Giovanni Messina is from the small fishing village of Marina di Fuscaldo in the southern region of Calabria Italy. His mother, a retired high school art history teacher, is from Calabria and his father was Sicilian. He and his three sisters learned to cook from his mother at a young age, developing a passion for creating delicious foods, and a love for the

important tradition of sitting down together for a family meal, or sharing a bite with anyone that stops for a visit.

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Since he was a teenager he worked  in local restaurants where he learned skills that gradually improved over the years. While Giovanni grew up he cultivated a passion for wines and began to study them also doing many sommelier courses.