Victor Pisapia - VictorsFood

Recently named one of the 50 Most Influential People in the Past 50 Years by the magazine of his home state in the USA, Victor Pisapia has been an innovator and entrepreneur since starting with his first restaurant in 1976. Surrounded by beachside pizza joints and fried food stands, Victor and his business partners created a fresh foodoasis, Back Porch Café, based on principles of sustainability and supporting local growers.

Since then Victor was a driving force in the creation of a nightclub that danced 1,000 people and 7 restaurants, ranging in style from a Mexican ‘joint’ to a modern American fine-diner with a Wine Spectator magazine awarded wine list. On moving to Sydney in 1994, Victor opened award-winning Rattlesnake Grill, and helped inspire a generation of young chefs and start the Mexican food craze now growing in Australia. After selling Rattlesnake Grill in 2002, Victor and cohort Wanitha Tanasingam started Australia’s first cooking team building company. Victor now runs his own “food experience†company, VictorsFood, offering hands-on cooking events to the corporate and association markets, cooking classes and food tours “for everyoneâ€.

As a certified teacher and trainer, professional chef, dedicated foodie and promoter of small producers, Victor loves to inspire others through his events, and watch how people get excited about nurturing themselves and each other. He insists “cooking is for everyone†and that “cooking made us human†and these are what he tries to rekindle through his business.

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Victor Ugarte - Instituto Cervantes

BA in Art History and, studies in Finance –Accountancy and Costing and Budget Controlling– from EADA Business School and Chinese Studies from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. Starting his career in the private sector (real estate, trading) he was later CFO in Shanghai at a Spanish multinational company, later director of programs in Casa Asia a Spanish Government institution from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation whose purpose was strengthening the knowledge and cultural exchange between the Asia-Pacific region and Spain. In 2006, he was appointed first director in Tokyo of the Instituto Cervantes. Since September 2012, Mr Ugarte is director of the Instituto Cervantes in Sydney.

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