Travel Journal: If the boot fits…

Giovanni has been rubbing oil on my back and now begins making his way down each leg, whispering, “belli piedi . . . cara mia” ––something about giving me a foot massage, I think. I drowsily nod and smile, assured by his tone that I will enjoy whatever he is proposing. The sun is warm on my face and closing my eyes…

Chateau Domingue

Her own house was designed from top-to-bottom by the incomparable Pamela Pierce who was given carte blanche––free to select from the array of stunning building materials and antiques housed at Ruth’s 15,000 square foot warehouse…

Recipe: Pennoni Rigati con Cavolfiore

Once everything was neat and tidy, I opened up a bottle of wine and with the centuries-old stone walls glowing in the candle light, I set to work creating my first pasta dish of the trip: Pennoni Rigati con Cavolfiore (Short Pasta with Cauliflower)…

Travel Journal: Nesting Instinct

We vacation with the hope of leaving behind the stress of our regular life and our mundane responsibilities. We travel to escape, to get away from it all. Sometimes we may even fantasize about leaving behind our everyday personalities and behaving in a completely unprecedented, uninhibited fashion…

Appennino by Giambologna

Giambologna’s largest work, the mountain god, Appennino (1577)…In his Voyage en Italie, Michel de Montaigne described the construction of this new divinity of the Mannerist pantheon: “they are building the body of a giant whose eyeball is three cubits large.” …

Recipe: Heirloom Tomato & Burrata Cheese Salad

The soft, buttery center is made from fresh cream and shredded pieces of mozzarella called stracciatella. The sac is then tied with a blade of grass and has the shape of a chubby pear…