By Coral Gables Gazette staff

Books & Books will welcome chef and restaurateur Tara Punzone on Thursday, December 4 at 7 p.m. for a conversation about Vegana Italiana: Traditional Italian the Plant-Based Way, her debut cookbook and one of the most anticipated culinary releases of the fall. The evening brings a national bestseller to Coral Gables and introduces readers to Punzone’s approach to plant-based Italian cooking, shaped by her New York upbringing, her Los Angeles restaurant Pura Vita, and more than three decades of vegan living.

The event is free and open to the public at the Coral Gables location on Aragon Avenue. Books will be available for purchase, and the program includes a discussion between Punzone and Miami’s own plant-based chef and food writer Ellen Kanner. For local readers who follow the evolution of vegan cuisine, the pairing offers a rare opportunity: a conversation between two chefs who have helped define plant-based cooking on opposite coasts.

A cookbook built on tradition and technique

Vegana Italiana reflects Punzone’s effort to adapt classic Italian dishes to a fully plant-based kitchen without compromising flavor or texture. Her philosophy draws heavily from her New York Italian family, where food and community were inseparable, and from her work at Pura Vita, the first 100-percent plant-based Italian restaurant and wine bar in the United States.

The book contains more than 100 recipes ranging from pantry staples to full menus. Punzone guides readers through plant-based versions of ingredients that anchor Italian cooking, including mozzarella, ricotta, Parmigiano, and aioli. She presents basic components such as Macadamia Parmigiano and Roasted Garlic Aioli before moving into antipasti, soups, salads, pastas, secondi, and desserts. Dishes like Ravioli Pomodoro, Pesto Calabrese, Cacio e Pepe, Eggplant Parmigiana, and Meatball Parmigiano Hero offer familiar Italian profiles built from vegan technique, while desserts such as tiramisu and panna cotta lean into the sweet side of the tradition.

Punzone also weaves personal history through the recipes, describing her transition to veganism at age twelve and how she learned to preserve heritage and bold flavors while making the shift. Many dishes echo meals from her childhood and fan favorites from Pura Vita. Full-color photography, taken at the restaurant, adds visual texture to the book and underscores the connection between Punzone’s home cooking and her professional work.

A conversation about culture, craft and community

Moderating the evening is Ellen Kanner, the Miami-based food writer and vegan chef whose work explores the intersection of food, culture, and community. Kanner’s experience teaching, writing, and cooking in South Florida makes her an ideal partner for discussing the evolution of plant-based cuisine and its growing influence in mainstream culinary culture. Her upcoming cookbook, Miami Vegan: Plantbased Recipes from the Tropics to Your Table, focuses on the multicultural flavors that shape the region’s food identity.

Together, Punzone and Kanner will explore the craft behind vegan Italian cooking, the emotional role of food in family life, and the shifting landscape of plant-based dining in the United States. The event offers practical insight for home cooks and extends an invitation to readers who are curious about plant-based eating but want to stay connected to the flavors they know.

How a vegan trailblazer and a Miami food voice converge

Books & Books has long served as one of South Florida’s most active incubators of literary culture. Hosting a chef whose work has shaped plant-based cuisine on a national scale reinforces the store’s role as a gathering place for conversations about food, sustainability, and cultural heritage. The event also aligns with a growing local interest in plant-forward eating, visible in Miami’s expanding vegan restaurant scene and in the increasing number of plant-based cookbooks that appear on national bestseller lists.

Vegana Italiana arrives from Rodale Books as a hardcover and digital edition. At Books & Books Coral Gables, it is currently in stock and on shelves. With 240 pages of recipes, technique, and personal stories, it functions as both a home cook’s guide and a record of Punzone’s rise as a chef.

The evening gives attendees a chance to hear directly from a restaurateur who has reshaped vegan Italian cuisine and from a Miami chef whose work engages deeply with the region’s culinary history. For readers interested in plant-based cooking, Italian cuisine, or the connection between food and culture, the event promises an engaging and informative night.

Event details

An Evening with Pura Vita’s Tara Punzone and Ellen Kanner
Thursday, December 4, 7 p.m.
Books & Books, 265 Aragon Avenue, Coral Gables
Free admission; books available for purchase