"Un Goccino di Vino" (A drop of wine) 🍷
Plus some fun news from us at Our Italian Table 🍋
“Noi non potremo avere perfetta vita senza amici.”
We can’t have a perfect life without friends.
-Dante Alighieri
Buona primavera a tutti! 🌱 I just returned from Montalcino where the weather was unseasonably cool - so cool that the night sky was filled with smoke as many of the vineyards kept fires burning to keep the cold night air from damaging the precious grapevine buds. However, despite the chilly temps, nature remembered it was indeed spring. The leaves were beginning to unfurl into the springtime sun, the red poppies are beginning to show their little faces, and the hills are covered with breathtaking shades of green and yellow.
“Un goccino di vino” 😊
I learned a very useful expression on this trip and also got to visit a few fun new spots. First up - Montalcino is about an hour from the sea - but lo and behold, we have a new beach club in town. Vineria Aperto (loose translation “the wine bar is open”) declares itself a beach club because 5 million years ago there was a beach here and there is a whale skeleton to prove it! (Link here: Whale skeleton uncovered in Tuscan vineyard) We had a super fun wine tasting with my dear friend, Lucia, where I not only claimed my very own beach towel but also learned my new expression that will definitely be put to good use….un goccino di vino …a drop of wine. (May I have just ‘un goccino di vino’, please?)
I also visited the local hot springs that a friend has been telling me to go to for years! And they are only 30 mins from the village - Bagni San Filippo. The morning sun quickly evaporated into afternoon downpours but the rain made the experience all the more fun. The hot sulfur springs in the middle of a forest were worth the dash from the chilly air into the hot water in the middle of a downpour.
Meanwhile out in balmy Los Angeles - Joey hosted quite a dinner party, celebrating both Easter and Ramadan. With 13 around the table, he cooked up a storm making the celebration a truly international (and delicious) one. Joey has also been growing edible flowers and loves serving them on everything from his salads to his main courses.
Just after Easter, Joey and Mark headed off to Oaxaca with their dear friends, Steve and Antonio. Oaxaca is one place that we all have been talking about and dying to get to. The highlight was a 5-hour market tour which he is still talking about! Mercado de Abastos is the largest market in Oaxaca where one can buy everything from chiles to wedding dresses. They sampled everything from homemade tamales to goat barbacoa cooked underground for hours…and sampled more than one of the local mescal margaritas.
And now for some fun news……drumroll, please!
We have a big, fun announcement here at Our Italian Table. As you may remember, we moved over to this platform called Substack back in January, and woohoo, are we loving it! Our reader base continues to grow and grow over here. Substack’s mission is to create an environment where one is not driven by rules that force writers and bloggers to write in an artificial way to appease some weird algorithm rather than the reader. This place sure makes us feel at home and much closer to the days of old when we could just write our food blogs without thinking about all the rules, or how many likes a recipe might receive.
Another big part of the platform is the ability to build a community ❤️ a community that brings people together over a shared interest and who authentically connect with each other and with what we do. We have been watching how others are forming very fun communities and it has inspired us to give it a go – so we have decided to launch paid subscriptions for those who are craving more.
Most importantly, absolutely nothing changes for anyone who decides not to subscribe – we continue to publish our two free recipes each month and our newsletter with happenings here at OIT.
However, for those wishing for something more intimate and community-driven, we are now offering a paid subscription, filled to the brim with Our Italian Table goodness. This is a really exciting step for us! (And yes, scary too. I read something recently that struck a chord with me - ‘Why are we so frightened of selling the work we pour our heart and soul into?’ Very good question indeed!)
If this is calling to you, we would love to have you linger at the table a bit longer and join us on the journey. ✨
Here is how we see things kicking off but most importantly, we want to build this community together - to understand what would be most meaningful to you, how we evolve together, and change things that might not work. Our goal is to build something authentic, fun and that inspires all of us. A place that allows us to get to know you better and for you to get to know us better, possibly over a virtual shared glass of vino.
So, what exactly does this mean:
To all our dear and very valued free subscribers:
Everything remains the same - our twice-a-month recipe posts and newsletter with the latest from OIT will always be free
For our paid subscribers, you can upgrade to $5 monthly or $50 annually:
All the free posts (of course!)
Members-only recipes, menus, and discussions where we can connect at our table
A free digital version of anything we publish (HINT: our next OIT magazine is due in June! Sneak peek coming for paid subscribers next month!)
The happiness of knowing you’re supporting us in taking this big, scary leap and the chance to help us shape this community
We have a few fun ideas up our collective sleeves but want to build these ideas with input from our community. If you have any questions, we have poured a glass of wine and are waiting for you! Email us …we would love to hear from you! 🥰
Lastly, a big, heartfelt grazie mille for the support you have shown us since we first started this little venture way back in 2008! All the love, comments, and messages that you have sent mean the absolute world to us. We do hope you will continue to join us on this fun journey!
Tanti baci, xx
❤️
Michele and Joe
Great stories. Really feel like I’m in Italy as I read it. Thank you!