Our reporter discovers stories behind Caldesi dishes

There's nothing better than traditional Italian food to warm you up on a cold winters day, writes reporter Sonia Kapur.

I went along to Bray's Caldesi In Campagna to meet husband-and-wife team Katie and Giancarlo.

Katie was hosting a special lunch to celebrate the launch of her latest book, The Italian Cookery Course. Her guests were treated to a three-course meal, with recipes from the book which has taken her three years to put together.

Being a vegetarian, I was treated to some penne pasta with butternut squash, as a starter. Myself, and other guests, were then served warm stone bass fish with fennel seeds and brandy, on mashed potato.

To top the delicious meal and cool down our tastebuds, we then enjoyed a soft warm, Panettone pudding with cinnamon ice cream.

And, as you can predict, food dominated the entire conversation on the table as we all wined and dined during the two-hour lunch.

It became clear to me that Tuscan-born Giancarlo and his English wife Katie take great pleasure in Italian food, whether it be in their Bray restaurant, London cookery school - La Cucina Caldesi, or London restaurant Caffe Caldesi.

Katie describes her book: "Each recipe has a little story to it."

For more on this story see Thursday's Advertiser's lifestyle pages.