Baton Rouge Epicurean Society announces Lifetime Achievement Award winner

A longtime lover and distributor of fine wines in the Baton Rouge area and throughout the state, Tullio Saffiotti will be the recipient of the Grace “Mama” Marino Lifetime Achievement Award for 2012. The Baton Rouge Epicurean Society annually selects an epicure from the Greater Baton Rouge area who has dedicated much of his or her life in service to the Baton Rouge community. Born in Sicily, Mr. Tullio worked in North Africa and the Mediterranean in the seafood processing business before joining up with Bologna Brothers Wholesale and taking charge of restaurant development and the fine wine division. In 1987 the Bologna family merged with their cousins who owned Baton Rouge Wholesale and formed Bologna of Louisiana to begin selling their products statewide. Mr. Saffiotti significantly increased the sales of European and California wines in the Baton Rouge market and throughout the state by educating retailers, restaurant owners and managers on fine wine. “He became a mentor and teacher to a number of us who are in the wholesale beverage, retail and restaurant business today such as Gino Marino, Charles Calandro, Scott Callais, Justin McDonald, Michael Masson, Steve Staples and Kevin Kimball,” says Paul Bologna, a BRES board member and owner of Paul Bologna Fine Wines. Baton Rouge Wholesale sold out in 1999 to Glazer’s Wholesale, from which Mr. Saffiotti retired in 2010 at the age of 83. He is the sixth recipient of this special Lifetime Achievement Award. The previous recipients were Grace “Mama” Marino, T. J. Moran, Frank Bologna, Charles Brandt, and John Folse. Tullio Saffiotti will be honored by the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society on Thursday, Aug. 23, 2012, at a six-course dinner kicking off the Fęte Rouge weekend, sponsored by the Baton Rouge Epicurean Society. Keep your eyes on 225 Dine for more information as the event draws closer.