"In Italy I already had a job and family. If I had come to Japan and everything finished, I could have easily gone back to Italy because I had a place there. Coming here was a bit like a game and it still is for me," says TV celebrity Girolamo Panzetta.
Sporting a snazzy electric-blue suit accessorized with a brightly colored plastic bracelet, Panzetta radiates a Peter Pan charm that immediately puts you at your ease. Now in his late 40s, this celebrity has lost little to age, recently enjoying added kudos as the cover star for the men's style magazine Leon.
As Japan's most famous Italian, Panzetta frequently appears on cookery shows extolling the delights of Italian cuisine. We're here today to talk about Italian wine, and it soon becomes apparent that having no formal training as a chef and not being hidebound by strict tradition actually works in his favor.