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News, stories, and recipes for anyone who loves Italian food, wine, spirits, and travel

Appetito

Lowcountry Bella (Mandi Casey) is Italian by birth and Southern by choice. Moving to eastern North Carolina as a young girl, she was exposed to a whole new type of cuisine like BBQ and hush puppies. As an adult, she embraces both cultures so you never know what she may be cooking up in her kitchen! Currently she lives in both Pawleys Island, South Carolina and Fort Mill, South Carolina.
Her family continues to grow, and that makes her happy because there are more people to feed and love. What&#8217;s better than that?
In addition to creating, cooking and sharing great recipes, she loves to research the history of food origins. Understanding the flavors and ingredients helps her creativity, but more-so, appreciate the meal with even more passion.
Mandi loves to be a guest of events, signing books and donating a portion of her net proceeds to local charities. Her second cookbook, Mangia Y&#8217;all &#8211; Make Everyday Delicious, was released in July 2025.
Please follow her on her website <a href="http://www.lowcountrybella.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=http://www.lowcountrybella.com&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1705416623316000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2qLX1Ag56lHqdrjNXYhkQG">www.lowcountrybella.com </a>or on social media: @lowcountrybella on both Instagram and Facebook.
Mangia Y’all!

Mandi Casey of Low Country Bella on a foam green Vespa in a floral skirt.

Lowcountry Bella

Bowl of homemade fig preserve with a loaf of rustic bread.

Recipes

Italian Summer Fig Preserve Recipe

By training, Chiara Montalto Giannini is an actress and a writer, but she has been cooking since before she can remember. As an actress and a writer, her solo play, A Brooklyn Love Story &#8211; based on the decade she spent living in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn with her grandfather &#8211; was produced Off Broadway at the Cherry Lane Theatre in New York and at Theatre 68 in Los Angeles, where it was directed by Ronnie Marmo. Currently, she is the Director of the Writers Guild Initiative, a non-profit affiliated with the WGAE that shares the tools of writing and creative expression with different communities. She&#8217;s also a proud member of SAG-AFTRA and the Dramatists Guild. At Appetito, Chiara will share recipes from her childhood and those she has learned through her extensive pursuit of Italian food both here and abroad.

Chiara Montalto Giannini

Make This Fig Crostata for the Holidays

A professional chef and Italian cooking instructor for over 20 years, Deborah Dal Fovo has a passion for Italy. As a young woman in search of a more meaningful life, she left her home in the U.S. and moved to Northern Italy to rediscover family roots in the Dolomites. After living in Milan and Tuscany for 20 years and cultivating a wealth of culinary knowledge and skills, Deborah now divides her life between Italy and California, where she shares her mastery of Italian cuisine and lifestyle.
Chef Deborah has cooked for royalty, rock stars, tech moguls, and political leaders, and plenty of regular folk celebrating a love of the good life. She teaches Italian cooking online and in person at schools and venues around the world, including the Culinary Institute of America in Napa, Eataly Silicon Valley, and Italian Cultural Institutes.
Dubbed the Italian Martha Stewart by her clients, Deborah shares the beautiful Italian lifestyle ‘la bella vita’ through her brand of cooking and entertaining. You can find Deborah in the kitchen cooking up Italian feasts, teaching in person and online cooking classes, creating recipes and cooking videos for students and followers, and hosting week-long food and wine tours in the Dolomites for travelers wanting to get an insider taste of Italy. Deborah is sharing the passion for food and cooking that defines the Italian way of life!
For more on Deborah, please visit her site <a title="http://www.deborahdalfovo.com/" href="http://www.deborahdalfovo.com/">www.deborahdalfovo.com</a> and her La Bella Vita blog: <a title="http://www.theartofitalianliving.com/" href="http://www.theartofitalianliving.com/">www.theartofitalianliving.com</a>.

Deborah Dal Fovo

Pork tenderloin with figs and Balsamic sauce.

figs

Italian Summer Fig Preserve Recipe

Make This Fig Crostata for the Holidays

Pork Tenderloin with Figs and Balsamic Sauce