My passion for cooking began in 1981 when I enrolled in culinary school. As I learned about the different foods and how to combine certain ingredients and coming up with my ownrecipesI soon realized I was going to turn this passion into acareer.
While I was attending school I would occupy my weekends by working at restaurants nearby and during the summer months when school was closed I did a few internships at local hotels in the area. In this time I met my wife, Doriana. We both had a passion for cooking and would always talk about new recipes and how to create new dishes together.
Our mutual passion for food brought us together and later made us inseparable. After I completed school, I pursued my studies in the pizza making field by attending specific courses that were designed to learn the various pizza making styles. I was even able to learn the art of free style pizza which was a very unique experience.
In 1996, my wife Doriana and I decided to open our first restaurant/pizzeria that we called Joe Joe. This was our first dream coming to reality. Starting this brand new adventure together we were able to combine our love for cooking and present it in the form of a dish or a pizza for our customers to enjoy.
We were very successful in doing so and had a great customer base within the first few months of opening. In the same year that we opened our restaurant, I was also a part of the first free style pizza making team in Tuscany. Even though at that time it wasn’t a very popular event in our town, we had such a passion for our work that we wanted to be able to compete in the championships in Salsomaggiore Terme. We prepared for this championship for almost a year, perfecting our every move in pizza throwing. It was truly a once in a lifetime experience that brought me to my first victory where I placed 4th out of hundreds of people that came from all over the world to compete. After 10 years of running our restaurant/pizzeria in Tuscany my wife and I decided to embark on a new adventure and move to the United States.
We searched for a while before settling into the town
of Port St. Lucie and opened our first restaurant in America called Ristorante Pizzeria Lombardi
in July of 2010.
In 2014 we received the greatest news that we were expecting a child. With the arrival of our son we
had to make some decisions and changes to our business in order for it to continue being successful.
It was in this time that I made the decision to continue my studies that I had left behind years ago
to become a Master Pizza Chef. After months of studying and taking care of my son and the restaurant
I was able to complete the courses and receive my diploma as Master Pizza Chef. I now want to teach other
people the art of becoming a professional pizza maker and hope to find likeminded individuals who
want to learn all the secrets to this craft.
I am very passionate about my line of work and I am a firm believer that you should never give up on a dream. If you remain still throughout your life, nothing will ever change. You must get out there and push yourself to the limits, only then will you see the results you’ve been dreaming of.I want to be able to give whoever is interested in this field an opportunity to learn an art that can be transformed into a career. A career in a field that will always be thriving. With the right tools, education and experience, you will be able to find work anywhere in the world.