Vivande is home for traditional Sicilian style food and cooking, and for authentic dishes from every other region in Italy. I am Carlo Middione and I have been enthusiastically preparing Southern Italian and classic Sicilian dishes all my life. Born with a strong genetic memory of Sicilian foods and recipes, my life has been devoted to a broad study of Italian food, wine and how they are grown and made everywhere on the boot. I have been fortunate to tour many regions of Italy and to extensively research and appreciate their special products and foodways.

My menus certainly are influenced by my Sicilian heritage, but they also feature the foods I love from Italy as a whole, from Sicily in the South to Friuli in the North.

I like to think that diners at Vivande Porta Via, my bustling European-style eatery in San Francisco, are discovering what it is like to enjoy a meal in Sicily or any number of other regions dotting the Italian countryside.

If you are interested in recreating my traditional Southern Italian cuisine or delicious dishes influenced by other regions of Italy visit Carlo's Kitchen, Carlo's Italian Pantry or my blog (Carlo's Kitchen). You will find great ideas, cooking tips, and a place to shop for quality products used in my favorite recipes.

My friends can discover Cooking Tips in the art of Southern Italian cooking, the same instruction I deliver to my restaurant staff and my culinary students. The astute cook will see how I combine outstanding products and classic ingredients from other regions some well known, others just a prized find.

Many of my explicit finds, cooking tips and hints about ingredients and hard-to-find products are revealed in my blog. Just for fun, check out Carlo's Blog. I think it will brighten your day with one of my frequent muses.