To mark the anniversary, the Advanced Training Course for Catering at the ITS Academy Udine has been announced to begin in 2026.
Cuisine Wine Products Culture = Tourism.
Friuli Venezia Giulia Via dei Sapori is a close-knit group of 25 restaurateurs who, from the Adriatic Sea to the Alps, are champions of the many facets of regional cuisine, each conceived and reimagined according to their own unique culinary journey. They include 24 winemakers and distillers , and 16 artisans of taste , supported by 8 technical partners.
For 25 years they have been telling the story of their land together through their cuisine, their wines, and their products, forming a union that lasts over time and looks towards the future. On September 15th, they celebrated this important milestone with a celebration hosted in the rooms of the Friuli Foundation in Udine, during which they presented a video and a magazine that told their story in a concise and engaging way. ” The wish we make as we celebrate our 25th anniversary,” said Consortium President Walter Filiputti, ” is not so much to realize our dreams, but to continue dreaming .”
Record numbers
Pioneers of the equation Cuisine, Wine, Products, Culture, and Tourism (which was by no means a given at the time) and of the format of Dinner Shows in particularly evocative locations in which all members are involved, over the past 25 years they have racked up record numbers: approximately one million tastings served in the name of excellence and valorization of the territory, 185 events in 83 locations around the world (111 in Friuli, 22 in Italy, 47 abroad) promoting the culture and food and wine of Friuli Venezia Giulia, over 2,000 recipes created to delight the public with unique dishes that told the regional culinary history in a new way, more than 35,000 bottles opened during the events, 1,383 times winemakers, artisans of taste, and partners appeared on the menus, making each experience unique.
Bocconi: “Coming together for the benefit of the region”
Friuli Venezia Giulia Via dei Sapori was also the subject of a case study by SDA Bocconi , which identified among the keys to its success the fact that, from the beginning, it worked with its local area in mind , committing to promoting it and continually raising the bar of its food and wine offerings, focusing on a driving effect. The most significant result achieved? According to the study, “it is probably the most profound and difficult change, which concerns the mentality, the spirit of the Consortium participants and the ability to pull together .”
The first 25 years
It all began on September 12, 2000 , a date that would mark a turning point for the restaurant industry in Friuli Venezia Giulia. Aldo Morassutti of the Da Toni trattoria in Gradiscutta gathered a dozen colleagues at the Là di Moret restaurant , driven by a shared vision: to promote and enhance local gastronomy. He invited Walter Filiputti, a food and wine and marketing expert , to present a program. That day, not only was the idea for the Friuli Venezia Giulia Via dei Sapori Consortium born, but the foundation stone was laid for a project that would contribute to placing quality restaurants within the tourism promotion system . The needs that drove the Consortium’s creation were simple, yet fundamental: the need to give a strong, unified voice to regional restaurants by creating a platform to showcase local excellence and to work as a team. The intuition looked beyond, to the well-being of the region, with the understanding that it was the true shared treasure to be protected and enhanced. The Consortium’s founding charter , signed by 20 restaurants , enshrined a commitment to transcending individualism and working, at the same time, for the collective good. The local component was the driving force behind the project’s success, transforming the food and wine scene into a strategic pillar for regional tourism and opening the doors to collaboration with local institutions , such as the Chambers of Commerce of Udine and Pordenone-Udine, Promoturismo, and the municipalities. The cultural aspect was also part of the program. In 2003, the Consortium published its first book, “Friuli Via dei Sapori,” translated into six languages. In 2011, “I Solisti del Gusto” was published, a narrative that intertwines the flavors and culture of the entire region (in three languages). These publications were joined by nine “Gourmet Monographs” (a print run of 20,000 copies) that were given as gifts to restaurant customers, contributing to widespread knowledge of the region.
The future: training
Fvg Via dei Sapori has always believed in the importance of training new generations of restaurateurs, ready to take up the baton and continue the work accomplished to date, and in the commitment to prevent the profession from losing its allure, which could undermine its growth. Training —which has been a cornerstone for the Consortium, with experiences and training programs in Italy and abroad— is among the priority commitments for the immediate future.
“In early 2025, we requested a meeting with the Istituto Tecnologico Superiore (ITS) Academy Udine (President Paola Perabò and Director Ester Iannis) to offer our collaboration, which was accepted,” said Walter Filiputti . ” And now we are happy to announce that the Advanced Training Course for Catering will begin in the 2026/2027 academic year . We couldn’t have imagined a better anniversary. It’s truly true that dreams don’t fade until people abandon them.”
