16th
missy goes to italy
Well, spring in the Mediterranean is not a bad way to go no matter how you look at it and I just spent a glorious week in Italy where the weather was warm, the people friendly, and the food… divine!
Beppe Gambetta and his wife/manager, Federica, hosted Bruce Molsky, Jim Hurst and myself for their 8th Annual Acoustic Night concert series in Stradella and Genova, Italy. Acoustic Night is an international production which until this year, featured only guitarists. This was their first year to have other instruments, and I’m sure glad they decided to branch out! Beppe and Federica make an amazing team and their tireless efforts to attend to every single detail paid off with the overwhelming success of the event. They made me feel like royalty! What a trip. Between the performances, rehearsals, and the eating (!), we even found time to go into the studio where I was honored to perform on 2 tunes for Beppe’s upcoming CD to be released in September of this year. More on that soon.
While in Italy, I didn’t have much time to shop, but I did have some of the best food ever!!! I tasted for the first time and LOVED ‘farinata’, a garbanzo bean cake to die for! I got reacquainted with some herbs like sage and tarragon and I’m eager to try my hand at some of the beautifully simple dishes of pasta, butter and herbs. Had the best risotto I’ve ever had (check out the photo, that big wooden bowl is filled with heaven!), tried Grappa for the first time (loved it), and had the most exquisite chocolate sauce in the world and it was served to us in the pot at a Trattoria in Genova. Homestyle elegance! (see photo) As if the food isn’t enough (and in Italy, I assure it is), what really makes mealtime special there is just that; the simple fact that a meal is supposed to be special, lingered over and savored. It’s precious time spent with family and friends and we celebrated how great life can be over delicious food and great wine. You know, it even made up for not getting to buy a pair of Italian shoes… well, almost.