Jeff Michaud is the executive chef and co-owner of Marc Vetri's Osteria, which just opened a second location today at the Moorestown Mall in New Jersey.
He's also just released a cookbook where you can serve authentic Italian dishes in your home just in time for the holidays.
Eating Italy is Jeff Michaud's foodie fairy tale of love, learning the art of Italian cooking, and finding his wife in the hills of Bergamo which is northeast of Milan, Italy.
"I met her in a restaurant I was working in, and my Italian was horrible at that time and when I asked her out it was like, 'Go out with me! Give me your number!' It worked."
Some of the recipes in his newly released cook book come directly from his in-laws Italian kitchen.
"Her mom's zucchini flowers stuffed with ricotta and tuna are in there," he told Action News.
Plus, there's a potato gnocchi dish he and his wife discovered while vacationing in Piemonte during truffle season.
"I remember having these potato gnocchi with castlemagno fondutta!"
Then, there's an "Uncle Bruno" specialty.
"He invited us over one night and did this great dish with duck cabbage and grapes that he peeled by hand," he told us. "This is one of those things you can brag to your guests when they come and say, 'I have hand peeled each and every one of those grapes!'"
You can pick up the book in any one of Marc Vetri's restaurants and or you can click on Eating Italy on Amazon.com.
