Now in his 70s, Luigi Montanini has finally been recognized for his seminal role in Italian pasta history. This year, Barilla, the world’s largest pasta producer, announced a new multi-year partnership with Formula 1 (F1) acknowledging Montanini’s contributions by making him the face of its most recent ad campaign, Tastes Like Family.
About fifty years ago, long before major sporting events like the U.S. Tennis Open and NFL Super Bowl were celebrated for creative culinary drawing foodie fans to stadiums, Luigi Montanini became the accidental chef of a Formula 1 racing team. Affectionately known as Pasticcino (a nickname from his youth), Montanini began serving pasta—a cherished staple of Italian cuisine whose origins trace back to the Etruscans—to the drivers, mechanics, and engineers in the paddocks.
