The Mozza Cookbook

I began my journey through my kitchen library with The Mozza Cookbook by Nancy Silverton — and it felt like the only place to start. Long before this project, I had gone to her restaurant Campanile and to her bakery in Los Angeles in the 1980s, and I remember being absolutely blown away. She was so far ahead of her time. I still remember sourdough chocolate cherry bread appearing there — something almost unheard of then — and realizing I was tasting a completely new way of thinking about bread and food. The restaurant itself was extraordinary: beautiful, vibrant, deeply thoughtful, yet never pretentious.

So beginning this cookbook journey with Nancy Silverton felt personal. It carried history for me — a thread stretching from those early meals in Los Angeles to my own kitchen now.

The cookbook itself is serious, beautiful, and highly professional, though it also offers moments of surprising simplicity. The first dish I made was the Caprese salad with pesto and roasted tomatoes, and it was absolutely delicious: simple, balanced, and unforgettable in the way truly great food often is.