If she had to choose the perfect setting for her food, Alice Gregori would probably say Sunday food feast. Gregori, founder of Caponatina Lab—a catering and private dinner service in Menlo Park—aims to welcome guests into a lively dining room filled with casual tables, loud and fun conversation, and food that’s outspokenly Italian.

Essentially, her goal is to recreate the meals she grew up attending on her family’s farm. Hailing from a small village in Lombardy, Lago d’Idro—which is close enough to the Dolomites to classify her as a foraging, hiking “mountain woman”—Gregori doesn’t come from a formal culinary school background. Instead, she boasts a passion for home-cooked meals.