Originally from Abruzzo, a small region of Italy that is rich in culinary tradition, Danilo Cortellini is a chef consultant for the food industry turned content creator. He has been the Head Chef of the Italian Embassy in London for more than 10 years.
Danilo trained at Michelin-star level both in Italy, at restaurant San Domenico in Imola and Perbellini near Verona, then in London with three Michelin-starred Alain Ducasse at The Dorchester.
More recently, Danilo took part in MasterChef: The Professionals, fighting his way to the top and ranking as one of the finalists, appeared on BBC1’s live cooking show Saturday Kitchen and on Stanley Tucci in Italy by National Geographic
Danilo published 3 cookbooks: '4 Grosvenor Square’ The menu of the Italian Embassy in London 2016 – ‘Better than Nonna’ 2024 – ‘Pasta Rules’ 2025. Thanks to social media, with a reach of over 1 million people across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and Facebook Danilo has now returned to his roots and is on a mission to share with the public world-wide as many simple & traditional Italian recipes, made with wholesome ingredients, as he can!
Alessio Cortellini, MD, PhD, is an Italian medical oncologist and professor at Campus Bio-Medico University of Rome, where he combines clinical practice with academic research. His work has focused particularly on lung cancer and cancer immunotherapy and has developed through an international academic career. He maintains an appointment as Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College London, where he previously worked as a clinical researcher.
He has authored more than 280 scientific publications and has been recognised for several consecutive years among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists in the Stanford/Elsevier rankings. He is actively involved in leading international oncology organisations, and has been invited to speak and serve as faculty at major international oncology meetings, including the ASCO Annual Meeting and the World Conference on Lung Cancer.
Before pursuing medicine full time, Alessio worked for several years in hospitality alongside his studies, including with his twin brother Danilo. This early experience, and his daily work with people living with cancer today, have allowed him to appreciate what happens around the table from very different perspectives: food, of course, but also sharing, relationships and the meaning these can take on at different moments in life.