Luigi Troccoli is from Bari, Italy, on the pristine Adriatic Sea in the heel of the boot. Raised in his mother's kitchen, his zeal for delicious food was generated early. He has been employed in fine-dining establishments throughout Italy and in England, where he learned the finer points of food and wine, and discovered that engaged service can make all the difference in the customer's dining experience. Bringing his enthusiasm for excellent, unpretentious cuisine to the U.S., Luigi worked in a popular neighborhood Italian restaurant in San Francisco for over 12 years, most of them with his business partner, Gianni Bartoletti.