b'forewordBeing on Nicks show is like getting back together with an old friend. We both love food and we both feel most at home in a kitchen, so cooking is the common language we speak when we are together.Nick reminds me to look at both my past and my future when I cook. My Italian roots, of course, helped shape my career as a chef. And my wife and children inspire me toward the futuretoward what I will become in the next chapter of my life. Nick has always emphasized family as the spice that completes a meal. Where I come from, its what people remember most about their dining experiences. More so than the meal, its the memories.My son Giovanni is two-and-a-half. Like any typical little boy, he likes to play withtoy trucks. But after watching me for so many hours, he decided he also likes to cook.He has his own mini personal kitchen at our house. Though hes still very young, I think one day he will understand how the foundation of our home and our family is built on the love of food and a passion for cooking.It is truly a treat for me to cook for Nick when he comes to Seattle. This past visit, he ate at Tulio about a half-dozen times. I know exactly what hell order every time: the sauted calamari. Its not on the current menu, but for Nick, anythings possible in my kitchen.Walter Pisano11'