When Katie Parla was in high school in New Jersey, she studied Latin. That would determine her career path.

“I went to a rare public school that had a Latin program,” said Parla via phone, who was visiting family in her native New Jersey on Friday. “I became obsessed with Roman history and the classics. At the age of 16, I knew I wanted to move (to Italy).”

Parla studied Italian art history in college and earned a master’s degree in food history. She left for Italy 20 years ago.

Her passion for Italian culture blossomed through food, wine and writing books. Her most recent publication, released in March, is “Food of the Italian Islands: Recipes from the Sunbaked Beaches, Coastal Villages, and Rolling Hillsides of Sicily, Sardinia, and Beyond.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Katie Parla (@katieparla)

The New York Times best-selling author, Emmy-nominated television host, and leading authority on Italy, Parla entices readers to “discover and dream of the Italian islands” in her seventh cookbook.

She will be in Pittsburgh on Saturday at Bar Marco, a wine bar in the Strip District, on a book tour. Everyone at the sold-out event will receive an autographed copy of her book. She reached out to Bar Marco after visiting the restaurant on a previous book tour at DiAnoia’s Eatery, an Italian restaurant in the Strip District, in 2019.

“They were amenable to hosting me,” she said. “I am stoked to come to Pittsburgh. I love the Strip District. I love Pitsburgh’s botanical gardens.”

Guests will be enjoying great wine and snacks. She plans to open the map inside the book and offer recipes and cooking tips, similar to food experiences and private food tours she does in Italy.

The book has 85 recipes, both original and reimagined. They showcase Italy’s coasts, including pane frattau featuring Sardinia’s flatbread; bigoli in salsa, a party pasta popular in Venice; coniglio all’ischitana, braised rabbit in the style of Ischia; and torta caprese, Capri’s flourless chocolate-almond cake.

Two of her favorite recipes from the book are the gattò di Patate, a potato, ham, and cheese pie; and braciole alla Messinese, which are cheesy breaded meat rolls.

Bar Marco chef-owner Justin Steel said via email he met Parla when she was in town at DiAnoia’s. They also have mutual friends and purveyors that supply Bar Marco featured in the book.

“We are excited to host her and be able to bring the scenes of the book to life,” Steel said. “We’ve created a really fun, convivial experience with dishes that felt like a good collaboration between the book and the things we already serve on the menu at Bar Marco.”

Courtesy of Ed Anderson Katie Parla is a New York Times best-selling author, Emmy-nominated television host, and leading authority on Italy where she lives. The New Jersey native will be in Pittsburgh for an event Aug. 26 at Bar Marco in the Strip District.  

Parla said she loves meeting people from all over the world and there will be guests at the event who she met on one of her tours in Italy, so it will be nice to reconnect. Other stops on this tour include New Jersey, Michigan and Lancaster, Pa.

She said she is inspired by her family members but also the winemakers and the cheese makers whose fresh ingredients make all the difference in a dish.

“I learn about culture from these people,” she said. “They share recipes.”

The book has 21 features that provide historical insight into island traditions and pleasures such as the offal delicacies dominating Palermo’s street food scene, urchin diving in Ponza and an overview of the boozy choose-your-own-journey to making rosolio-infused spirits.

Parla co-hosts “Gola,” a podcast about Italian food and drink culture. She’s been on “Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy” and Netflix’s “Chef’s Table,” and hosts culinary shows on Recipe.tv including “Katie Parla’s Rome,” “Katie Parla’s Roman Kitchen,” and “Gola on the Road.”

You can follow her on Instagram.

“Food of the Italian Islands: Recipes from the Sunbaked Beaches, Coastal Villages, and Rolling Hillsides of Sicily, Sardinia, and Beyond” is available here.

---

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)

---