Tuscanini “Tasting Italy”: Old World Flavors, New World Audiences
A hand-crafted, 7-part online series shot across 10 cities in Italy. Winner of two Taste Awards, produced by a lean crew for a pezzino of what Tucci gets.
The Brief
Tuscanini, the world’s largest purveyor of kosher Italian products, wanted to move beyond ads and own a destination series that could educate, entertain, and ladder back to brand trust. The ask: create a multi-episode food & travel documentary that explores Italy’s regions and unique kosher artisan producers, and create an organically branded series that has true mass appeal. Oh, also have Roberto Serrini as the on-camera culinary guide. That’s right, sometimes I go in front of the camera to get the job done.
Strategy
We wanted to produce an editorial-first premium docu-series, not a product sizzle. The content engine is place + people + process - original Italian experiences framed by authentic voices and locations. I submerged myself into kosher culture and history (to the point of being tutored by a mashgiach on kashrut law) to connect my extensive Italian culinary knowledge with this new, fascinating kosher world. If you thought it was complicated to make a DOC certified bottle of Chianti, imagine the 48 extra steps you have to take to then make it kosher. The series took products already regarded as perfect and showed how much more extraordinary they could be. Having the series hub on Kosher.com established the show’s credibility and repeatable discovery, while its award-winning run in food and travel focused film festivals gave it enormous mass appeal to new audiences outside the kosher world. A win all around.
We used culture and technique as the brand proxy. Instead of shouting “Tuscanini,” we showed why Italy tastes the way it does, then let viewers draw the line to a premium importer. That editorial stance is exactly what platforms like Kosher.com reward (and what buyers trust).
Why it’s right for food & travel:
• Credibility > claims. Let authentic editorial voices carry the message, not the brand.
• Evergreen value. Focusing on food traditions that make up celebrated Italian heritage means that they stay searchable for years and never age.
• Audience fit. Using an approachable host and crafting the final product to watch like a Bourdain episode gives it mass appeal without sacrificing branding.
Honestly I would love to tell you how challenging this project was and how we had to use every ounce of professional savvy to get it done, but here is the thing: I live my work. Not just love, but live. I cook, I travel, I ride the motorcycles, I stain my shirts, I don’t direct from a chair; I direct from experience, and that is what makes what I do not just easy, but special. So we brought special to 10 cities around Italy (six of them featured in the series) with an ultra-elite crew of local pros, and produced an entire series in just 3 weeks.
Execution
“Serrini only with his producer Erin Judd and an extremely lean field crew created a truly epic amount of quality work all while staying nimble across 10 difficult locations. We’ve never seen anything like it before.” (Heart.Works)
The key to doing such a massive ask with such a humble budget is having a crew that isn’t just the best, but family. I have worked with No Frames (run by female entrepreneur of the year Erin Judd), nearly since their creation, as such we finish each other’s sentences, we go farther, and work harder because we love to see each other succeed. Producing a 7-part series in NYC is one thing; to do so in Italy, well, you basically need supernatural powers. Erin fortunately has those, and with the help of 18 hungry, talented local freelancers (camera, sound and line producers), we delivered with a lean core team of three, Erin as executive producer, Elena as producer and me as director, DP and editor, what would normally take 10x the budget.
The heart of Italian cuisine is the cucina povera … making delicious art out of what you have at hand. Don’t we know it.
And Then All Our Gear Was Stolen.
And Then All Our Gear Was Stolen.
Didn’t see that coming in a Case Study did you?
Neither did we, but I got into film literally because I didn’t want a predictable future. While having everything you own being stolen isn’t optimal, it definitely falls under “passion for the improbable”, and with it, your love of being prepared for anything. We were insured, quickly sourced replacement gear, and were back shooting almost immediately. The story actually made the news across Italy (although I’m not sure why they chose that picture) despite the Carabinieri not being able, or willing, to reclaim our property. Fortunately social media came to our rescue as scores of concerned people around Italy tried to get our gear back. Alas, in the end the only thing they found was our passports, which honestly was a blessing because getting a new Italian passport is harder than getting an 8pm Saturday reservation at Mother Wolf in LA.
48 hours later we had new cameras, new wheels, and a new fashionable wardrobe that was perfect for the award ceremony where we won two Taste Awards. We even were invited to the University of Georgia to speak to their Journalism and Media Departments about our process.
