Italy Anywhere: Recipes and Ruminations on Cooking and Creating Northern Italian Food

Food writer Lori De Mori teams with restaurateurs Jean-Louis De Mori and Antonio Tommasi, creators of Locanda Veneta and five other acclaimed Los Angeles establishments, to show readers how to bring the Italian passion for life and good food into their own lives. The essence of a place, they maintain, comes not from what it looks like but from its spirit; in Italy Anywhere they combine recipes with vignettes and advice from the old country to help readers re-create that culinary spirit wherever they happen to be. As a rule, their dishes are simple to prepare, relying on the freshness and quality of the ingredients, rather than fancy culinary tricks, and emphasizing the minimalism so integral to Italian cooking. Food doesn't have to be complicated to be satisfying and delicious.

Chapters cover every course of the Italian meal, from stuzzichini (the appetite-awakening finger foods served before a meal begins) through dessert, including in between antipasti, pastas, risottos, soups, and dishes of fish, meat, poultry, and vegetables. Rigatoni with Chicken and Radicchio, Spaghettata with Balsamic Vinegar, and Veal Stew with Soft Polenta exemplify the most comforting of comfort foods, while Braised Monkfish with Olives and Lemon Peel, Homemade Chicken Raviolini with Chanterelles, and Grilled Tuna with Puréed Sweet Yellow Peppers bring the most sophisticated Italian flavors home. Summer Peaches in Prosecco with Mint is a refreshingly light dessert; for those seeking the elegantly rich, Vanilla Cream Custard with Caramel Sauce fits the bill.

Lori De Mori's talent as a food writer--her articles have appeared in Bon Appétit, Food & Wine, and Saveur--is evident both in the helpful notes that accompany each recipe (how to fry squid, for instance) and in the delightful essays that pepper the book on such topics as Venice's Rialto fish market, chef watching, and the perfect tomato sauce. As the authors say, "the most Italian thing you can do to your home and your kitchen ... is to infuse it with food that warms both the belly and the soul." These enticing recipes are sure to make readers live like Italians all over the world. --Robin Donovan