Allure Academy

Marina Tommasi

Marina Tommasi is a personal chef specialising in plant-based cuisine and private services and corporate consultancy.

Born in 1985, she was raised in Milan and developed a strong passion for gastronomy from an early age. Despite studying humanities and completing a master's degree in cultural event management, she decided to dedicate her life to cooking and to exploring the relationship between food, wellbeing and health through training courses and hands-on experience.

After several years in high-end catering, including experiences such as the opening of Castiglion del Bosco with chef Elio Sironi and the creation of Hambre, an urban plant-based cuisine pop-up in Verona, she specialised in plant-based nutrition for athletes through Precision Nutrition and Matthew Kenney's Plant Lab Sports Nutrition.

She then became personal chef to professional footballer Gaël Clichy and his family. Her work has taken her to Sardinia, Barbados, Grand Cayman, Istanbul, Chamonix and Ibiza, cooking for High Net Worth Individuals.

She later developed a permaculture Farm to Table project at Domaine de la Cavalière in Lourmarin, owned by Jeffrey W. Ubben.

Her philosophy is to process ingredients as little as possible, allowing them to retain their nutritional qualities and natural flavour. She promotes conscious plant-based cuisine based on seasonality and what nature has to offer.

She follows the principles of the Mediterranean diet and selects high-quality ingredients such as vegetables, whole grains, pulses, nuts, seeds, fruit, spices and herbs.

She favours whole and seasonal foods and uses techniques such as dehydration, fermentation, cold extraction and stone grinding.

Today she provides personal chef services for private clients and athletes, consultancy for brands and companies and personalised cooking courses.

Melania Farina

After gaining experience in Human Resources, where she worked in administration, recruitment and staff training, in 2011 she embarked on a new professional path, completing her training as an Italian teacher for foreigners at the Leonardo da Vinci School in Milan, an institution accredited by the University for Foreigners of Siena.

She began her teaching career at the Leonardo da Vinci School and later collaborated with IBE School in Milan, teaching Italian to executives, managers and employees of international companies such as Pirelli, Danone, Campari, Prada, Amazon, Barclays, Walt Disney and Techint.

Since 2019 she has worked as a freelancer, collaborating with language schools, companies and training organisations, including Allure Milano and Yellow Hub School, and teaching students from all over the world, both online and at a studio in central Milan.

Over the years she has taught Italian courses to professionals, university students and foreign workers, also developing specific programmes for housekeepers and babysitters, with particular attention to communication situations encountered in everyday and working life.

Her teaching approach is practical and personalised, tailored to the needs, goals and learning style of each student. In her lessons, conversation and real-life communication situations play a central role from the very first meeting, without overlooking grammar and vocabulary.

In recent years she has also developed experiential programmes combining Italian language and culture: themed guided tours of Milan, Italian-for-work workshops and collaborations with local organisations, including Enrico Rizzi's Chocolate Factory.

Maria Chiara Casanova

Since the mid-1980s, she worked as customer manager at her family's company, located in the heart of Franciacorta and specialising in linen rental for high-end hotels and restaurants.

This experience allowed her to develop extensive knowledge of fabrics, their care and the correct management of household linen.

She then decided to make her expertise available to domestic workers, helping them develop their skills in wardrobe management, ironing, washing and fabric care, as well as offering wardrobe changeover and decluttering services.

She also provides professional training courses for wardrobe managers.

Nicol Maria Pucci

Chef and teacher specialising in creative and inclusive cooking.

“Teaching children and young people to cook and helping them feel happy is my talent.”

Nicol Maria Pucci is a chef, teacher and designer of educational programmes that use cooking as a tool for learning, independence, relationships and inclusion.

For over thirty years she has worked with children, teenagers and families, teaching cooking through a practical, creative and experiential approach.

Activities with children and teenagers

For children, she offers sessions dedicated to handling and transforming food through experiences based on touch, taste and smell. Cooking therefore becomes a space for discovery, creativity and fun.

With teenagers, she develops programmes in which kneading, whipping and mixing become opportunities to acquire techniques, independence and confidence in their abilities.

Cooking for Wellbeing

The “Cucinare per BenEssere” project uses cooking as a tool for improving self-esteem and encouraging relationship-building and social experiences.

Nicol organises workshops in collaboration with neuropsychologists, psychologists, therapists and educators, also supporting people with disabilities or neurodivergence and their families.

Training and collaborations

She teaches professional training courses in the catering sector and has developed specific programmes also aimed at students with disabilities.

• From 2010 to 2025, lead teacher of courses for children, teenagers and families at La Scuola della Cucina Italiana – Condé Nast Milan.
• Trainer for young people preparing for internships in the catering industry as part of the UnionMigrantNet project.
• Corporate team-building activities at Teatro7Lab Milan.
• Collaborations with Officine Buone ODV in paediatric, neurological and oncology wards, nursing homes and residential care facilities.
• Author and presenter of television programmes dedicated to cooking for children and teenagers for Sky and Gambero Rosso.

Over the years she has collaborated with numerous organisations and companies, including La Cucina Italiana, Gucci, Jo Malone, Walt Disney, Riso Acquerello, Domori, Galbani, Juventus and the Milan Chamber of Commerce.

She has also collaborated with nutrition biologist and researcher Lucilla Titta of the IEO in Milan on science communication projects dedicated to healthy family nutrition.

In 2018 she published the book Manuale di cucina per bambini, designed not simply as a collection of recipes but as an educational tool to involve children in the experience of cooking.