Francesco was born and raised on the island of Sardinia, in the south of Italy. Throughout his childhood, he spent a lot of his time with his extended family learning about fishing, farming and cooking traditional Italian cuisine. Francesco has built a loyal following throughout his social media platforms, with over 2.6M followers across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and YouTube. Here he shares his vast culinary expertise and passion, inspiring followers of all skill levels to step into the kitchen and start cooking. Francesco is also a strong advocate for sustainable eating and minimising food waste, a value instilled in him through his Sardinian upbringing, where every part of an ingredient is put to good use.
Francesco debut cookbook Eat Like a Sardinian, Live to 100 was published by Murdoch Books in May 2026 and became an instant Sunday Times Bestseller.
After working as a chef in Italy, at the age of 23, Francesco founded a small Italian restaurant and pizzeria in Brisbane, Australia, which was nominated one of the top Italian restaurants in the city. After returning to Europe in 2017, Francesco founded Our Cooking Journey, growing a large social media following and teaching vast audiences at festivals and events throughout the UK.
In 2018, he turned to teaching full-time and was the Head Teaching Chef at Jamie Oliver's Cookery School in London. He has worked and collaborated with Food at 52, Eataly - La Scuola, Emilia's Pasta, The Pasta Academy run by Pasta Evangelists and Bread Ahead Baking school.
Francesco’s charismatic personality and contagious enthusiasm makes him a favourite choice for cooking demonstrations at events such as Taste of London, Waitrose Food Festival, Three Counties Food Festival, Festival of Food and Drink, Marzamemi, Bishop Auckland Food Festival, Festa Italiana, Sandringham Food Festival and Sicily Fest. Francesco also holds interactive masterclasses for private events, restaurant guest chef appearances and has worked on luxury cruises.
Through his viral content creation, Francesco has partnered with brands including Mutti, Birra Moretti, Fratelli Beretta, Segafredo Caffè, EU Cheers and Cheese PDO and DOC campaign and Gorgonzola PDO.
Francesco contributed recipes to the mental health & suicide prevention charity cookbook "Beder's Kitchen" alongside many great chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Ottolenghi. Francesco's cookbook Eat Like a Sardinia, Live to 100 was published in May 2026 by Murdoch Books and became an instant Sunday Times Bestseller. This book explores the rich food culture of Sardinia with simple and seasonal recipes, eating with loved ones and the reason for it's 'Blue Zone' status - where people live longer than anywhere else. Dave Brown created the books beautiful design and photography shot in Sardinia.
Image in black apron photographer credit to @truffle_threads
Francesco's Website
