The Week of Italian Cuisine in the World marks its tenth edition in 2025, confirming its role as one of the broadest international initiatives promoting Italy’s food and wine culture. Created in 2016 as an outgrowth of Expo Milano 2015, the program has shaped a consistent narrative around the Italian agri-food sector abroad, drawing attention to themes such as quality, sustainability, biodiversity and culinary identity. Over a decade, it has generated more than ten thousand events across more than one hundred countries.
For its tenth anniversary, the program focuses on “Italian cuisine between culture, health and innovation,” framing food as a field where long-established practices coexist with continuous research. It suggests an Italian culinary model capable of adapting without losing its defining elements.
New York offers one of the most significant stages for this conversation. The city hosts a large and active network of Italian chefs, bakers and restaurateurs whose daily work influences how Italian cuisine is perceived worldwide. Their impact often goes beyond institutional campaigns, shaping tastes, expectations and ideas through the restaurants, bakeries and cafés that residents and visitors encounter every day.
In this context, the Week of Italian Cuisine is an opportunity to highlight the ecosystem that sustains the reputation of Italian food throughout the year. From long-standing neighborhood establishments to restaurants experimenting with new techniques, New York reflects the combination of tradition and innovation that Italy aims to promote internationally — including through its ongoing UNESCO candidacy for intangible cultural heritage.
A video created for the 2025 New York edition features about thirty professionals who show their daily routines in the kitchen, illustrating the idea that food carries both cultural meaning and technical expertise. They represent only a portion of those who contribute to maintaining the visibility and credibility of Italian cuisine in the city.
A recurring priority in the program — the protection of authentic ingredients and recipes — remains particularly relevant in the United States, where Italian sounding products continue to circulate widely. Italian restaurateurs and producers have long worked with institutions and associations to promote certified goods and protected denominations.
The 2025 edition also emphasizes Italian cuisine as a model of healthy and sustainable eating. Interest in Mediterranean diets has grown steadily across the United States, with Italian communities playing a central role in their diffusion.
Alongside cultural and health-related aspects, innovation is another focus: research on raw materials, improved processing techniques, new distribution systems and strategies to reduce waste. These elements form a consistent part of the promotional work coordinated each year by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and implemented globally through the Italian diplomatic network.
