Cooking Inspired: How Franco Lania Found Strength in the Kitchen.

Franco Lania

For chef and tour operator Franco Lania, food has always been about more than what’s on the menu. From cooking in world-renowned kitchens like La Grenouille in New York and Michelin-starred Sadler in Milan, luxury cruise lines on the high seas, to hosting culinary and cultural adventures in Italy through his company, Tavola Tours, Lania has built a career rooted in passion and exploration. But his upcoming book, Cooking Inspired, reveals another side of his story—how the kitchen became not just a workplace, but a sanctuary for healing, resilience, and rediscovery.

Blending memoir with motivation, Cooking Inspired goes beyond recipes to show how the simple, sensory act of cooking can nourish body, mind, and spirit, especially in life’s hardest moments. In this conversation, Lania reflects on the lessons that shaped him as a chef, the therapeutic power of preparing a meal, and why he believes anyone—whether in a professional kitchen or at home—can find inspiration and strength at the stove.

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Tell us a bit about your background.

I am a chef and tour operator who offers culinary and cultural adventures in Italy. The name of my travel company is Tavola Tours.  I am well known for my inspirational approach to cooking and how the simple act of cooking can invigorate us in times of adversity and help us to feel good again. This is what my book Cooking Inspired is all about and should be on bookshelves by the holidays. 

Your upcoming book, Cooking Inspired, goes beyond recipes—it’s about resilience. How did the kitchen evolve from just a workplace to a source of strength and healing for you?

My book Cooking Inspired is a chef memoir that is based on my journey, which used cooking as a method to move past life's adversities in many ways and break free from the things in life that were holding me back. I wanted more than anything else to become an excellent cook, travel, and see the world, using my newfound culinary skills to do it. I basically lived by the motto "have knife kit - will travel." And that's exactly what I did for many years.  

Cooking is something that needs your full, undivided attention if you intend to cook something good. Unfortunately, one of the first things to go out the window when we hit a hard time is that we just don't eat right. This creates an even more downward spiral because if our body and mind do not get the nourishment they need. It becomes even more difficult to think and orchestrate a plan and a way out of our hard time.  This is where I found strength, and viewing cooking as an old friend ready to give me a warm embrace and get me feeling good again.  And, it can do the same for you, too.  This is what my book is basically about. 

Do you think the act of cooking has therapeutic qualities, even for people who aren’t professional chefs?  

Yes, absolutely! Most people at one point or another have to cook something for themselves, even if in a very basic way. The therapeutic aspects I talk about come from the most fundamental acts of cooking, not making elaborate meals like a professional chef.  The healing nature is found in the simple tasks of washing the ingredients, peeling, chopping, searing, frying, sautéing, boiling, etc.  These interactions ignite our five senses and begin to enliven our brains. It helps to take our focus off our problem and refocus our mind on the cooking task at hand that is inspiring us. And, the reward is to eventually eat and enjoy something delicious that they just made. 

You’ve cooked in some of the world’s most prestigious kitchens—from La Grenouille in New York to Michelin-starred Sadler in Milan. How did those experiences shape your identity? 

These experiences shaped my identity by making me a culinary professional. I am a chef first and foremost because of all these high-end cooking experiences. 

Who were some of your biggest culinary influences, and what lessons from them still guide you in the kitchen today? 

My biggest culinary influences come from my years of cooking and traveling in the USA, Europe, and eventually on high-end luxury cruise lines around the globe.  One of the biggest thrills of my career was cooking for celebrity chef Jacques Pépin when I was a chef de cuisine for Oceania Cruise Line. Chef Pepin was the honorary chef for the fleet, and I was fortunate enough to meet him, cook for his friends and family, and sit and have a glass of wine with them after their meal. Jacques Pepin, as famous as he is, was very kind and appreciative.  I learned that being genuine and approachable, even though you are famous, is a character trait I'd also like to embrace. 

If you had to cook one dish that tells your life story, what would it be, and what makes it so meaningful? 

This is a great question! The one dish would be my Moroccan marinated rack of lamb, accompanied by a roasted garlic chickpea puree, prosciutto-wrapped Belgian endive, and a hearty red wine sauce—this dish I've been making for over 20 years. It pulls into the plate many flavor profiles from my journey as a chef. 

What do you hope readers take away from Cooking Inspired—both in the kitchen and in life?

What I hope readers will take away from Cooking Inspired is that if I can do it (change my life and create a phenomenal journey via cooking), you can too.  Perhaps your journey isn't cooking. That's okay because my book is based on inspiration. Finding that one thing in life that you desire and want to do more than anything else in the world. Perhaps your source of inspiration comes from painting, writing, reading, playing an instrument, working out, religion, etc. These are all fabulous things, too.  However, for many of us to actually go full blast towards our goals, we need to unload all the things that are holding us back. Reading Cooking Inspired can be the catalyst that gets you moving in the right direction with your life, gets you feeling good again, and on your way to a life far beyond your dreams. 

For more information on Chef Franco, please visit: https://www.francolania.com/