Celebrating 20 years of success operating on of Los Angeles's favorite Italian Trattorias, the Gordon's, Kathie & Mike, son Andy and daughter-in-law Amy, all co-owners of Toscana, decided to publish a cookbook rather than throw a big bash. Filled with appreciation for the families who have worked with them - and for the support of customers, who came to feel like family, la famiglia decided to dedicate their efforts towards creating a tome in which to say thanks and to honor their loyalty. To achieve the end result, Kathie signed on award-winning cookbook author, James O. Fraioli, and begged mother-of-three, Amy, to guide food-styling and design of the book. The result is Toscana: Simple Authentic Italian Recipes, from our family to yours. "We could not have been happier," says the team. To the utter delight of the ones they hoped to honor, the book justly received two prestigious publishing awards. It was deemed the Best Cookbook, winning a Gold Benjamin Franklin Award from IBPA, the Independent Book Publishers Association. It was also selected as Best Cookbook of the year in the 2010 Next Generation Indie Book Award competition presented by Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group. In the Cookbook, Kathie Gordon tells the story of how the restaurant Toscana came to be. She explains, Mike had always wanted his own neighborhood restaurant where our family and friends would feel at home and love to come...over and over. Needless to say, not only the warm greetings and big hugs the customers received at the door, but the food - simple, delicious, every time, brought them all back...over and over.