Daniel Bellino Zwicke is a New York City based author, chef, and wine professional. With over 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry, he has become well-known for his focus on Italian-American cuisine and culture. [1]
He was the creator, chef, wine director, and managing partner of Bar Cichetti, which was recognized as "America's First Venetian Wine Bar". [1]
He has authored a series of popular, bestselling Italian cookbooks and culinary guides. His work frequently draws from his Sicilian heritage, his experience growing up in New York, and his decades of travel throughout Italy. [1, 2, 3]
Sunday Sauce: When Italian-Americans Cook – A deep dive into the cultural tradition of the weekly Italian-American feast.
Grandma Bellino's Italian Cookbook: Recipes From My Sicilian Grandmother – Authentic family recipes tracing back to Sicily.
The Italian Nonna Cookbook: Cook Like a Nonna – A compilation of home-cooked comfort foods gathered from regional Italian grandmothers.
The Ragu Bolognese Cookbook
The Feast of the 7 Fish: An Italian-American Christmas
Segreto Italiano: Secret Italian Recipes
Got Any Kahlua?: The Collected Recipes of The Dude – A humorous pop-culture cookbook tailored to The Big Lebowski.
Positano & The Amalfi Coast – A travel guide and regional cookbook blend. [1, 2, 3, 4]
In addition to writing, he regularly shares recipes and snippets of culinary culture through his personal blog platforms like Sunday Sauce and his social profiles on Instagram.
Authentic Italian Recipes, Family Traditions & The Soul of Italian Home Cooking
What if you could bring the warmth, flavor, and timeless traditions of an Italian Nonna right into your own kitchen?
The Italian Nonna Cookbook takes you on a delicious journey into the heart of Italian home cooking—where recipes are made with love, generous portions, simple ingredients, and the kind of time-tested techniques that have been passed from one generation to the next.
Written by bestselling Italian cookbook author Daniel Bellino Zwicke, an Italian-American New Yorker with more than 30 years of experience in New York City's Italian restaurant and Italian wine businesses, this book is the result of a lifetime immersed in Italian food.
For more than 40 years, Daniel Bellino Zwicke has traveled throughout Italy, eating, cooking, tasting, and gathering recipes and food traditions from Italian Nonnas, restaurants, trattorias, salumerias, markets, and food artisans. From the bustling streets of Naples and Rome to the kitchens of Sicily, Calabria, Puglia, Tuscany, Liguria, Genoa, Florence, Venice, Capri, and Ischia, these experiences have helped capture what makes Italian food so beloved around the world.
A Taste of Italy in Every Chapter
PACINO PASTA RECIPE & MORE ...
Inside The Italian Nonna Cookbook, you'll discover an enticing collection of classic Italian dishes inspired by the food Italians actually love to eat at home.
From comforting bowls of pasta and soup to leisurely Sunday dinners, you'll find recipes for:
Authentic Italian Pasta Dishes
Soups & Hearty Italian Comfort Foods
Antipasti & Italian Appetizers
Classic Chicken Dishes
Fresh Italian Seafood
Steaks, Italian-Style
Tender Lamb & Pork Dishes
Frittata & Rustic Egg Dishes
Classic Italian Meatballs
Traditional Braciole
Sunday Sauce & Italian Gravy
Italian Vegetables & Side Dishes
Irresistible Italian Nonna Desserts
And, of course, the book celebrates those legendary dishes that seem to taste even better when served around a crowded family table.
Discover the Secrets of Nonna's Kitchen
Italian cooking isn't about complicated techniques or expensive ingredients. It's about knowing how to coax incredible flavor from simple, honest food.
It's the aroma of garlic and onions slowly cooking in olive oil, a pot of Tomato Sauce simmering on the stove. A batch of Nonna's fresh made Meatballs, Lasagna, Ricotta Cookies and so many good things. Tasty Italian Food - It Nourishes, it makes us Happy!
Whether you are an experienced Italian cook, an Italian-American who grew up eating Nonna's food, someone with Italian roots who wants to reconnect with the cuisine of your family, or simply someone who loves great Italian food, this cookbook belongs in your kitchen.
Open the book. Tie on your apron. Put the pot on the stove.
Then cook like a Nonna.
Mangia!
RECIPES INDCLUDE :
LASAGNA TOMATO SAUCE PASTA PUTTANESCA DOLLY'S MINESTRONE PASTA FAZZOOL RAGU NAPOLETANA BRACIOLE SUNDAY SAUCE FRITTATA PACINO PASTA
"You're BIG SHOT Friend better come up with something soon. I didn't come to The United States to Bust My ASS washing Dishes." !!!
"ConeYo, FUCKING ONIONS, there should be Picking GOLD off the Streets."
TONY MONTANA Washing Dishes
"YOUR BIG SHOT FRIEND BETTER COME UP with Something Soon"
"I Didn't Come to The UNITED STATES to Bust My ASS Washing FUCKING Dishes"
SCARFACE MEXICAN DISHWASHER OSCAR
Long Version
This is one of the first videos I ever made, way back in 2003 ...
Youtube didn't even exist yet, but I was always interested in film making, making
videos etc..
At the time I was The Wine Director at Barbetta Restaurant in New York ...
When working in the restaurant business you always work with some interesting characters ..
One of the guys I work with was a person named Oscar Reyas who came from Chapas Mexico ..
Oscar had a dream, to learn to speak English so he could get a better paying job in a
resort hotel in Mexico and maybe one day moving to America and New York .. He did both.
So when I met Oscar we were both working at Barbetta Restorante, Oscar as a dishwasher and I as the Wine Director of the single greatest Italian Wine List in the United States ..
I often chit chatted with Oscar about this and that and this is how I learned of his story. I asked Oscar if he would like to make a little movie telling his story. He agreed and so it began. I never got that far, but it did begin and I did get some good footage, and so here it as. At least something did become of it .. I give you Oscar The Mexican Dishwasher and all around wonderful human being. Enjoy !