About Us
A professional team made of talented minds
In collaboration with the European School of Economics in London, Roberto Costa, founder of RC Group is the brain behind this innovative project, aimed to motivate and grown professionals in the Hospitality sector, while promoting the Italian biodiversity abroad.
Fully aware of his responsibility as Italian Food Ambassador, he knows that a business is made up of people and, to have flourish business it is very important to constantly motivate and train them.
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With the aim of sharing his extensive knowledge acquired over the years, in 2018 Roberto founded the RC Academy, one of his biggest projects related to education in the Hospitality industry, with which he has already trained more than 200 students.
Knowledge is a virtue at the base of every successful business.
Roberto Costa
Creator and Founder of Matooro
Roberto Costa was born and raised in Genoa, at the heart of the Liguria region in northwest Italy, famed for being a culinary treasure trove of the peninsula. After being brought up in the family-run trattoria, he opened a number of successful restaurants around Italy before moving to London where he opened the now famed Macellaio RC in South Kensington in 2012, also awarded with three prawns by Gambero Rosso, who now counts 5 other locations in London (Exmouth Market, Union Street, Fitzrovia, Battersea and Soho) and one in Italy (Milan). Elected man of the year in 2017, Roberto Costa has soon become an important point of reference for many Italian people coming to the UK, also due to his presence as Director of the board of the Italian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in the UK since 2016. Thanks to his passion for food and his knowledge about hospitality, in 2017 he has been appointed Gourmet Ambassador and also awarded as the first Genoese Ambassador in the world.
Teachers and Special Guests
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Alessandro Belluzzo
President of ICCIUK
Alessandro has been associated with Belluzzo & Partners since 2007. He is based in London, where he works as Founding Partner of Belluzzo International Partners and Trust&Wealth.
He deals predominantly with tax advisory and wealth planning for individuals and family business. Before this, from 2001 to 2004, he gained experience in Italy and then in Switzerland, as a chartered accountant and tax advisor. Alessandro qualified as a Trust Estate Practitioner (“TEP”) in the United Kingdom in 2007. He is the current Deputy Chair of the STEP Special Interest Cross Border group. Alessandro is a Barrister registered with the Bar of England and Wales.
Alongside his professional activity, Alessandro has lectured at Bocconi University in Milan, acts as a mentor for university graduates, and is a frequent speaker at specialist conferences in England and abroad. He regularly contributes to articles on the themes of corporate restructuring, taxation and family business, and is author of the guide ‘Brexit – Istruzioni per L’Uso’, published by il Sole 24 Ore. Alessandro is the current President of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in the UK. In 2017, Alessandro was made a Knight of the Stella d’Italia, in recognition of his work in promoting dialogue between the Italian and British business communities.
Michael Palij
Professional Master of Wine
Born in Toronto, Canada, Michael Palij is an adventurer, businessman, and one of only 380 Masters of Wine worldwide. Michael emigrated to the UK in 1989 and has worked in the wine trade ever since.
In 1992 Michael was appointed buyer for a chain of independent shops and made his first visit to Italy the same year. He promptly fell in love with both the country and its
wines and established the import agency, Winetraders, which continues to import Italian wines from more than a dozen regions; its success has prompted expansion into Spain, Germany, Portugal and the New World. He passed the Master of Wine examination in 1995 and is now a leading authority on the wines of Italy. In 1997 he founded the first Oxford's wine school called Winematters, an Approved Programme Provider (APP) accredited by the Wine and Spirit Education Trust (WSET) which also offer Masterclasses, Sales and Service courses for the Hospitality sector, and Corporate Events. Michael lectures around the world but is also an importer, consultant, writer and accomplished sailor and mountaineer.
Virgilio Gennaro
Wine Director at Giorgio Locatelli
Virgilio is currently Wine Director at Giorgio Locatelli Consultancy and Business Development Manager at Berkmann Wine Cellars.
Virgilio coming from the sunny wine island of Sicily, and has had a very impressive rise in theworld of wine, having, first of all, competed in and coming to a very respectful 3rd place in the'Best European Sommelier' 2009. He started as a sommelier in Locanda Locatelli, quicklygaining specialised knowledge of fine Italian wines.
Virgilio is one of the UK sommelier association's skills specialists and, is a source of all thingswine, also covering lessons in Italian wine, with his typically engaging and charismatic teachingstyle.
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