La Buona Tavola

As summer draws to a close, most of us have cleared out our garden beds either to let them rest for the winter months or turn them over for fall crops.  But many of us still have that one huge …

The true American dream is made of a thousand stories about hard-working, committed, honest immigrants who came to the United States for different reasons and with the most diverse backgrounds, but eventually they all ended up being successful entrepreneurs who …

Leftover wine from that party last eve? Don’t toss it – make these simple Italian cookies instead.  I first came to learn of these wonderful little cookies during a cooking class at Locanda Demetra in Montalcino.  Leftover wine from their …

The year was 1921, the place Ellis Island. My maternal grandmother, single, arrives into port from Napoli on the ship Patria to be with her sister Concetta, living in Brooklyn. My grandfather, who had come to America in 1911 from …

I was re-arranging my pantry recently and found a package of Sardinian fregola. Memories came flooding back of my trip to this wonderful island back in 2008 and, as importantly, to the amazing food of the island.   I had …

I tend to shy away from making meatloaf at home. Growing up, my mother made meatloaf a lot.  In fact, she made it almost every Wednesday. Now, she was an amazing cook but truth be told, her meatloaf was simply …

Back in the day, one of our favorite places for a nice affordable meal close by our apartment in central Rome was Taverna Parione. Located on a small side street off tourist-mobbed piazza Navona, despite its location it was the …

Baked anelletti pasta is a recipe traditional to Palermo, but it is a dish that holds a special place in the hearts of almost all Sicilians.  If you visit Palermo and you hear someone say “timballo,” then rest assured: they …

Up to 1963 the proud region of Abruzzo was not a region in its own right, but cohabited with Molise, even if Frederick of Swabia had already, in 1233, created the Giustiziere d’Abruzzo, identifying the region’s territory.   Abruzzo became …

…Here it is, in all its “thickness,” the bistecca alla Fiorentina! “and you know what — they say in Florence — outside of Tuscany, they don’t even know how to cut it. It’s thin, without fillet… look at those boneless …