Marty Bandini is the queen of Tuscan cooking. Invite her into your kitchen and she’ll unleash her saucy Italian roots on you with authentic multi-course meals made with fresh herbs and ripened vegetables from her backyard garden.

The College Area resident is the owner and operator of Bandini, a unique personal chef and catering company built mainly on word-of-mouth referrals — enough to keep Bandini active seven nights a week. A member of the GLBT community, she cooks for clients throwing Pride parties, commitment ceremonies, weekend brunches or quiet dinners with friends. Some request her meals daily. Others fly her to their homes from out-of-state locations.

Bandini lived in the fertile region of Tuscany for 10 years. She cooked nearly everyday with her grandmother and other household matriarchs. “I had all kinds of beautiful, fresh ingredients at my fingertips,” she recalls. “We prepared sauces from whole tomatoes — we shelled peas, peeled potatoes and cooked fish that I caught myself in the Mediterranean. The perfumes in Tuscan kitchens are incredible.”

Prior to the success of her three-year-old business, Bandini also spent most of her summers in Tuscany, where she still maintains a home. It is her passionate knowledge of the region’s high culinary standards that keeps her chef services in high demand.

When Bandini or her professionally trained chefs enter a customer’s home, they arrive with an arsenal of pots, pans, knives and fresh ingredients for conjuring up recipes that break some of the old stereotypes we hold for Italian food. Oregano, for instance, doesn’t come into play.

“In Tuscany, we use other basic spices such as sage, thyme, nutmeg, rosemary, basil and parsley.”

And mozzarella, she quickly points out, belongs to meals cooked south of Rome. The Tuscans prefer using high-quality Parmesan instead. Heavy cream sauces are also omitted. “We don’t hide our ingredients. Simplicity is the key,” she stresses.

Bandini’s personalized sit-down dinners usually consist of three or four courses — for two to 20 people. She begins with an appetizer of bruschetta or crostini. The former features chopped “pieces of stuff” on toasted bread, such as tomatoes or garlic, while the latter is a purée of various vegetables, served also on crispy bread.

The dinner progresses into a pasta, rice or soup dish, such as lasagna, mushroom risotto or minestrone with homemade croutons. Then comes the main course, which could include Maiale Arrosto (roast pork), Pollo Alla Griglia (grilled chicken with fresh Tuscan herbs) or a fiercely traditional Tuscan dish called Cacciucco Alla Livornese (spicy boneless fish soup served over bread).

Desserts can range from almond cookies or fresh fruit to shortbread chocolate tarte or farmhouse apple cake. But it is the tiramisu (which translates to “pick me up”) that Bandini raves about the most. It’s made with three different liqueurs — one of them she hand-carries over from Italy because it isn’t sold in the U.S.

“Food is my passion and my partner. It is intimate and sexy. Lovely round ripe tomatoes are so juicy; rare roast beef is perversely perfect; and fresh basil, rosemary and sage are exhilarating perfumes that awaken the senses.”

Bandini’s prices are tailored to individual requests, depending on the number of courses and levels of service her customers choose.

“No job is too big and no kitchen is too small for us,” she insists. “We even take care of the cleanup. It’s better than having a wife!”

For more information about Bandini’s menu and services, call (619) 583-5008.