About Michele

Michele Topor unlocks the secrets of Boston's North End neighborhood and its cuisine. Her cooking classes, shopping tours, and culinary excursions to Italy have been featured on TV and radio programs and reviewed in major national and international publications. A professional chef by training, Michele is one of Boston's leading authorities on Italian food, wine and culture.

She has studied with some of Europe's leading chefs and is the recipient of numerous professional diplomas and certificates from, among others, Bologna's La Scuola Di Cucina (Marcella Hazan), the "Cooking in Florence" Program (Giuliano Bugialli), and Madeleine Kamman's Modern Gourmet. She is certified by the National Institute of the Food Service Industry.

Michele is actively involved with numerous local and national professional culinary associations, including The James Beard Foundation, American Institute of Wine and Food, the International Association of Cooking Professionals, Chefs Collaborative, Women Chefs and Restauranteurs, Culinary Historians of Boston and Radcliffe Culinary Friends.

A 30-plus-year resident of Boston's North End, Michele has taught cooking, catered, and consulted on Italian food since 1979. She has served as Guest Chef at several Boston-area restaurants, including Davio's "Salute to Calabria" (1996) and The Seaport Hotel's "Les Dames d'Escoffier" (1998).

Her infectious enthusiasm, broad knowledge of Italian cuisine, and her extensive travels throughout Italy make Michele an ideal cooking colleague, tour guide and travel companion on your quest for discovery of La Bella Vita.