On February 28, 2020, chef Massimo Biatta stepped off a plane at San Francisco International Airport with his wife Sonia Giovanazzi, their two sons Lorenzo and Giacomo, a handful of suitcases, and a dream that felt within reach. This was going to be the place where they finally opened an authentic Italian bistrot— the land of wine, sun, and extraordinary produce. Three days later, the world went into lockdown.

A lesser family might have booked the next flight home. But the Biattas started cooking. Refusing to let uncertainty define them, Chef Massimo and Sonia channeled every ounce of their energy into something their new community desperately needed: comfort, warmth, and a table that felt like home. In the small Solano County town of Benicia, they co-founded Amore Bistrot, built entirely from scratch, and infused from day one with the belief that food, at its best, is medicine for the soul.

The bistrot thrived. For three years, guests crossed the threshold and were transported, not to a restaurant, but to a Sunday lunch in northern Italy, the kind where nobody is in a hurry and the ragù has been simmering since morning. Chef Massimo’s cooking is rooted in the memory of his mother’s kitchen: a matriarchal household where recipes were never written down, only felt. “She cooked by instinct,” he says. “Love went onto the plate before the ingredients did.” It is a philosophy he has carried from Milan to London to California, and one that guests at Amore Bistrot recognized immediately.

A New Chapter in Wine Country

After three successful years, life presented another turning point. Rather than stay still, the family reinvented themselves once more. The result is Lasagna con Amore, now based in Napa. It’s a boutique Italian catering experience and sparkling and unique food trailer that brings the full warmth of their hospitality directly to the people of wine country.

Today, Lasagna con Amore is a fixture at wineries across Solano, Napa, and Sonoma Counties, and a sought-after presence at weddings, baby showers, milestone birthdays, and private

celebrations. An outpouring of glowing feedback across Google and Yelp has helped put the beloved food trailer firmly on the Napa Valley map. Guests consistently praise the authenticity, warmth, and care that goes into each menu item. Every dish is prepared by hand using fresh ingredients alongside products imported directly from Italy, staying faithful to the traditions Massimo has carried his entire life.

More Than a Meal

For many Americans, a plate of Lasagna con Amore is an act of rediscovery — a reconnection with Italian roots, with grandparents’ kitchens, with the aromas of a holiday table long past. For others, it is a delicious first encounter with the Italy they have always wanted to visit. In either case, the experience is the same: a small, deliberate journey around a shared table.

The family is already building on that vision. Coming soon: a series of elegant pop-up experiences featuring themed Italian carts — intimate mobile stations where fresh specialties are prepared live, in front of guests, turning an ordinary moment into something genuinely memorable. Corporate breakfasts, business lunches, and private events will never look quite the same.

For the Biattas, every plate that leaves their hands carries the same message it always has, from a pandemic-era bistrot in Benicia to the sun-drenched vineyards of Napa Valley: food is not just cooking. It is experience. It is memory. It is love — and this is only the beginning.

Says Sonia, “That moment when a guest tastes something and their face changes; when a single bite takes them all the way back to childhood, to a grandmother’s kitchen, to a trip to Italy they never forgot. That is why we cook.”

For more information www.lasagnaconamore.com