We bring this up because I think it’s a true testament to a great production team. Sure, with enough money and when everything goes right you can still fail … but when everything goes wrong and you are on a shoestring budget and you still succeed, well, now that’s amore.
Deliverables
7 x episodes (core season), Feature Presentation, Introduction Films
33 x Social Versions and Teasers
Photography Library
Press Kit
Spec/Notes
4K broadcast-spec stand-alone episodes, feature presentation, and solo introduction films
Vertical cutdowns and teasers
800+ retouched high-res photos
Awards pull-quotes, red carpet photography
Post Production
Our success came by building episodes around subject-led interviews, observational coverage in live environments (workshops, coasts, vineyards), and region-specific B-roll (drone where permitted), then stitching them with a personable host POV. That and our love of great food and travel.
Post leans on documentary rhythm: interview confession → tactile craft → travel release. Edited, color and mixed completely in DaVinci Resolve by Serrini. Color keeps naturalistic food tones (olive greens, grape purples, wheat gold), audio emphasizes diegetic textures (pasta knead, sea wind, cellar echo). Music sits under dialog; titles remain minimal and elegant. The host VO links regions into a single “map” of Italian gastronomy.
Locations & episode spine:
Episode 1 — Flavors of the Jewish Ghetto (Rome)
Episode 2 — Sun-Soaked Salts of Sicily (Trapani)
Episode 3 — Pasta: Italy’s Heart & Soul (Tuscany)
Episode 4 — Tuna Treasures of the Mediterranean (Favignana)
Episode 5 — Bottling Modena’s Magic in Italy (Modena)
Episode 6 — The Green Gold of Puglia (Puglia)
Episode 7 — History of the Roman Jewish Ghetto (Rome)
Tasting Italy’s Award-Winning Success Is Why Tuscanini Is Continuing the Series
What This Proves (for brands)
A turnkey director/editor/host who can run a multi-region series from a trusted production base without losing cinematic polish or story clarity.
Brand-safe, editorial voice that converts hospitality/food/tourism audiences without heavy-handed product pushes—ideal for premium importers, destinations, airlines, and F&B.
Award-validated format (two Taste Awards) and multiple festival honors that can scale to new seasons, partners, and platforms.
Results
Awards & industry recognition:
Two Taste Awards (2025): Best New Food & Travel Series and the top RB Cellars Award for Best Branded Content. Eclair Magazine
Broadcast of the Awards on PBS and affiliates coast to coast for wide-reaching exposure to the brand. thetasteawards.com
Series hub & episodes live on Kosher.com, bringing a 48% increase in traffic to the channel and brand after series launch. Kosher.com
Reach & Views
People reached (paid + organic): 4.3M over a multi-month flight across YouTube/CTV/social.
YouTube view rate: ~38% (industry avg ≈ 31.9%).
CTV 30s completion rate: 97%
30s+ watch-through: High on CTV, and >50% for skippable placements that index well.
Click-through from video (YT/social): 0.7% / Landing-page CVR: 2.6%
Brand Lift (Recall)
Ad recall lift: +18pp (3+ exposures increases absolute lift ≈ +61% vs low-frequency flights).
Branded content recall efficacy: ≈81% - Branded content environments show strong aided recall and higher awareness gains.
4.3MM
People Reached
4,400
Hours On Content
16k+
Unique Page Views
810k
Product Sold 2024
source: kayco.com
Client: Tuscanini Foods
Distribution Partner: Kosher.com
Director, Editor, Videographer & Host: Roberto Serrini
Executive Producer: Erin Judd
Producer: Elena Manzini
Production Company: No Frames
Coordination: Heart.Works
Videography: Francesco Pecini, Francesco Tarantino, Federico Giuliano, Sandro Valecce, Andrea Nocifora, Daniele Ceravolo, Jackie Serrini
Location Sound: Nicola Dinelli, Mirko Cangiamila
Contributors: Sara Pavoncello, Chef Gaetano Arnone, Chef Giovanni Terracina, Cesarina Tuscany, Cesarina Barbara, Cesarina Donatella, Cesarina Ofelia, Rivi Brauner, Rivka Levi, Motty Landau, Charles Herzog