For the past 15 years, Antonino Tripodi (Nino) and Annunziata Brancato (Nuccia) were the head chefs at the University of Dallas’s Rome campus. They retired at the end of this summer. This year, Rome has a new chef, Raffaele Ranieri.
Nino and Nuccia were beloved by the whole Rome campus. Dr. Ron Rombs, the dean and director of the Rome campus, said: “They were like surrogate grandparents to our students.”
While students adjusted to studying abroad, Nino made the Rome mensa (Italian for cafeteria) feel like home.
When asked about the Rome kitchen staff, junior psychology major Katie Jarecki, a 2026 Spromer, said: “I saw them more as family than as kitchen staff.” She added, “Nino only spoke Italian [but] the language barrier did not stop him from making an impact on everyone.”
This year, there’s a new chef in the Rome mensa! Ranieri is from a little town close to Pompeii, but has worked for the past 20 years in the U.S. food industry. According to Rombs, Ranieri reached out when he heard of Nino and Nuccia’s retirement, and said it would be “a dream come true to get to return to Italy and own a food service here.”
Ranieri knew about UD from his wife Elizabeth, a UD alum. They have been married for 18 years. According to Ranieri, they met at a train station in Naples during Elizabeth’s Rome semester. Ranieri was in the army in Rome at the time.
Since August, Ranieri has been working in the mensa in Rome, while his wife and three children are back in the U.S.. Ranieri will be staying in Rome all semester, but said: “I can’t wait for December to go back home.”
Ranieri is very excited for this year and to start up his Italian company, A Tavola Hospitality, as a contractor. He is excited for “the opportunity to grow here in Italy, even though it’s a much tougher economy than it is back home in Texas.” Currently, Ranieri’s plan is to stay in Rome next semester. Then, he will figure out whether to move with his family or find management for the mensa.
According to Ranieri, the kitchen staff is “in the process of narrowing down the most popular meals” and are trying to balance Italian and American food. Ranieri said, “Even though I’ve been approached by some Italians here on campus saying that I should make more Italian food, I’ve been telling them, it’s good for the kids feeling homesick to get some dishes they’re familiar with.”
Rombs said, “One of the wonderful aspects of Raffaele’s approach to food is that he is both Italian and has decades of experience providing food in an American context. So he understands the palate of Americans.”
Ranieri has introduced Italian meals, while also providing, as Rombs said, “comfort food from back home.”
When asked what his favorite experience so far has been, Ranieri said, “Seeing how surprised and shocked the Italian staff are, looking at the items served.” He said the Italian staff, who are not used to American food and fast-paced serving, keep asking, “What is this? Why do you do it this way?” Ranieri said that the ladies’ reactions are both “the funniest and [most] challenging part for me.”
Assistant professor of English Dr. Michael West teaches Lit Trad III in Rome this semester. He said, “Everyone here really appreciates his food: it’s good, it’s hot, there’s lots of it. Raffaele himself is fun, friendly and wants to get to know the students and staff, and he’s been a huge gift to us all.”
Ranieri’s popularity continues among the students. The Fromers have loved Ranieri’s fresh, homemade food and how Ranieri makes both Italian and American dishes. Some of their favorites so far have been spaghetti, carbonara, fettuccini alfredo, ribs, tomato soup, tacos, chicken nuggets and mac and cheese.
Sophomore Fromer and business major Sarah Cwik said that to celebrate September birthdays, Raffaele even made cake and coffee for the students.
Cwik said, “He knows how hungry we get, so he brings out seconds once we’ve all eaten.”
Cwik said that whenever people come in late, Ranieri will make extra plates of food. He always comes in early, and he’s the last one to leave.
Sophomore Fromer and business major Kristen Ford said, “There’s not a single person here who doesn’t like his food. Every meal is a five-star meal […] You can feel the love in his food.”
Cwik said, “Not only is his cooking really good, but he cares about us […] This guy goes above and beyond. And he always does it with a smile and a cheerful heart.”
Ford said that Ranieri “always has such a positive attitude about everything, is so nice to everyone and wants to learn everyone’s names […] He loves talking to everyone. He’s always so eager to serve us.”
Sophomore Fromer and business major Scout Milligan said, “We all want to bring him back to Irving.”