Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Tucci In Italy’ On Disney+ And Hulu, Where Stanley Tucci Eats His Way Through Italy Yet Again

Tucci In Italy is much aliases little a continuation of Stanley Tucci’s CNN recreation bid Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy. He continues to sojourn different regions of his ancestral home, talking to chefs and different group who lend to nan nutrient civilization of a peculiar region. In nan 5 episodes successful this play of nan show, Tucci visits Tuscany, Lombardy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Abruzzo and Lazio.

TUCCI IN ITALY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A windy upland scope that yields achromatic marble. Stanley Tucci walks connected a ridge and quotes Michelangelo: “I saw nan angel successful nan marble, and I carved until I group it free.”

The Gist: In Tuscany, Tucci starts pinch Florence, nan metropolis galore deliberation is Italy’s nutrient and civilization capital. He tries lampredotto, which is fundamentally beef intestines, which Florentines often eat connected a rotation for breakfast(!). Then goes to Dalla Lola, a edifice specializing successful peasant recipes that Florence’s moving people utilized to make and eat each nan time, including a crockery called “fake tripe.”

He past travels to Colonnata, known for its impeccable marble, but besides 1 of nan champion places to get lardo, which is aged pork fatback. He past goes to Maremma, “the “Wild West” of “Italy’s Wild West,” visiting pinch cattle ranchers called Butteri, who negociate herds of free-range cattle that nutrient low-fat, very tender steaks, which Tucci helps nan lead buttero grill.

Back successful Florence, Tucci eats astatine an Asian-influenced edifice that adheres to nan city’s arcane edifice rules arsenic acold arsenic sourcing of ingredients are concerned, but decidedly goes a different measurement than nan usual. Then he goes to Siena, wherever he observes nan wide feasts that hap each complete nan metropolis during nan twice-per-year Palio di Siena.

Photo: National Geographic

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? As we mentioned, Tucci In Italy is beautiful overmuch a continuation of nan 2021-22 CNN/BBC bid Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy. It’s very overmuch successful nan vein of different food-oriented recreation shows, for illustration Anthony Bourdain: Parts Unknown or Taste The Nation With Padma Lakshmi.

Our Take:

Despite a mates of years’ break and a move of networks, Tucci In Italy doesn’t effort to springiness america thing much than nan erstwhile show did, which is Stanley Tucci stepping done various places successful Italy, wherever his family was from and wherever he lived for a clip erstwhile he was a kid. He is his accustomed wry and erudite self, enjoying each sorts of food, speaking Italian to nan group that are featured successful a segment, and muses astir nan matrimony of nutrient and civilization successful his sound overs.

What we thought astir each this 4 years ago, erstwhile nan original show debuted, really hasn’t changed: Tucci isn’t rather arsenic personable a narrator arsenic Bourdain aliases Lakshmi is, and he tends to observe alternatively than link pinch nan group he talks to. He decidedly tin lead towards pretentiousness astatine times.

But he besides shows truthful overmuch passion for his family’s homeland, and a fascination pinch each region’s nutrient culture, particularly restaurants and dishes that spell against nan norms of what a tourer mightiness eat erstwhile he aliases she goes to Italy connected vacation. So, if location are moments where, for instance, he seems a spot detached erstwhile nan proprietor of a section marble excavation talks to him astir nan history of mining successful his town, we’re figuring he’s conscionable reasoning astir nan nutrient he’s going to beryllium eating later.

Photo: Matt Holyoak/NatGeo

Most Pilot-y Line: Tucci says “Wow” a batch erstwhile he eats thing he loves, though astatine times we wish he said thing like, “Damn, that’s good!” aliases thing arsenic enthusiastic.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Stanley Tucci isn’t precisely nan astir relatable aliases lukewarm beingness arsenic a recreation host, but he is thorough, and Tucci In Italy is simply a bully continuation of nan travel done nan state that he started connected CNN successful 2021.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes astir food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His penning has appeared successful nan New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.