The 25th Anniversary Celebration
The 25th anniversary celebration, hosted in the rooms of the Friuli Foundation in Udine, was the occasion to take stock of the journey made so far (which was told in a video and collected in a magazine that tells their story in an agile and attractive way), but above all to build a bridge towards the future because, as Walter Filiputti said when welcoming the large crowd public “ our commitment has been, and always will be, to give tradition a future, making it evolve but keeping its roots firmly in place.”
“Over these 25 years, the Via dei Sapori Consortium has accompanied, and often guided, an evolution in the restaurant industry,” said Bruno Malattia, President of the Friuli Foundation . “It has taught entrepreneurs, by nature individualists, that overcoming rivalry and collaborating benefits everyone: alone, you go faster, but together, you go further. The Consortium has also demonstrated that a winning offering combines cuisine, wines, and local products in a mix capable of generating tourism interest, benefiting many businesses in the region. Thomas Stearns Eliot, in a famous essay, observed that a sign of cultural decline in Great Britain was the indifference to the art of food preparation, recalling that culture is what makes life worth living. From this perspective, the Consortium has also fostered cultural evolution through training at all levels—in the kitchen, in the dining room, and in every role—valuing the most innovative experiences and creating a continuous cross-fertilization of ideas. The results achieved are therefore not only entrepreneurial—a point of merit—but also cultural, representing a significant achievement. an example that should inspire reflections in other sectors of what is traditionally considered culture.”
“Over 25 years of operation, Friuli Venezia Giulia Via dei Sapori has established itself as an extraordinary calling card for the region, a unique example of teamwork in the restaurant and hospitality sector, ” added Giovanni Da Pozzo, President of the Pordenone-Udine Chamber of Commerce. ” Chefs, winemakers, artisans, and producers have joined forces to showcase, through iconic dishes and authentic flavors, a Friuli Venezia Giulia region capable of combining tradition and international openness, promoting slow and conscious tourism. Today more than ever, this story reminds us of the importance of advanced professional training for our young people: in the restaurant, hospitality, and hospitality sectors, trained hands and minds are needed, capable of understanding the roots of our cuisine to innovate with respect and creativity. The Chamber of Commerce has long been committed to this training, and the Consortium is an example and a point of reference of the highest qualifications. Via dei Sapori is not just a food and wine experience, but a demonstration of how culture, business, and territory can intertwine to build an attractive future. We have always known this, building countless itineraries. To promote Friuli Venezia Giulia in Italy and abroad, bringing Via dei Sapori with us, accompanying business representatives from across the economy. I wish a very happy 25th birthday to this unique Consortium, a standard-bearer for the entire economy, with which it has always been and will always be a pleasure to collaborate!
“The story of Friuli Venezia Giulia Via dei Sapori is one of entrepreneurial vision,” concluded the Regional Councillor for Productive Activities and Tourism Sergio Emidio Bini. Today, food and wine are one of the main channels for promoting our region nationwide and the primary attraction for foreign tourists. This is due, above all, to the brilliant intuition of Walter Filiputti and the farsighted restaurateurs who began the Consortium’s history 25 years ago. The secret of the Via dei Sapori lies in its ability to work as a team: a team of champions working together on a collective project. This teamwork has borne precious fruit over time, effectively placing quality restaurants at the forefront of the regional tourism promotion system. This is why today, on this important anniversary, I would like to express, on behalf of the regional administration, heartfelt thanks to the Consortium, its board of directors, and all the restaurateurs and industry professionals who are committed to promoting our region.
Professor Magda Antonioli of Bocconi University, President of the National Tourism Observatory , reiterated that quality catering is an important driver for promoting local areas and tourism in her engaging speech. She conducted a marketing analysis at both the corporate and local levels, to share the values and culture of a heritage of excellence that must be protected and enhanced. “Reading today’s challenges to understand tomorrow” : following this leitmotif, her speech focused on issues related to new trends in catering and the food and wine sector . She highlighted the ongoing changes and the increasingly hybrid values of tourists (such as lifestyle, identity, cross-pollination, social and environmental aspects, health, etc.). “ A focus on the region, its unique characteristics and traditions, and the quality and craftsmanship of those involved, starting with chefs and winemakers,” he reiterated, “ leads to the conclusion that the winning approach is the supply chain approach, where social values, skills, and human resources are also essential, the true glue for networking .”
And looking to the future, the celebration concluded with the announcement by Walter Filiputti and the President of the ITS Paola Perabò of the launch of the Higher Education Course for Catering in the 2026/2027 academic year .
Before their speech, a cultured and refined initiative was also announced by Angelo Floramo and the director of Guarneriana Sabina Francescatto : the 25 chefs of FVG Via dei Sapori will be called upon to revive in a modern key the taste and flavor of the recipes handed down in the Guarnerian manuscript “Liber Dietarum Universalium” by Isaac Iudaeus (12th century), mixing together innovation and ancient wisdom.
