About this item
120 go-to Italian American favorites for all the red-sauced, pan-fried, crispy-cornered, baked-until-bubbly comforting classics you'll want to eat every night. Food Network star Alex Guarnaschelli may be a French-trained chef, an Iron Chef, and a short-order-chef to her daughter, Ava, but at her core, she's an Italian American home cook. Her mom's heritage was Sicilian and her dad's people were from Bari; she pledged allegiance to her father's marinara on weekdays and to her mom's on the weekend and grew up eating at many of the red-checked-tablecloth trattorias throughout New York City. She still stops in to chitchat with the shop owners in Little Italy, where she buys the milkiest fresh mozz, the most thinly sliced prosciutto, and the crunchiest biscotti.
About the Author
Few American chefs, much less female chefs, can boast leading Michelin-starred restaurants abroad. Chef Alexandra Guarnaschelli can make such a boast, having embarked on a culinary journey in France that saw her working in some of that country's top restaurants, including esteemed chef Guy Savoy's eponymous three-star kitchen. Today Guarnaschelli is recognized as one of America's most accomplished top chefs, acclaimed for her work in the kitchen, as an author, and as a popular television personality. The daughter of esteemed cookbook editor Maria Guarnaschelli, as a child Guarnaschelli received a global education in food as she was raised on the cuisine of whatever book her mother happened to be working on at the time. During a year devoted to her mother's work on the manuscript of Classic Indian Cooking by Julie Sahni, Indian cuisine starred at the dinner table; months spent working on Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Splendid Table ensured that Italian food appeared regularly on the menu. But it was not the younger Guarnaschelli's fate to be only a spectator; her mother urged her to be a participant. "My mother was always coaxing me from my 'Barbie land' under the dining room table to peel potatoes, knead bread or assemble a trifle," says Guarnaschelli, who jokingly continues, "what else could a seven-year-old have wanted from life? "This early exposure to the foods of the world both expanded her palate and determined her future. In 1991, after Guarnaschelli graduated from Barnard College, she decided to explore her culinary interests and began working under the tutelage of the acclaimed American chef and restaurateur Larry Forgione at "An American Place".Sensing both her innate talent and need for wider experience, Forgione encouraged Guarnaschelli to travel and expand her skill set. Taking his advice, she moved to France to do a work-study at La Varenne Culinary School in Burgundy. After earning her Grand Diplôme in Culinary Arts, she traveled throughout France before moving to Paris to begin a four-day stage at the Michelin three-star Restaurant Guy Savoy. Four days turned into over six years with Guarnaschelli rapidly being promoted to sous chef at La Butte Chaillot, another Savoy establishment. After seven successful years in France, Guarnaschelli returned to the States to join the venerable Daniel Boulud at Manhattan's iconic Restaurant Daniel, where she quickly rose through the ranks to become sous chef. Thereafter, seeking to further expand her culinary knowledge, Guarnaschelli moved to Los Angeles for two years to join Joachim Splichal's Patina Group, working at the acclaimed Patina Restaurant in West Hollywood before moving to New York to open Splichal's first New York City venture.In 2003, Guarnaschelli became the executive chef at Butter Restaurant, which provided the opportunity for her to develop a menu based on her own choices and point of view. Guarnaschelli c
