Gianfranco in Capo San Giovanni

Cabo is a lively vibrant place bursting with people who help make it so. I've just dined with one of them, Gianfranco Zappala. You'll not soon meet a person more passionate about their profession - and one so serious about bringing his customers back time and time again.

Gianfranco is the owner and chef of Capo San Giovanni, a southern Italian style restaurant & bar with a cozy, dining room packed with guests in an unassuming downtown location. A quiet romantic outdoor patio beckons to you to dine al fresco - it seems to transport you from Cabo to a lovely Italian country villa. But that's not the focus of the story. Back to the man and his mission.

Gianfranco didn't plan his career - it seemed to have evolved around his natural ability to create gastronomic delights. Just like Martha Stewart has a knack for pulling together colors and textures to create a clever and fabulous interior design - Gianfranco adds a little of this and that to create his palate pleasing Italian dishes. His commitment to using the finest ingredients - many of them hand-picked and imported right from Italy - that's his guarantee of satisfaction. It's his stroke of luck, love of fine food and family background that combined to seem so incredibly fateful - he's definitely one of the lucky people who can make a good living doing what he absolutely loves.

Chris inside Golden Cactus Gallery

As a romantic painter, Chris captures the essence of timelessness in nature. This love is expressed in living colors and the hues and tones of his paintings give applause to the on-going miracle. They are an invitation to others to feel the same peace and harmony, which only this rapport with nature can give.

Fascinated by the subtleties of nature, Chris’ paintings are an expression of his romantic view of life and usually reflect the environment he is in. From scenes of the Hotel California, in Todos Santos, Baja, a monk arranging flowers in a monastery in Hong Kong, a classical pianist or a vintage clothing shop, Chris’ engaging style is evident in his perfected usage of the illusive color changes and natural compositions. Using landscapes as a language, Chris incorporates imagery and symbolism in his art to reflect his own unique expression.