Italian Chef Looks to Da Vinci for Inspiration

We are in full festival swing in Milwaukee. This weekend is the annual celebration of all things Italian, also known as Festa Italiana. And in between bocce games, gondola rides, and fast Ferraris, you can also find special guests like internationally renowned chef Maria Liberati. Liberati in an award winning author and blogger of The Basic Art of Italian Cooking series, and the newest one is called Da Vinci style. Yes, that Da Vinci. It turns out in addition to painting and inventing, Da Vinci was also quite the gourmet. Liberati’s book focuses on the history and food of the regions Da Vinci lived in. It’s both a history and a cookbook. Maria Liberati is an award winning author and expert on Italian cuisine and culture. Her most recent cookbook is The Basic Art of Italian Cooking Da Vinci Style. "One of the reasons I chose to do that, to coordinate the stories of where he went to with the food, is because I never, I’ve never felt that you can just have recipes in a book," says