About

A Sicilian native, Vincenzo Betulia grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after his family emigrated to the United States when he was two years old. He began his career there at age 14 with an after-school job in Paul and Joe Bartolotta’s Ristorante Bartolotta. He ultimately attained the chef position, became a Bartolotta protégé and helped open two additional Bartolotta restaurants in Milwaukee, including the James Beard award-winning Lake Park Bistro serving classic French country fare. While attending the Kendall Culinary School in Chicago, Chef Vincenzo further honed his skills at Bartolotta’s acclaimed Spiaggia. In Chicago and later in Milwaukee, he also worked with Michael White, a fellow Kendall alum and and Bartolotta protégé. On a vacation in Naples, Florida, Chef Vincenzo fell in love with the area and secured a chef’s position at Campiello. He worked his way up to head chef, a position he held for nine years, before opening his namesake restaurant Osteria Tulia in 2013 and Bar Tulia, an Italian gastropub and craft cocktail bar, in December 2014. A culinary trendsetter and leader in Naples culinary evolution, Chef Vincenzo opened his third restaurant, The French, a French brasserie, in January 2017.

Chef Vincenzo was the first chef in Naples to host a Friends of James Beard Benefit dinner, and cooked at the world-renowned James Beard House in New York City in September 2016. His restaurant, Osteria Tulia, was recently voted Best Restaurant in Naples for the second time in the Naples Illustrated Dining Readers' Choice Awards. He has won a Best Chefs of America Award every year from 2013 to 2016. Chef Vincenzo was also featured in a segment of Emeril’s Florida, which aired on the Food Network and Cooking Channel, and was selected by Chef Emeril as the only Chef from Naples to participate in Emeril’s Taste of Florida, an event hosted by Visit Florida for the Association of Food Journalists’ annual conference. USA Today’s 10Best recognized Osteria Tulia as the #1 Cream of the Crop, #1 Italian restaurant and #1 Lunch Spot in Naples, Florida. Chef Vincenzo received a Naples Illustrated Readers’ Choice Award in 2015 for “Best New Chef.” Osteria Tulia was also recommended by Forbes Travel Guide, Peter Greenberg, The Fifty Best and Fodor’s. Further, the restaurant was awarded a Naples Illustrated Readers’ Choice Award in 2015 for “Best Restaurant,” Trip Advisor Hall of Fame, for receiving a Certificate of Excellence for 5 years in a row, and an Open Table Winner’s Choice Award 2016 and 2017. Osteria Tulia also received a Golden Spoon Award in 2013, 2016, 2017 and 2018 by Florida Trend magazine, which selects the top restaurants in the state of Florida. Both Osteria Tulia and Bar Tulia have also received numerous accolades by Gulfshore Life magazine. The French received Best New Restaurant by Naples Illustrated and Gulfshore Life in 2018, and was recognized as one of the Best New Places to Dine in the State of Florida by Florida Trend magazine.

A Naples native, Kay returned to the gulf coast to pursue her passion for hospitality in 2011. She previously held management positions at The Capital Grille, Seasons 52 and True Food Kitchen before joining Campagna Hospitality Group in January of 2021 as General Manager of The French. Kay leads the team by often referring to her favorite quote by Maya Angelou, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” When not at work, Kay enjoys reading, running and spending time with her family.

Ryan is a Naples native and graduate of The Culinary Institute of America in New York. Upon returning to Naples in 2011, Ryan joined The Culinary Concepts Team as a sous chef followed by The Local and True Food Kitchen as their Executive Sous Chef. Ryan joined The French in January of 2020 and has enjoyed immersing himself in the French classics that he studied in school. When he isn’t leading the team, Ryan enjoys working on his cars, spending time with family and playing chess.

A native of Arles in Provence, it is the door of the Camargue, one of the most beautiful natural zones in Europe. In France, we are asked at the young age of fourteen to make a career choice and I had no idea. But one day, I met a guidance counselor who clearly asked me this question: “Why don’t you go to the hospitality business?” I said to myself: “Why not?” During my first year at Grenoble, I dreamt of being a cook, and admired the chef and his passion. He asked me to weigh out a recipe for pastry and was exact EXCEPT for 1g of salt! Chef lost his temper because of this miniscule error. At that point, I decided to work front of house. This does show that sometimes, life hangs by a thread. For me, it was 1g.

After having obtained all my diplomas in restaurant management, service, sommelier training as well as cuisine, which were given by my academy’s promotion godfather Alain Chapel, I went to Barcelona, to learn Spanish.

After a few months in this beautiful city, my first dream appears in my head. I was working on the world’s largest ship. At that time it was ‘’SS Norway’’ formerly known as ‘’The France.’’ So, I decided to go back to school in London attending English classes, and six (6) months later I boarded that same ship hailing to my first official port of call, Miami, USA, realizing then my first dream.

But the heart of my career really began in Québec City in Canada, where for more than twenty-five (25) years, I created a name for myself in the field of hotel and restaurant management. After being head waiter for a few years, I decided to make good use of my young experience and opened, (over a period of five (5) years), the following businesses: A fine dining restaurant which garnered Four Diamonds by AAA. Next was a Bistro, as well as a catering service and boutique, which pioneered (at that time) “sous vide” vacuum cooking... All of my restaurants reflected my favorite Mediterranean cuisine from Spain to Greece.

In 1996, I decided to move on in my career as Food Beverage Director at Le Bonne Entente, which will eventually become a Five Star hotel and Four Diamond restaurant, while at the same time teaching at an international hospitality College... These two contracts lasted twelve (12) years and I exploded in my creativity and profession as I travelled to Paris, New York, Chicago and Toronto.

In 2008, another dream made its appearance ‘’The international adventure’’, the plane becoming so to speak my “office”. Indeed, during the week, I have been teaching on an Indian Reserve in Northern Canada while spending my weekends in Barbados, in the heart of the Caribbean, all that before settling down on the island of St. Maarten, over the next eight (8) years.

During all these experiences, I took my inspiration from global winemaking leaders and personalities such as Christian Moueix, owner of Pétrus, who once told me: “Every morning, I listen to my vines” or Nadine de Rothschild: “Elegance is an attitude that gives you your altitude’’, or Paul Bocuse that I met in Chicago “Passion keeps you young in this job”. In fact, they all transmitted to me the fact that enthusiasm activates our personality, communicates our passion and bring a beautiful energy to others.

Since 2016, I have been living in Naples. I love spending time with my wife Francesca, playing soccer, training for a triathlon, reading and traveling.

Since the opening of The French, I love to share “my French flair” especially since my primary motivation is self-realization, which is entirely dependent upon the group of people that I am managing.