Born from a love of food, family, and the table.

My name is Lisa Dalla Zuanna, and food has always been the language of my family. Both of my parents immigrated from Northern Italy to Canada, and they brought with them everything that mattered most — their traditions, their recipes, and an unshakeable belief that the best moments in life happen around a table.

I grew up learning to cook from my mom. Standing beside her in the kitchen, watching her stir a risotto until it was just right, rolling pasta by hand, ladling out bowls of soup on cold days, spooning polenta onto the table the way her mother had done before her. She never measured anything. She just knew. And slowly, so did I.

Those dishes — the risottos, the homemade pasta with bolognese that simmered all afternoon, the soups, the polenta — they're not just recipes to me. They're memories. They're the smell of Sunday mornings, the sound of a wooden spoon against a pot, the feeling of being somewhere warm and loved.

That love of food led me to culinary school, where I learned the craft — technique, flavour, the discipline of a professional kitchen. But the thing that has always driven me is simpler than any recipe: the feeling of sitting down together, of a table full of people you love, of a meal that makes everyone feel at home.

Mangia Bella is where those two worlds meet. Every dish I cook carries the warmth of my Northern Italian roots — the generosity, the abundance, the fresh ingredients, the soul. Whether I'm cooking a family style dinner in your Airbnb, catering your cottage celebration, or teaching a sushi rolling class that turns into the best night of your trip, I bring all of that with me.