Describing my life is a relatively difficult task due to the numerous events that have punctuated it; I will be as brief as possible.
I was born in Pisa just a few metres from the Piazza dei Miracoli in a private clinic that no longer exists (the building now belongs to the University of Pisa) on the 13th July 1952 to a Greek father, from Thessaloniki, and an Italian mother, from Pisa.
I spent my early years moving between Greece and Italy before finally settling in Pisa, where I attended primary and secondary school and the Faculty of Law.
In 1972 I embarked on the first of my long adventures to study different countries’ food and traditions. I spent three months travelling through parts of Europe and several Arab countries, ending up in Afghanistan.
In the years that followed I travelled in Europe, Asia, Africa and America where I gained knowledge about many different cultures in addition to broadening my understanding of food and wine.
I have in particular learnt about the specificities of French and Spanish cuisines. I have written a great deal about these cuisines and have received recognition and thanks from some of the greatest chefs in the world, including Ferran Adrià Acosta.
Nowadays I have a sort of “obsessive” passion for food and wine which I have vented, for years, in my columns in daily (Corriere del Vino and others), weekly (Ognisette), monthly (Chef Magazine and Chef Italiani nel Mondo) and quarterly publications (Oinos – Vivere di vino), as well as in my Blog “LA TAVOLOZZA DEL GUSTO”, which is read in over thirty countries worldwide.
In recent years I have also devoted my time to publishing several books, the most recent of which, My Favourite Restaurants in Madrid (Spain), is now in its second edition.
Over the course of my career I have had the greatest fortune to meet many special people, who are often artists in the true sense of the word, and whose dish, wine or product they produced has made me extremely happy.
Giorgio Dracopulos
Food and Wine Writer
Stampa Agroalimentare Italiana