Franceso Iovine was born and raised in NYC 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. Franceso developed his own style of cooking by using his senses, such as taste and smell, as they are more important than the sense of sight when it comes to food and eating. Ask yourself; does a blind person not know what tastes good? The sense of smell tells you what's quality!Presentation has a lot to do with the final step of preparing a meal but it can also impede you. If you prepare a dish and it doesn't match the photo you were trying to follow, you may tell yourself it wont taste good when it could actually be delicious. That's why we intentionally did not include any photos of the final dish in this book and only the ingredients.Allora, Franceso wants you to enjoy the recipes in this book to the fullest extent by using your sense of smell and taste. Use your sense of sight mainly so you don't cut your fingers off and so you don't miss your mouth trying to eat. Yes, we eat with our eyes but as Francesco says it's only to make sure the food gets in his mouth so he can taste it.Buon appetitoFrancesco