Fort Bragg, September 17 (askanews) – Risotto was the matchmaker. A love affair between the two, a love for Italy. Kathleen and Joe Harris own Cucina Verona Ristorante & Mercato in Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California, with carefully selected Italian specialties in an adjacent store, also theirs. A bizarre choice on the other side of the world, but he, of Italian descent, offers regional Italian flavors paired with the best of Northern California produce.
Not only that: the two continue to study, attend trade shows, try new products, and even teach their customers how to eat Italian food. And as soon as they realize we're Italian, they tell us about their great passion. "Over the past year, we've explored Italy's regions, cooking dishes from one to the next in a weekly dinner series called '52 Weeks,' which is also about to become a cookbook.
"The idea behind it is simple: people's food tells the story of Italy, and I try to tell it through what was actually on the table," says Joe, the chef. "We also grow Pinot Noir in Comptche under our Costa Vineyards label. The winemaker is Greg Graziano. His grandfather Vincenzo arrived at Ellis Island from Piedmont in 1907, purchased 100 acres in Mendocino, and planted his first vines in 1918, two years before Prohibition.
The family survived the Prohibition years by selling grapes and bootlegging alcohol. Greg represents the third generation, and his daughter Alexandra the fourth; he handles more Italian grape varieties than anyone else in California,” he adds. We ask Kathleen if her training sparked her passion: “Yes, I think that’s where the passion was born. The idea of falling in love with the chef and then asking yourself, ‘Well, what kind of cuisine would we like to offer?’” In fact, the very first thing I tasted, prepared by Joe almost by accident, was some risotto: mushroom risotto. I was on my way to San Francisco and stopped where he was cooking; he asked me, “Are you hungry? Try some.” I tried that little bit of risotto… and that was several years ago. And here we are. There was therefore a certain fascination tied to food and the desire to share with the inhabitants of this town – a small local reality – the love for the people, regions and places I had had the opportunity to visit in my youth.” And so from passion to passion, we arrive at preferences for Italian products. Joe tells us he has fallen in love with San Marzano tomatoes, among other things. While for Kathleen, the pistachio cream was perhaps one of the best discoveries. But she is not the only one: “Take the Calabrian orange and chili jam for example: when we open it and tell people 'try it,' they exclaim 'wow!' and then they want to buy it, because it is truly unique and delicious.” In short, it is really hard to say no to Italian flavors, even in California. Report by Cristina Giuliano Editing by Alessandra Franco Images askanews
Notizie.it editorial team