Downstairs at the Chapel
The Man Who Put Abergavenny on the Food Map: Franco Taruschio, the Walnut Tree and the story of Italians in Wales
Join us for a unique opportunity to hear from the person who put Abergavenny on the food map, to find out about Italian migration to Wales and to eat some wonderful food. History Cooked is a food history, dining club run by chef and food writer Rosie Sykes and food historian Polly Russell. Working in collaboration with chefs and restaurateurs.
History Cooked brings history alive through recreating and re-imagining the recipes from the past and telling the stories associated with them. For the 2019 Abergavenny Food Festival we are delighted to be collaborating with Franco Taruschio, the former-owner chef of the Walnut Tree and the man who put this Welsh town on the food map.
Working with Abergavenny’s own chef Kevin Mcfadden, we will recreate dishes from the original 1960s Walnut Tree menus, explore the history of Italian migration to Wales and hear first-hand from Franco about setting up an Italian restaurant in the 1960s and how the food scene in Abergavenny, Wales and the UK transformed in the second half of the twentieth century.