Cafe Firenze Cookbook: Food and Drink Recipes from the Tuscan Sons [Hardcover]

Fabio Viviani (Author), Jacopo Falleni (Author), Annette Ward (Editor), Antonio Busiello (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2009

Cafe Firenze Cookbook celebrates the best of Italian cuisine, coupling gourmet recipes by Top Chef Season 5 fan favorite Fabio Viviani with martini recipes by award-winning mixologist Jacopo Falleni. Viviani's recipes--the same that made him a top contender in the most popular cooking show currently on television--are healthy, easy to prepare, and incredibly tasty, and each one is paired with one of Falleni's fabulous and completely original drink recipes. Each chapter covers a different type of recipe (appetizers, pasta, fish, meat, and desserts), and each begins with Viviani's personal background with each type of food and contains anecdotes, history, garnish instructions, and tips for buying ingredients.

Friends since the age of twelve in Florence, Italy, Viviani and Falleni are business partners in their popular Ventura county restaurant, Cafe Firenze Restaurant and Martini Bar, which brings Tuscan dishes and Florentine flair to Southern California. This incredible book of their authentic recipes from their home country will delight all Fabio Viviani's followers and fans, as well as anyone interested in Italian cuisine. Includes beautiful four-color photography by Antonio Busiello, whose work has appeared everywhere from National Geographic to Animal Planet, and a foreword by William Shatner, one of Viviani's biggest fans.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Fabio Viviani is the owner and executive chef of Cafe Firenze Italian Restaurant and Martini Bar, one of the most recognized restaurants in Ventura County. Born and raised in Florence, Italy, he has traveled across Europe and is trained in classic Italian and Mediterranean cuisine. He incorporates Italian, French, and Spanish influences in his dishes and believes that cooking is a craft. He is currently working on opening the Firenze4Kids Foundation, which will emphasize the promotion of health and wellness for kids through good nutrition and will also launch kidshealthcafe.com, the largest informative resource library available online, designed to enhance a healthy and safe lifestyle for children. Additionally, Fabio also works as William Shatner's private chef.

Jacopo Falleni, acquired the historical but unprofitable Cafe Firenze and turned it into a local sensation. He has managed some of the most prestigious bar and nightclub venues in Florence, and has won several national Italian bartending contests.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 248 pages
• Publisher: Brio Press (August 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0981929095
• ISBN-13: 978-0981929095
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 8.8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Better as a Book than a Cookbook January 4, 2010

By Kurt Conner VINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

This is a beautiful book, with a great deal of charm, but I don't know how practical it will be for me. The photography is beautiful (especially for the cocktail recipes, which are mesmerizing), but there aren't very many recipes for food. I don't drink often, and I don't have the hardware to make the drinks, so only half of the recipes in the book are even viable options for me. If you enjoy making cocktails, each food recipe is paired with a creative cocktail that should be consumed alongside, and the cocktails also have step-by-step photographic instructions for assembling the eye-catching garnishes, but I'm not the target audience for those sections.

My main problem with the book, though, is that it's a nice showcase for the two authors to showcase their charm, as they crack jokes about the police taking you to jail if you, say, overcook a chicken, and they use broken English throughout, but after forty pages of introduction, there was still not a recipe in sight. The section on chicken is a four-page essay on why chicken in Italy is better than chicken in the States (it's a convincing essay, I've been persuaded, but it's not what I wanted in a cookbook).

As a book about culture (restaurant culture, Italian culture, Italian American culture), with beautiful photographs, this book works, but it's billed as a cookbook, and the content just isn't there. It makes me want to visit this restaurant, but not try to cook their recipes myself.

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth fighting over! August 23, 2009

By MissFire

Format:Hardcover

I recently attended a cooking demonstration by Fabio in Chicago. My husband, who is "into" mixology/wine/spirits etc. had sent me the notice for the event. When I signed up, I also ordered the book without even seeing it as part of the package. I loved the demo. Fabio and Jacopo were awesome and the dish prepared was spectacular. After the class, I had the book signed for my 28 year old son who loves to cook and who was coming to visit the next weekend. After all, I have probably over 350 cookbooks...I didn't need another. I brought it home, and set it aside for him without looking at it.

My husband picked it up. He LOVED it. Now they are fighting over it and I have to buy another one for my husband before he will relinquish control of this one. He says it is "unique." None of the other books actually show him how to make all of the garnishes for the drinks. When Matt came home, the two of them poured over the book trying out some of the drinks. Matt can't wait to try some of the recipes (if he ever gets his book from his dad...) After they made such a fuss over it, I sat down and looked at it. Charming. This book is visually breathtaking and I actually enjoyed the writing style. It's as if you have a really good friend standing next to you explaining how to make his most loved food. Now that I've actually looked at the recipes, I can't wait to try them myself.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Italian Recipes for the American Home August 27, 2009

By Melissa Frank

Format:Hardcover

Food and Drink recipes from the Tuscan Sons... together they created a cookbook with authentic dishes, extraordinary drinks and stories of the country where they grew up and got their inspiration. It's clear from the very first pages of the book the love and passion that these guys have for good food, beautiful drinks, life and ITALY! Fabio and Jacopo's cookbook book showcases dishes and drinks off of the menu of their California restaurant, Cafe Firenze and from recipes and techniques they both acquired in Florence, Italy.

The cookbook celebrates the traditional Italian culture which has been adapted with a new modern American twist on food and drinks. Fabio's recipes offer a nice balanced collection of appetizers, meat, fish and pasta recipes. The flavors are fresh and ingredients are simple, making each recipe EASY to replicate for us amateur chefs at home... and who could forget the Martinis! Jacopo provides us with his inspiration for each unique drink and the techniques for creating your own.

The photographs chosen for the book truly capture the story and passion that these two have and while the book is written in broken english, it accurately captures the essence and humor of these Italian men... not to mention the pictures are almost as beautiful as Fabio and Jacopo themselves! I look forward to the release of their next cookbook! Next time I find myself in Southern California, I'll be sure to eat at their restaurant! Salute!