Can you imagine Mediterranean food without tomatoes? No! Then BIBA Restaurant on Capitol Avenue in Sacramento, California, is the place to go for food as authentically Italian as the owner, Biba Caggiano. TV chef, author and teacher of Italian cooking, Biba makes sure that every meal served at her restaurant is carefully fashioned from authentic recipes representative of one of the many Italian regions.

Hailing from Bologna, Italy, Biba enjoyed the wonders of this gastronomic paradise. Daily lessons in her mother's kitchen taught her about the tagliatelle and tortellini, as well as the Bolognaise sauce for which this city is so famous. Trips to the historic produce market in the center of the city exposed her to the fruits, vegetables, grapes, potatoes, beets, soybeans, grains, olives and the farmers who produced them. Here she also found the beef, dairy products, fish, and the salamis, prosciutto, vinegar, oils and cheeses of the region and how these famous Italian food products were made.

Biba came to California by way of New York when her American-born husband joined a medical practice in Sacramento. Striving to recreate the everyday meals that her mother used to make and keeping it an integral part of her family's life, Biba began her career as an instructor at a local cooking school.

Always full of flavor, Biba's recipes readily capture the country flavors of Italian foods. As far as tomatoes go, Biba says, "There's nothing as consistently delicious and convenient as canned tomatoes that have been ripened naturally on the vine.”

Since 1986, BIBA Restaurant on Capitol Avenue in Sacramento, California, has been the place to go for Italian food at its best. The beautifully decorated, open contemporary design, modern lounge and dining room with white shutters offers a complete menu that changes seasonally—and features myriad dishes made flavorful with beautiful, processed tomatoes. An outstanding wine cellar provides some of California's and Italy's finest wines to compliment the appetizers, pasta and gnocchi, entrées, salads, and desserts featured on the menu.

Often the starring chef on California Country, a local California television program, her syndicated cooking show, Biba's Italian Kitchen, is still seen on the Discovery Home and Leisure Channel and is broadcast internationally to Asia, South America, Canada, and Australia. In addition, she has authored and published seven best-selling cookbooks.

Stop by her highly acclaimed restaurant most any day and meet this award-winning chef while you enjoy the best Italian food in Sacramento or visit www.biba-restaurant.com for more about Chef Caggiano and her BIBA Restaurant.

California processed tomatoes -- Always in Season -- bring great flavor to Italian recipes from Biba's books. Click here to find some of our favorite recipes from Biba.