Mark Leslie, a self-proclaimed “foodie” who loves to cook for anyone with an appetite, works across the country in professional theatre as a stage manager. *
Every year he vacations in Italy and lives to eat his way through every plate of pasta and cone of gelato placed before him. He shares those Italian experiences on his popular blog.
A Chicago-area native and “Yankee” by birth, Mark has lived in Alabama for over 23 years, and celebrates the fact that he started life eating farina, progressed to grits, and finally arrived at polenta.
Buonissima!
* Mark’s theatrical credits include:
Great River Shakespeare Festival, Winona, MN: COMEDY OF ERRORS and LOVE’S LABOUR’S LOST.
Opera Birmingham, Birmingham, AL: LE NOZZE DI FIGARO and AIDA.
The Arts Center of Coastal Carolina, Hilton Head, SC: CABARET and EVITA.
Denver Center Theatre Company, Denver, CO: WHITE CHRISTMAS, NOISES OFF, a reading of a new adaption of THE UNSINKABLE MOLLY BROWN directed by Kathleen Marshall and authored by Dick Scanlon.
Alabama Shakespeare Festival, Montgomery, AL: Resident stage manager on over 65 productions, including THE BIRD SANCTUARY starring Hayley Mills and Elizabeth Franz.
Actors Theatre of Louisville’s Humana Festival, Louisville, KY: D. BOONE by Marsha Norman.
Arizona Theatre Company, Tucson, AZ: AMADEUS, LOOT, and AIN’T MISBEHAVIN’ directed by Arthur Faria
Maine State Music Theatre, Brunswick, ME: PHANTOM, SOUTH PACIFIC, JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR, LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, and the world premiere of CHAMBERLAIN.
Ciao Marco,
I just finished reading your book which was given to me by your publisher Kari Hock. I live in Palm Springs, CA and I run the book club at our country club. Kari’s mother has a winter home in the development and picked up one of my book club fliers and shared it with Kari. She called me, we met at the clubhouse and four days later I have devoured every page of your book and loved every bite. I laughed and cried through the whole thing. Fantastic!
As you can see by my last name I am Italian. Both sides of my family are from Italy (Bari and Sicily). I have many many cousins in Italy that I have visited often but always had the language barrier. Your book has insipered me to go back yet another time and make a better effort at learning the language. Four years ago I began putting together my own book titled, “The Baker’s Daughter”. My parents owned several Italian bakeries, one Italian deli, and one Italian restaurant for close to forty years. I grew up working in the business all of my life. When they sold the business I decided I should collect all of my father’s Italian recipes from the bakery and put them together with stories of where they came from. My grandparents were in the bakery business also so many recipes date back to their time in Sicily. It’s been a daunting task and after collecting about 30 recipes I put the project on the back burner (-; You have also inspired me to get everything out of the box and bring it back to life. Kari is interested in my project so I have become re-motivated to begin again.
Thank you for this wonderful book! I will keep track of your book tour schedule and if you are ever in Southern California I will be there to meet you.
Ciao, Ciao
Sincerely, Diane Criscione
Hello,
I have just read the blog, but cannot view the video. I find this disappointin. What good did it do me to sign up for the blog if I cannot watch the video?
Thank you.
Dear Joan,
I am very sorry that you couldn’t watch the video and I couldn’t agree more with you about it being disappointing. I believe that the issue has been resolved … YouTube defaults a video to “private” during the uploading process. Sadly, I thought that I had made the video “public” before I posted it on the blog ~ obviously I didn’t. Once again, it should be resolved and you shouldn’t have any issues watching the videos in the post. If it still isn’t working for you, PLEASE let me know so I can dig deeper and see if there are other issues.
I really appreciate your feedback and I am sorry for the inconvenience and disappointment.
Cari Saluti~
Mark
Hello,
Now I am thoroughly confused. When I clicked on the title to view the blog/newsletter on line to see if I might have missed some directions outside of “This video is private,” a completely different page came up.
Thank you.
Mark, Melina Fiorella enjoyed your workshop in Birmingham and suggested that we meet. I am in Fairhope until lMay , when I return to the south of France for the summer. If you are ever down this way , please call. all best wishes, nall 251 455 0132,
Nall,
I had a wonderful time meeting Melina … she suggested that we meet as well~ more to the point, she suggested that I cook for you while she drove us all through France and down into Italy! Yes, we did have a great time together in my class!! I will give you a call and perhaps we can get together. I am a big fan of your artwork and it would be a pleasure to meet the creative energy behind your passion. Ciao e a presto~ Mark
Hey! I am a friend of Brenda’s in SLC and she told me about your book so I bought a copy and absolutely loved it!! I have given copies to several friends who have also loved it. We all want to move to Viterbo! Anyway, there were a few things that you learned to make that weren’t included in your recipes, particularly the torta di patate from day 2 I think. It gives you a good idea what it is so I guess we could just wing it. How long does it bake? Thanks! Dale L. Strobel
Dale, thank you so much for your very kind words about the book and for all of your support! I’m in Rome at the moment and don’t have access to my book. I’d like to say that I was brilliant enough to know all of the recipes I learned off the top of my head, but alas …. When I return to the states later in April I will get back with you about the recipe and fill you in. I would guess off the top of my head, if it is the mash potato and green bean casserole that I believe you are referring, it would bake probably 30 minutes at 350—until the top was nicely browned. But again, that is just a guess off the top of my head as to the exact recipe. Buona giornata e buon appetito! Mark
Dear Mark
I have just finished reading your book which brought back such happy memories. I am an 68 year old Australian and stayed with the Stefani family for a week in 2007 – one of the most fantastic experiences of my life.
I have been studying Italian for 11 years and would love to return to Viterbo again especially now that I am more fluent in Italian. They are an incredible family – so welcoming.
Can’t wait to try out some of the recipes.
Thank you for sharing your memories.
Best wishes
Wendy Campbell
Buongiorno Wendy,
Grazie tanto per il messaggio gentile. D’accordo, la famiglia di Stefani sono persone molto speciali.
I hope that you get a chance to go back and visit them, I know Alessandra and Nona, in particular, would enjoy seeing you again. I am so glad that my book rekindled glorious memories for you and I hope you’ll enjoy preparing Nonna’s recipes—in addition to sharing your interest in the book with friends and family.
Saluti e buona giornata~ Mark