Francesco Mattana,
Italian Chef and Content Creator
Appearing Sunday 13th
Francesco was born and raised on the island of Sardinia, in the south of Italy. Throughout his childhood, he spent lots of his time with his extended family learning about fishing, farming and cooking traditional Italian cuisine.
Francesco has built a loyal following throughout his social media platforms, with over 840k followers across TikTok, Facebook and Instagram. Here he shares his vast knowledge, inspiring his followers to get cooking, whether they’re beginners or pros. Francesco is also an advocate for eating sustainably and reducing food waste, which is something that he’s learned from his Sardinian upbringing where they utilise the whole ingredients.
After Francesco left the army in 2013, he started his own cooking journey working as a chef in Italy. At the age of 23, Francesco founded a small Italian restaurant and pizzeria in Brisbane, Australia, which was nominated one of the top Italian restaurants in the city. Upon his return to Europe in 2017, Francesco founded Our Cooking Journey, and as a result, he has built a large following across social media and teaches huge crowds at festivals and events across the UK.In 2018, he turned to teaching full-time and was the Head Teaching Chef at Jamie Oliver’s Cookery School in London and he has worked and collaborated with the Food at 52, Eataly – La Scuola, Emilia’s Pasta, The Pasta Academy run by Pasta Evangelists and Bread Ahead Baking school.