Biba Caggiano (October 18, 1936 – August 29, 2019)[1][2][3] was an Italian-American cookbook author,
television chef, and restaurateur.
Biography
She was born in
Bologna. Her first exposure to professional cooking was through her mother, who owned and operated a
trattoria in Bologna. She married a
New Yorker named Vincent. She grew up cooking the food of her native
Emilia-Romagna region. In 1960, she moved to New York, the hometown of her husband. In 1969, the family moved to
Sacramento, which at the time did not have an Italian restaurant of note.[4] In 1986, she opened her own restaurant, Biba, which went on to become one of the most famous Italian restaurants in California.
As an author, Caggiano penned eight widely selling
cookbooks, which together have reportedly sold more than 600,000 copies.[4] These include the following: