanviti

Energy, Sicilian spirit, and style to spare. From returning to Sicily after years in London to embracing the traditions of the Sicilian hinterland, Giuliana Pucci and Salvuccio "Buccio" Cappello have transformed their passion for cooking into a life project: "We want to tell and share our memories through food," they told Gambero Rosso. These memories are rooted in childhood, the land, and the sea of Sicily. Thus begins the story of two young people who, after living away from home for ten years, decided to return to their homeland to rediscover their roots and bring them to life through cooking. "We left Sicily because we felt confined, but the farther we were, the more we felt the need to return and truly understand our roots," explains Giuliana. They returned with a mission: to share the emotions of the dining table, "when our grandparents would uncover the pots and the delicious aromas would make us forget every worry" and become private chefs.

Giuliana and Buccio

Both originally from Pozzallo, a small town in the province of Ragusa, they lost touch for a while, he in Milan, she in London. Until, as Buccio recounts, "I left Milan to follow Giuliana to London. We gained a lot of experience there, but we knew we had to return to the place we had left, our Sicily." London was a training ground, a place for learning and personal growth; Buccio worked in some important restaurants, such as the Michelin-starred Barrafina, where he learned to be part of a brigade and where he also rediscovered, through cooking, the deep connection with his grandmothers' recipes, "those that are part of me, my roots." Meanwhile, Giuliana worked in the fields of communication and fashion, her great passions, before dedicating herself to the world of wine once back in Italy, starting a journey to become a professional sommelier.

Via delle Palme

Via delle Palme officially started after an event that marked their path: "An acquaintance asked us to cook for her birthday," recalls Giuliana, "it was our first event, we didn't even call ourselves Via delle Palme yet, and there would be 170 people! We accepted the challenge, but when we arrived and saw the long table, we looked at each other and thought: what do we do now?" But then, the success was unexpected: "People went crazy for our food, asking for our business cards, but we had none of that." Via delle Palme was born from the need to give a name to what they were doing. From that moment, they realized their project had enormous potential and decided to dedicate themselves full-time to this adventure. The team currently consists of Giuliana, who handles the pairings and wine selection, communication, and social media – their main showcase, especially for tourists abroad – and Buccio in the kitchen, along with his mother Antonella and Giuliana's mother Maria Grazia.

The choice of private chefs

"When we returned from London in 2019, we had a mission: to rediscover our roots and turn them into a resource," says Giuliana. This journey brought them back to Pozzallo, to Buccio's family's countryside, which gave life to Via delle Palme, named after the street where he grew up. The project is clear: to bring the Sicilian culinary experience directly to people's homes or the Pozzallo countryside, wherever there is someone ready to listen and eat. "We didn't want a restaurant," explains Giuliana, "we wanted to have the time to get to know people, to create an authentic connection, to tell and share. In restaurants, there’s little space, it's all about numbers." So, they started working as private chefs, offering not just dishes but a complete service with every detail carefully attended to, from the mise en place with Caltagirone ceramics and embroidered tablecloths to the selection, curated by Giuliana, of wines from small local producers such as Cantina Sissiri, Salvatore Marino, Sergio Barone.

Scacce Modicane and sausage in sauce

The menus are tailor-made for each occasion, and all their clients leave them free rein on decisions. What they bring to the table are stories of family, childhood, a Sicily that is not just a place but land, food, and tales. From scacce modicane to pasta with telline, or ravioli filled with ricotta and sugar, with pork sauce, a local recipe that combines the sweetness of the pasta filling with the savouriness of the meat sauce. And then, roasted lettuce with Etna honey dressing or roasted peppers on charcoal, prepared in the wood-fired oven. These are simple yet memory-laden flavours. In winter, they prepare slow-cooked sausage in sauce, as it was once done, filling the house from dawn with the aroma of sauce cooking for hours.

The Nomads of taste

Giuliana and Buccio define their cooking as nomadic: "We never stop, we love discovering, moving, learning from the elders," they say. Often, they travel around Sicily, searching for small realities, remote villages in the hinterland where the average age ranges from 70 to 90 years. "We knock on doors, ask to come in, to learn from the guardians of local traditions," explains Giuliana. Among their travels, in Geraci Siculo, in the province of Palermo, they recall meeting an elderly lady who welcomed them like children and taught them how to make 'nfigghiulata', an omelette with spices and wild herbs, immersed in vinegar.

Maybe one day there will also be a permanent restaurant, "but for now, we’re not interested." Giuliana and Buccio imagine a future where they continue to travel, meet new people, and experiment with new combinations. "We’d love to collaborate with a luxury brand, bringing our cuisine to different contexts, but always with the same spirit of sharing and authenticity," explains the couple. However, the idea of a restaurant is not entirely excluded. "Never say never," says Giuliana laughing, "maybe in a remote place in Sicily, where we can continue doing what we love, but with the time and space to truly tell our stories."