Frank Piazza

Frank A. Piazza

Biography provided by the author Frank A. Piazza.

Artist / Photographer / Book Author / Self-publisher

Born in Houston, Texas 1943.

Attended University of Houston from 1962-1967.

Chef and Resauranteur for 40 years.

First cookbook completed June 20, 2012

Please take time to view my websites

www.frankapiazza.com and Facebook page for recipes www.facebook.com/frankpiazza1

My Biography

As an Italian-American expressionist painter, photographer and restaurateur, it has been my utmost pleasure to share my artwork and recipes for the past 23 years at my beloved former restaurant, The Italian Café in Seabrook, TX. In my new cookbook "Frank Piazza's Perfect Italian Cooking", I have gathered my Italian-style recipes to share with you, alongside my art and photography. But, in order to truly understand my artistic style when blending ingredients, you must understand my art, and the story that comes along with it.

My whole life I have loved art and design, since the moment I picked up my first paintbrush, to the moment I started viewing life through the lens of my camera. I always knew I had a gift as an artist, but my art was different from those I studied with; my paintings were abstract. I found beauty in imperfection, so instead of drawing a perfect replica of a photograph, I would draw an abstract version. To me, if you're going to draw a photograph, you might as well take a photograph.

I studied Photo Journalism at the University of Houston, where I was able to teach a lab class and shed my knowledge on to others. But, it was later in life when I started to use my camera, capturing the details that I find to be meaningful and precious, like a grandfather's hands with his grandchild's, or the intricate keys of a grand piano. There is a story behind every object in the world, and I find photography to be an opportunity to capture a story in one still moment.

It was through my love of art, that I was able to find my passion as a chef. When I was a kid, my family owned a fish market, but I saw more to it. I saw a restaurant. A very successful gentleman came into my dad's fish market and taught me how to cook. I started to learn from reputable chefs in Houston, and soon after, I opened a restaurant in the fish market.

It was my background in fine arts- fusing colors together, learning ceramic- that created a stepping-stone for me to fuse ingredients together to produce wonderful flavors. To be able to enter a kitchen, create a meal, photograph it and write it up- to where people understand it- is a gift. I have a love for this cookbook, and the photography that went into it.

Day in and day out, I share my recipes with my family. Throughout all of my experience in food and art, it is my recipes that truly bring us all together at the dining table, and it is through the art of cooking that I am able to be a part of something special with every bite.

Now, I pass my recipes on to you, and I hope that you will find enjoyment- or maybe even a special artist within yourself, in your very own kitchen. Please take time to view my websites

www.frankapiazza.com and Facebook page for recipes www.facebook.com/frankpiazza1

Growing Up

Some of my finest memories as a child were of mom standing at the stove preparing some type of food for the day. The entire house was permeated with the wonderful aroma of her foods cooking.

I grew up in a small neighborhood one block from a bakery in the early 50s and only one mile from town. The bus in those days was the only means of transportation; within minutes and a few cents anyone could be in town-- North Main, South Main, The Heights, or East End. Somehow there was always 20 cents leftover¬ for a hotdog or a hoagie at F.W. Woolworth's, the local five-and-dime store.

My family lived in a wood-framed house sitting on cinderblocks with huge windows in every room. The attic fan in the middle of the house was so powerful that we had to keep our dog weighted down to prevent an accident.

Writing my books gives me the opportunity to do a lot of thinking and sometimes, just for a few seconds, I think back when I was a little boy and smile to myself. I think, if I could have one wish, it would be to go back in time to our white house on a cool winter day playing with my siblings-- Rockey, Anthony and Nancy-- in the backyard under the big old maple tree, and to hear the sound of leaves rustling, the smell of food cooking on the stove and the aroma of bread baking down the street. My mother would always have three balanced meals every day for us and fresh baked chocolate cupcakes with her special chocolate icing on the kitchen table for our after school snack. Every morning before school mom would ask us if we were feeling OK we knew from early age the magic word to say was yes mother because we could see the bottle of cod liver oil cuffed in the back of her hand. Needless to say that we were not the easiest kids to catch for that dose of eye awakening smell of cod liver oil. So when I hear the beautiful words "those were the good old days" it brings to mind those cool winter days in the 50s.

Website: www.frankapiazza.com

www.facebook.com/frankpiazza1