Mama Mia! Now That's Italian: A Tribute to Growing Up Italian and the Food That Impacted My Life - Tapa blanda

Mama Mia! is a tribute to growing up Italian and the food that impacted Chef Franco's life. It's filled with family stories and the recipes that he learned at home and now uses in his restaurant.

Chef Franco was raised by Italian immigrants in Waterbury, Connecticut, While Franco is a trained chef, and a graduate of Baltimore Culinary College, his love for cooking and cooking style comes from his greatest mentor, his mother Mary Pisani. Franco would watch his mother in their family owned bakery, and hoped that her passion for food would be passed on to him. Since Graduating Franco has worked in several Italian restaurants in the Connecticut area. In 1996 he visited Colorado and one week later moved to Colorado Springs Colorado, Franco was the food and beverage director for a private country club in Colorado. But missed the aromas of the Italian kitchen, so he took a job as a chef for a large Italian restaurant where he meet his current business partner Ted Sexton. In April of 2003, Franco and Ted opened Paravicini's Italian Bistro and they have had more that their share of excellent press. The Colorado Springs Gazette named them Best New Restaurant for 2004. The Colorado Springs Independent reader's poll named Paravicini's a gold medalist in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 for Best Italian. They were named in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010 Best Italian, in The Go! Additionally the restaurant has been featured in three national publications, Nation's Restaurant News, Italian Cooking and Living, Colorado Biz. ME magazine and The Wall Street Journal. Chef Franco also has a cooking segment as part of a local news program.