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

Appetito

Bona Furtuna

Michele Sessa is an Italian American home chef raised in upstate NY with a flair for creating new recipes. When she was young, her great grandmother would watch her while her parents worked. She only spoke Italian, and they communicated through the magic of cooking. The duo would bake, garden and even take care of the chickens, which developed Michele’s passion for making people happy through her food. All the women in her family fostered the importance of family, faith and healthy food.
Working in the apparel business for over 25 years in NYC and traveling the world for developing fashion lines, her love of different cuisines grew. Of course, Italian food is near and dear to her heart, but she now develops Greek, Asian, Latin and Mexican recipes for her family and for parties.
Now living in Florida with her husband and extended family, she even teaches her friends her innovative takes on Italian classic dishes. Everyone wants and invitation to her Italian Sunday feasts she makes for 8-14 family members, and everyone gets to pick their favorite dinner for their birthday celebration. Her Mother Louise has finally left NY and is living nearby, and they love cooking and baking together, especially for the traditional holiday meals. She learned everything about being a gracious hostess from her mom, and they even catered a large wedding for 65 guests in their backyard when her cousins came to America from Italy to get married!
Michele’s love for her heritage and family continues to drive her knack for entertaining, decorating and cooking. Instagram is another place where she shares her recipes, and she has a great following for her handle <a href="https://www.instagram.com/michele7533/">@michele7533</a>. Make sure to stop by her page for inspiration and her authentic stories through her eyes and her food! Casa Michele’s kitchen is a special place that you can visit through her page!

Michele Sessa

Whole fig olive oil cake with fresh figs and sliced almonds baked into the top

Recipes

Mondays with Michele: Fig, Olive Oil and Honey Cake

Danielle is a certified holistic health coach and self-taught chef. Raised in a large Italian family on Long Island, she developed a deep love for homegrown foods and the importance of cooking and eating together. Living in both New York and Los Angeles exposed Danielle to a vast array of cuisines and cultures, enriching her palate and her soul. Her passion for global flavor inspires her everyday reinforcing her belief that the most delicious foods are cooked with the freshest ingredients. She believes eating close to the earth is the key to exceptional taste and longer more satiating lives with family and friends. You can find her recipes and nutrition tips on Instagram at <a href="https://www.instagram.com/thehealthyishchef/">@thehealthyishchef.</a>
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Danielle Kaye

Smashed Figs with Prosciutto, Cheese & Honey by Danielle Kaye.

‘Tis the Season for Smashed Figs with Prosciutto, Cheese & Honey

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

Oven-Roasted Chicken with Fresh Figs

How to Make a Sicilian Fig Torta

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

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.