Born in Emilia in 1992, Francesco is our head chef. His career started in Osteria Francescana, where he learnt the care for the ingredients and where he developed his passion. With the supervision of Massimo Bottura, he seasonally thinks a menu rich of suggestions that will bring you in the traditional Emilian cuisine influenced by his travel experiences abroad.
With a Modenese soul and a Brazilian heart, Valentim is our sous-chef. His journey began far from the kitchen: he graduated and worked in the financial sector in São Paulo, in the family business. However, after a few years, he decided to follow his great passion, cooking, which he had cultivated since childhood alongside his grandmother. He started gaining experience in Brazil, working in a French restaurant and an Italian one. Driven by the desire to rediscover his roots, he moved to Italy, where he fell in love with the culture, the food, and the people. In the summer of 2022, he joined the Franceschetta58 team, assisting Francesco in managing the kitchen. Passion, curiosity, and sharing are the values that drive his spirit.
Class of ’97, Gloria Didonna is the Assistant Restaurant Manager of Franceschetta58.
She was born in Modena, but her roots are in Puglia. As a youth, she lived around the Italian peninsula, passing also through Sweden. She spent her adolescence passionately devoting herself to music and learning to play the contrabass, and then discovered the world of catering with which she unpredictably fell in love. She landed at Franceschetta58 in November 2022 and to today she manages the restaurant’s dining room together with Zack.
Zack Labib is Franceschetta58’s sommelier, born in Morocco in ’97 and raised in Italy. He attended hotel school but began working in the restaurant sector at a very young age, immediately discovering his passion for the occupation. After graduating from high school, Zack moved off to work along the sunny Maltese beaches; two years later he returned to Italy and officially joined Franceschetta58’s staff in the summer of 2023, becoming sommelier and sharing the running of the dining room with Gloria.