The Team

Born and raised in Mirandola, 20 km from Modena, Riccardo studied at Istituto Alberghiero before starting his career in a small local restaurant. Always an admirer of Massimo Bottura, Forapani joined his team at Osteria Francescana at the age of 24. For the following 13 years at Osteria Francescana he worked on mastering Italian culinary traditions and, in particular, deepened his knowledge of traditional Emilian cuisine.

Born and raised in Naples, Francesco was immersed in the art of hospitality from an early age, thanks to his mother and grandmother, who run a beloved local trattoria. At the age of eighteen he moved to London, where he embraced an international perspective on the world of restaurant management. His ambition then took him to the Netherlands, Ibiza and Dubai. Now Francesco has returned to Italy to join the Francescana Family. For Francesco, managing a team means nurturing passion and authenticity, creating culinary experiences that go far beyond mere service.

Virginia was born in 1993 in Cantù, in the province of Como. Her mother and grandmother passed on a passion for cooking to her from an early age. Thanks to her organisational, team-leading and service management skills, after two years as a sous-chef at Turin’s Edit Restaurant, Virginia came to Maranello in 2021 to join the Ferrari brigade de cuisine, as sous-chef alongside Riccardo Forapani, and has been co-chef since 2023.