“We take the if-it-ain’t-broke-don’t-fix-it approach with something as timeless as meatballs,” writes Michael Kramer in his debut cookbook, Jianna, named after the restaurant he has helmed in Greenville, South Carolina, since 2017. The book is a comprehensive collection of recipes that blend Italian traditions with Southern ingredients: Imagine a purple gin cocktail starring liquor from Durham, North Carolina, or creamy polenta with heritage grains from the South Carolina Upstate. Kramer folds memories of visiting Italy and his love for the South into recipes for comforting pastas, fresh seafood dishes, and gelato- and sorbetto-heavy desserts.
His recipe for veal and ground pork meatballs and tomato sugo—a classic Italian base sauce—represents “Italian comfort food at its finest,” he writes.
