Katie Caldesi
 Katie and her Italian husband Giancarlo first came to public attention when they featured in the BBC2 series Return to Tuscany in 2006. The series, which was broadcast worldwide, followed the pair as they set up and launched a residential cookery school in Tuscany. The show climaxed with them getting married in a dreamlike Tuscan wedding.

Since then they have both been frequent visitors to our screens appearing as guests on an array of foodie programmes such as BBC1’s Masterchef, Saturday Kitchen and Sunday Brunch.

As business partners, they own the Caldesi Group of Restaurants and Cookery Schools with restaurants in London’s Marylebone and culinary mecca Bray in Berkshire. Their cookery school ‘La Cucina Caldesi’ was launched in Marylebone in 2005 and this year they celebrated 15 years of business at Caldesi in Campagna, their restaurant in Bray and 20 years in Caldesi in Marylebone.

Katie started researching the low-carb diet when her husband was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and gluten-intolerance through nutritionist Jenny Phillips. She then became aware of the work of Dr David Unwin (the low-carb GP). Following advice from both Jenny and David, she began to develop low-carb dishes and soon the whole family had cut right back on the carbs.

There were immediate benefits to this as the whole family had more energy, they all lost weight, Giorgio’s headaches lessened and Flavio’s skin improved. Giancarlo lost almost 4 stone in weight which led to his diabetes going into remission.

Inspired by this Katie wrote her first of five low-carb cookbooks ‘The Diabetes Weight-Loss Cookbook’ which included some of the recipes she had developed for the family, a section on why low-carb works with Jenny Phillips and a foreword by Dr David and Dr Jen Unwin. The book was serialised in the Daily Mail and became an Amazon bestseller which led to Katie writing another four low-carb cookbooks. Her latest cookbook ‘The Low-carb Italian’ launches in March 2023.

Her e-book ‘The Caldesi Low-carb Christmas’ is available as an e-book or paperback and includes festive low-carb, gluten-free recipes that are a treat for all the family and ideal for entertaining too.

Katie has also written 12 other cookbooks covering the food of Italy, the art of preserving food as well as a compendium of salad recipes from around the world.
Katie's Books
Non Low Carb Books

Italian Mamma’s Kitchen (Octopus Books) 2004

Return to Tuscany (BBC Books) 2005

The Italian Cookery Course (Kyle Books) 2009

Amalfi: recipes from the Italian coast (Hardie Grant) 2013

Venice: recipes Lost and Found (Hardie Grant, 2014)

Rome: centuries in an Italian kitchen (Hardie Grant, 2015)

Sicily: recipes from an Italian island (Hardie Grant, 2016)

Tuscany: simple meals and fabulous feasts (Hardie Grant, 2017)

The Gentle Art of Preserving (Kyle Books, 2015)

Salads from the World (Kyle Books, 2016)

Pasta (Hardie Grant, 2018)

 

Low Carb Books

The Diabetes Weight-loss Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2019)

Reverse Your Diabetes Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2020)

The 30-Minute Diabetes Cookbook (Kyle Books, 2021)

The Caldesi Low-Carb Christmas (Self-published e-book and softback, December 2020)

The Italian Cookbook for Children and Adults (self-published, December 2021)

The Low-Carb Weight-Loss Cookbook (Kyle Books, March 2022)

The Low-Carb Italian Kitchen (working title) (Kyle Books, March 23)

Katie's Top Tips

Batch cook - especially stews, ragouts.
Boiled eggs - always have some in the fridge. Easy to eat for quick food especially with mayonnaise or a low carb hot sauce.
Be prepared - be prepared when you go on journeys. Tinned sardines are great for being prepared.

Resources Mentioned
Wheat Belly - William Davis MD

Jenny Phillips - Nutritionist
Quotes by Katie Caldesi
“If I can do it, then other people can.”
“There’s this whole world of low carbers and we are these people. That is my tribe.”
“We just thought that’s what happens when you get middle aged.”
“We could have h