How not to drink wine in Italy

Whether relaxing during a mid-day siesta or unwinding after a long day at work, Italians delight in sitting back and sipping a good drink. Though you may imagine them swirling a glass of Chianti or pouring a bottle of Nastro Azzurro, …

The art of aperitivo

The season that graces Florence with wisteria, iris and roses has finally arrived. It’s spring! Every café, restaurant and bar is throwing open its doors and moving chairs and tables outside to fill each square inch of available space. Why?  Because …

Where to go granola

Visitors come toFlorence eagerly awaiting their first taste of fresh Tuscan cuisine. Visions ofrich ribollita, juicy bisteccaalla fiorentina, crunchy crostini toscani and freshly made bruschetta dance through the minds of tourists and locals alikeas they think of  typical Tuscan fare.‘Do spelt, …

Artichoke chat

My first memory of eating an artichoke is an image of my mother showingme how to bite down on the leaf and pull it through my front teeth.  I must have been very young, because myteeth marks were tiny compared to …

In need of attention

It must be hard to be an excellent red wine but get virtually ignored because your ‘big brothers’ are so well known. This is the dilemma faced by the Barbera, Dolcetto, and Roero wines of the Piedmont region that are so …

Fish-soup fountains

We all know Piazza Santissima Annunziata because of Brunelleschi’s beautiful Ospedale degli Innocenti, with its magnificent porticoed colonnade and Della Robbia’s blue-glazed terracotta tondos with cherubic babes wrapped in swaddling clothes. But next time you go there, stop a while to …

Homage to humble winter vegetables

For cooks, one of the true pleasures of life in Italy is the bounty of beautiful fruits and vegetables that are so readily available throughout the year. I am always fascinated by the artfully arranged displays set up by vendors, particularly …

Big surprises grow in small regions

Exclusive. Unique. Remarkable. Special: All words most of us adore. For some, these adjectives describe precious gems or fine furs. In Italy, they may refer to the wines of the Valle d’Aosta region. Why? Because some 90 percent of the wine …

Savoring the seasons

Were you fortunate enough to have grown up with parents or grandparents who kept a vegetable garden? If so, you know the joy of gathering sun-warmed vegetables in their natural habitat. We who are less fortunate are obliged to pick refrigerator-cooled …

Deck the halls with fine vines

The Italian wine community is especially proud this year. The tasting panel at Wine Spectator, one of America’s top sources of information, sampled 13,500 wines from around the world in efforts to select this year’s ‘Top 100.’  Not only did Tuscan …

Glad tidings from the kitchen

The holidays evoke an inevitable urge to cook, not that I ever need much to be inspired here in Florence. I am almost thankful that there is no Thanksgiving here in Italy, as the feasting rites of Christmas almost put me …

Guess what's coming to dinner

Blustery winter Sundays are the perfect occasion for long and leisurely family dinners. Gabriele Vaccaro, who spends his days keep-ing things running smoothly at a local hotel, relishes his weekends when he indulges in his passion for cooking. When Gabriele is …

Guess what's coming to dinner

When November approaches, umbrellas crop up all over Florence.  I asked Elena Galluzzi, a busy Florentine who runs a family hotel here, what she likes to cook this time of the year.  Her answer?  ‘Hearty bean soups and stews,’ she said, …

Foodies' Corner: The hunt for 'black and white' October

Italian chefs live by the season. Every season signifies a change of the menu which reflects the produce found during each time period. For many chefs, October in Italy means truffle season. Truffles, or tartufi, date back to the times of …

Foodie's corner: 'squashed' bread with grapes

The turn of the seasons signifies many things: the beginning of a new year for academics, the emergence of a new wardrobe for the fashion world, and the end of a harvest for vintners.  The annual wine grape harvest, or la …