The Traveling Somm Returns to Italy!

So much has happened since my last trip to Italy four years ago: We opened a restaurant, had a baby and survived a pandemic! Our trip to Tuscany and Sicily last fall was one to feel proud of. Jarrod and I met our goal of bringing our staff with us; our entire management team of four (front and back of house) plus our three year old. It felt good to travel to the place I love so much, this time as a mother and restauranteur. Perhaps I should change my blog name to “The Traveling Somm-Mom” or more accurately just “MOM!!!”

Becoming a mother has definitely taken precedence of my focus and day to day activities. Many of the things I used to delve into (such as this blog) have been set aside. Much of my time and energy is now spent on what goes in and out of my toddler’s little body, making and cleaning up messes, snuggling, playing, wiping away tears and dirty faces and all the simple, yet impossibly difficult things that have to get done everyday just to leave the house. (Mom readers, I know you can relate!)

Then there are the restaurant responsibilities. Ordering, meetings, paying bills, bank runs, website and social media maintenance, plus on the floor responsibilities like bartending, cashiering and managing. Until hiring a manager and promoting our bartender to assistant manager, I was scrambling to work on and off the floor while simultaneously raising our baby.

Wine and travel have remained a huge passion of mine and one of the ways that I was able to satiate this desire these past few years has been through wine workshops. At first (during the most desolate times of the pandemic) I hosted virtual workshops where a group of us would sit in front our our computer screens in the safety of our own homes with a glass of wine in hand. I always presented a slideshow presentation (I know, so 90’s) and together we would look at photos of different regions in Italy, allowing ourselves to be whisked away on virtual trips as we sipped Italian wine.

Eventually it became safe and popular to go out to eat and socialize in person again and I started offering wine workshops in person at the restaurant. The benefit to meeting up in person is the social aspect as well as the ability to taste more wines side by side. Still, some people have told me that they miss the virtual workshops. It was a special space for all of us during that isolating time.

One common thread that I have found among workshop participants is the strong urge to travel to the places from where these wines hail (myself included). There is something so special about opening a bottle of wine that was made by the hands of a small family-run winery from a picturesque Italian landscape. The wine workshops give us a chance to not only taste the wine, but also “armchair travel” as we talk about the landscape, food and culture. One of these days we will take a real trip to Italy together and sip wine among the vineyards!

We first started talking about the idea of taking our staff to Italy in the spring of 2022, two years after opening for business. We really wanted our front of house managers and chefs to experience Italy so they could fully appreciate and understand the concept that we are striving for at PRIMI. We wanted to take them to a place we both knew well so they could get fully immersed in the food, wine and culture that inspired much of our ideas for opening an Italian restaurant. The top two inspirational places for our PRIMI concept came from Tuscany and Piedmont. We decided that the order in which we wanted our staff to experience these places is Tuscany first, then Piedmont on another trip. I immediately started connecting with contacts I have in Tuscany from back when I used to guide bike tours.

In late October 2022 we set off on a plane (three planes actually) plus a train, a bus and a van. We started our journey in Durango and ended in a small village in Tuscany about a 20 minute drive from Siena called Villa a Sesta. Each of our 4 managers were accompanied by their partners, all of them excited to visit Italy for the first time. We were also accompanied by a wine distributor and her family of three who have become good friends. All together we were a group of 14. The thought of that many sounded daunting, but then I remembered that this was not my first time guiding a group in Italy, and other than my own offspring, this was an easy, go-with-the-flow crew. I made sure to pack plenty of snacks and activities for our three year old. I even packed an inflatable bed for her for the 36 hour journey.

Upon arrival at our little borgo, we quickly washed up in the 500 year old farmhouse apartments. Then we reunited for our first Aperitivo in Italy. We gathered as the red-orange sun was setting over the rows vineyards and olive trees. With Aperol and limoncello spritzes in hand, we held up our glasses for our long awaited “cin cin”. We made it to Italy! Even the kids were enamored by the open space to play and the big bowls of pasta Al Pomodoro that they were presented with.

I knew that there would be many firsts for our group on this trip and we intended to use those experiences as learning opportunities. Lesson One: The Aperitivo

The aperitivo in Italian is a an apertif drink, but more than that it also refers to the blissful moment at the end of the day to gather with friends for a pre-meal drink, often a low alcohol spritz. This ritual is practiced all over Italy and marks the end of the work day and the beginning of personal time. The Aperitivo is usually enjoyed between 5-8pm and comes with complimentary snacks to whet your appetite (or perhaps stave off your hunger) before dinner, which doesn’t happen until 8 or 9pm.

Typical aperitivo fare might be a small bowl of potato chips and olives or something more elaborate with meats, cheeses, bruschetta or homemade savory bites.

Traditionally, an aperitivo is a carbonated, bitter, and low-alcohol beverage, such as the Aperol spritz, which is made with Prosecco, Aperol, and a spritz of sparkling mineral water. Nowadays orders range from wine to beer to a variety of mixed drinks such as the ever popular Negroni (equal parts Campari, sweet vermouth, and gin). The most important element, however, is to make eye contact as you say “cheers” or (in Italian) say “Cin, cin” (pronounced cheen cheen).

At Primi we offer our the classic Aperol Spritz and Negroni as well as all natural alternatives to each (Contratto and Cappelletti respectively). We also now have non-alcoholic versions of both cocktails as well as other spritz options. Soon we will have a limoncello spritz, inspired by that first evening in Tuscany. During ‘Aperitivo/Happy Hour’ we offer complimentary bar snacks to accompany drink orders.

The only difference is that our ‘Aperitivo Hour’ is between 3-5pm because Americans are accustomed to having dinner waaaay earlier than Italians. Our dining room is often full by 5:30. I don’t mind it. Sometimes we are wrapping up service by the time a restaurant in Italy would be seating their first guests!

It was wonderful to witness our staff enjoying the experience of the Italian Aperitivo, complete with a beautiful sunset. I could see all of us relax and take in our surroundings. It turns out that the Aperitivo is also a good cure for jet lag!

Hear more about our travels to Tuscany and Sicily in the following posts!

Next post: Wine Tasting in a Thousand Year Old Abbey