Roberta & Vito Dicecca

Welcome to our ONLINE STORE  and blog. 

As a barware, lighting and home accessories design company, at Thomas Fuchs Creative we specialize in handmade goods. Every week we give you a behind the scenes look at the people, places and things that inspire us.

This week we take you on a trip to Puglia where we are for 3 months with our "Casa Puglia" brand and the history behind the journey here in Italy designing and developing our new life. Baby Dicecca owners Vito & Roberta give everyone a reason to take a journey into the forest. 

There is a particular kind of person drawn to Puglia. They arrive searching for beauty, but not the polished, obvious kind. They are drawn instead to weathered stone, sun-bleached walls, hand-painted ceramics, faded textiles, ancient olive trees and houses that reveal themselves slowly. They come looking for authenticity, for craftsmanship and for a life shaped by instinct rather than convention.

Long before the world discovered Baby Dicecca through Stanley Tucci's culinary journey across Italy, word had already spread quietly among those who know that the best food experiences are never found by accident. They are whispered from friend to friend, passed around dinner tables, and protected like treasured secrets.

It was our dear friends, fashion designer Mica Paglayan of Casa Andina Salento and Argentina's celebrated chef Donato De Santis, who insisted we make the journey. "Trust us," they said. So we did.

One hour and forty-five minutes later, winding through forests and country roads, we arrived at what can only be described as a pilgrimage for cheese lovers.

Some destinations are about the food. Others are about the people behind it.

Baby Dicecca is unquestionably the latter.

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A Love Story That Started with a Piece of Cheese

Owners Vito and Roberta Dicecca embody the effortless elegance that seems to define Italy's most successful family businesses. Alongside their children, Chiara and Salvatore—named in honor of Vito's parents—they have created something that is far more than a restaurant.

Vito, one of five siblings (three brothers and two sisters), always dreamed bigger than simply making exceptional cheese. He imagined creating an experience entirely devoted to it—the first restaurant dedicated exclusively to cheese.

Like many entrepreneurial stories, it began humbly. His first venture was a small kiosk. Then, at a wine tasting, fate intervened.

Roberta wasn't particularly interested in the charming cheesemaker trying to strike up a conversation—until Vito offered her a piece of cheese.

The rest, as they say, is history.

Soon after, with their first daughter on the way, the couple launched Baby Dicecca, lovingly naming it after "baby" Chiara before she had even entered the world.

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Finding Paradise in the Forest

The Diceccas live by what they call their green philosophy.

Rather than building in a bustling town, they searched for a secluded property hidden among the trees, creating a destination where nature, sustainability, and craftsmanship coexist.

You don't simply stumble upon Baby Dicecca.

You go looking for it.

And that is precisely what makes it magical.

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A Cheese Tasting Unlike Any Other

While every course celebrated cheese in a different form, none ever felt repetitive.

Our tasting unfolded like a story.

• Goat's milk mozzarella with oranges and ripe tomatoes

• Pecorino and zucchini frittata

• Zucchini flowers stuffed with rice, inspired by the restaurant's Sri Lankan team

• Fresh stracciatella with sweet figs

• Homemade focaccia served warm with artisan cheeses

• A miniature clay pot casserole with chicory

• Farm-grown fruit jellies and preserves

• A remarkable two-year-aged blue cheesecake

• Goat's milk yogurt ice cream to finish

Every dish reminded us that simplicity, when executed perfectly, becomes luxury.

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Italy's New Generation

Perhaps the most inspiring part of Baby Dicecca isn't the cheese.

It's Vito himself.

Italy is filled with extraordinary young entrepreneurs who possess remarkable ideas but are often slowed by layers of bureaucracy and endless regulations.

Yet every so often, someone refuses to accept "no."

They knock on doors. They find another way. They build something that has never existed before. Vito belongs to this generation of dreamers. The ones who create rather than complain. The ones who remind us that innovation and tradition are not opposites—they're partners.

As someone who has spent years building businesses alongside Thomas, I recognized that entrepreneurial spirit immediately. There are more "Michous" and "Vitos" out there than people realize—creative people willing to push through obstacles because they believe the destination is worth it.

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Thinking Beyond Italy

What impressed me even more was that Vito's vision doesn't stop at his forest restaurant.

Each winter he travels to Palm Beach, bringing his immersive cheese experiences to American audiences.

His next stop?

Franklin, Tennessee.

The moment he mentioned it, I immediately thought of friends from Miami who had recently bought a home there. "You're going to love this," I told them. "Baby Dicecca is coming to town."

That global mindset resonated deeply with us.

Thomas and I shared stories about building Thomas Fuchs Creative internationally—from New York to Miami to Puglia, from retailers around the world to Amazon —and it became clear we were speaking the same entrepreneurial language.

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The Secret Ingredient

People often ask what makes a business successful.

After spending an afternoon with Vito and Roberta, I don't think it's simply exceptional cheese.

It's partnership.

It's curiosity.

It's the courage to think globally while remaining deeply rooted in your local traditions.

Having a brilliant wife and business partner certainly doesn't hurt either.

As our conversation came to an end, Vito hinted at an exciting new idea—one that just might bring a little piece of Baby Dicecca into kitchens around the world.

Knowing him, I have no doubt it will be as unexpected—and as delicious—as the piece of cheese that started it all.

Sometimes all it takes is a single bite to change your life.

INSTAGRAM: @BABY.DICECCA

Have a great week!

MICHOU