My guest this week is Francesco Iovine with his new book: Meals and Memories with Nonno.
In Meals and Memories with Nonno, Francesco Iovine and co-author Ashley Carr honor the legacy of Francesco’s grandfather, Angelo Iovine, whose philosophy regarding food was to keep it fresh and keep it simple.
“My nonno lived to be 101 years old eating the recipes from this book, and his cooking was so good you could smell it from the driveway,” Francesco Iovine said.
Meals and Memories with Nonno offers readers an immersive experience that blends Angelo’s classic Old Country recipes with the inspirational story of his immigration to America in 1921. A dual language English-Italian book, Meals and Memories with Nonno is sprinkled with Angelo’s timeless pearls of wisdom and old family photographs to give readers meaningful glimpses into his heritage.
“He was a man in tune with himself and with the world around him,” Francesco Iovine said. “He ate only fresh and healthy foods. And, perhaps most important of all, he embraced life with the deep values of his Italian philosophy.”
Home cooks who are health conscious, vegan, vegetarian or simply following a Mediterranean lifestyle will find an abundance of timeless dishes featuring seasonal foods and simple ingredients that are probably already in their cupboards.
“I invite you to try these Iovine family recipes,” Francesco Iovine added. “Born of the Italian countryside, lovingly carried across the Atlantic Ocean and perfected in New York City.” Get your copy NOW!
About the Authors
Francesco Iovine was born and raised in New York City where food has always been a huge part of his upbringing and life. His love for cuisine started when he was very young in his Nonno and Nonna’s kitchen, and continued to grow when he started working in a German deli owned by a man named Bruno, a chef who escaped from East Germany. Bruno taught him how to use a knife, and everything else was self-taught by observing his grandparents and others who specialize in Italian regional cooking. Iovine recently partnered with a restaurant called Piatto, located on the waterfront in Long Island City, Queens, where he is bringing old world recipes with a modern twist!
Ashley Carr is a writer and performer who was born in Virginia and spent most of her adult life in New York City until moving to Miami in 2020. A vegetarian for over a decade, she developed a passion for cooking after finding that most restaurants didn’t offer hearty, meat-free versions of the dishes she craved from her childhood. After all, being raised in Virginia gave Carr a hankerin’ for something more satisfying than just salads and grilled vegetables! She has also traveled throughout Europe as well as Bali and loves to take traditional recipes and create vegetarian versions of them.
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2018 Cantine di Ora Amicone
Produced from mostly dried Corvina grapes done in the Amarone style but for a shorter period of time. The wine juice was fermented in stainless steel tanks and aged up to eight months in French oak barrels. This is a dry, medium-plus-bodied and plushy red with lots of ripe red berry, dark cherry, vanilla, smoky oak spice and chocolate flavors with rich dark cherry on the finish. An excellent value Veneto red at $16. ABV14%
Grape varieties: 65% Corvina, 20% Rondinella, 15% Molinara
Food pairings: roast duck, roast Mediterranean chicken with olives and grapes, grilled lamb chops, Bistecca Florentine.
Grab a few bottles at Jacob Liquor Exchange or your local wine merchant and join me!