Petty controversy: Olive Garden's 'outrageous' cooking school sham

An anonymous whistleblower says Olive Garden's supposed "Culinary Institute" in Tuscany is a total fraud. Is anyone really surprised?

On its official Facebook page, Olive Garden claims this Italian villa is their "Culinary Institute" in Tuscany.
(Image credit: Facebook/ Olive Garden Italian Restaurant)

The controversy: Olive Garden often brags about its world-renowned "Culinary Institute of Tuscany" in the 11th-century Italian village Riserva di Fizzano. (See video below.) But according to an anonymous former Olive Garden manager, there is no school — just a vacation spot for company managers and cooks at a rented off-season hotel. The closest it comes to a "culinary institute" is a conversation or two about herbs, and a photo-op with an Italian chef. People are taking the anonymous whistleblower a bit more seriously now that TIME has verified the story. Have we all been had?

The reaction: What an "outrageous" sham, says Seth Abramovitch at Gawker. And "this public shaming couldn't come at a worse moment for the bottomless-pasta-bowl emporium," following so quickly on its serving sippy-cup sangria to a baby. Please, "stop freaking out already," says Laura Hahnefeld in the Phoenix New Times. Nobody expects authentic Italian food from Olive Garden, so let the poor employees enjoy their "free trip to Italy." What's really "shocking" is that anyone ever believed Olive Garden wanted to teach its chefs to cook, says Colleen Gartner at Daily Toreador. Just like Red Lobster and Chili's, Olive Garden's "food comes packaged beforehand." And "really, what’s the big surprise?" Watch Olive Garden's "Culinary Institute" promo:

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
To continue reading this article...
Continue reading this article and get limited website access each month.
Get unlimited website access, exclusive newsletters plus much more.
Cancel or pause at any time.
Already a subscriber to The Week?
Not sure which email you used for your subscription? Contact us