Original caricature by Jeff York of Stanley Tucci appreciating a blood orange in the second season of TUCCI IN ITALY on the National Geographic channel.
I think if I could be a famous celebrity, it would be Stanley Tucci. I’ve been a fan of his since he played villainous guest star roles in shows like WISEGUY and THIRTYSOMETHING back in the 80s. Since then, I’ve tracked his career through the Broadway stage (FRANKIE & JOHNNY IN THE CLAIR DE LUNE) to prestige television (CONSPIRACY, WINCHELL) to film roles both as a lead (BIG NIGHT, SUPERNOVA) and supporting player (SPOTLIGHT, CONCLAVE). I even follow his casually entrancing TikTok’s where he throws together a quick Italian dish in mere minutes. Abbondanza!
This month, everyone’s talking about his scene-stealing work in THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA 2, currently making molti soldi in theaters, but I think he gives an even greater performance as himself in the second season of TUCCI IN ITALY that premiered on TV and streaming this week. The award-winning documentary series follows Tucci as he travels throughout Italy to uncover the country’s history and the origins of some of its most incredible native dishes. Sure, there’s a lot of pasta being tossed about, but the entire series is straight-up comfort food. And with the urbane, sly, and passionate Tucci as our guide, it’s engaging, intriguing, and easy on the eyes as any entertainment this season.
The series stems from Tucci’s multiple Emmy-winning turn hosting the similarly themed forerunner STANLEY TUCCI: SEARCHING FOR ITALY on CNN from 2021 to 2022. Most of the same team is part of the new program shown on National Geographic’s cable channel and also on Hulu, but each episode here finds Tucci investigating a town in Italy, meeting its residents, unearthing the region’s history, and breaking bread with local restaurateurs who specialize in dishes known to be associated particularly with that given region.
It’s a simple recipe for a show, but everything is beautifully prepared and designed to be a scrumptious experience. It’s all gorgeously photographed by Matt Ball from the exteriors to the meals, accompanied by a score with charm and verve by Alexander Parsons, and narrated on camera and off by the drolly witty Tucci. He walks the towns, drives the country roads, interviews the locals, and often helps the chefs make their dishes in each episode. What’s not to love?
All of it goes down easy, with its steady, casual pace, seeming to match the unfussy cut of Tucci’s jib. Tucci blends just enough Italian history with varied references to violence and the mob to give it some edge, but it’s truly family fare. Tucci savor every bite he takes, be it chicken cutlets, freshly made noodles, or creamy tiramisu. He loves chatting up everyone he meets, from eight to eighty, and he wears the color black better than any man since Johnny Cash.
The show leans into cleverness and education equally, like when Tucci discovers how the chef of Villa Rosa in Gragnano, featured in the first episode of the new season, uses briny stones to conjure the flavor of the sea without relying on shellfish. (It has to do with the poor residents a century ago not being able to afford such ingredients.) And your mouth will water as Tucci helps local farmers pick blood oranges straight off the tree in the second episode on the outskirts of Sicily while sampling their fresh bounty. And you will wish, like me, that you too were Tucci, getting to live such a delicious life and get paid for it as well.
Find this year’s five new, hour-long episodes on National Geographic, as well as streaming on Hulu. I’d advise you to eat beforehand, though, as it’s one yummy show from first minute to last. And if you’re going to eat while watching, you must be sure it’s Italian.
Buon appetito!
(NOTE: You may have noticed that I didn’t post any reviews these past two weeks, and that was due to the fact that I was recuperating from hip surgery. I am on the mend thanks to the great care from the fine doctors and nurses at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. The pic of me below is yours truly post-surgery, and I was already feeling a ton better. Watching the easygoing new season of TUCCI IN ITALY helped me in my convalescence as well. In fact, I hope to be walking as confidently as Tucci does throughout the series by this summer!)
I think that hospital gown was more uncomfortable than any pain post-op. Truly!
