Biba Caggiano


Biba Caggiano was an Italian-American cookbook author, television chef, and restaurateur.
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. In 1986 she opened her own restaurant, Biba, which went on to become one of the most famous Italian restaurants in California.
Both Caggiano and her restaurant won many prestigious awards. Caggiano's cooking show, Biba's Italian Kitchen, aired on TLC and Discovery Channel and lasted for over 100 episodes.
Caggiano was a cancer survivor. She died at age 82, after a two-year battle with Alzheimer and Parkinson's disease.

Books

As an author, Caggiano penned eight widely selling cookbooks, which together have reportedly sold more than 600,000 copies. These include the following: