A Pausa

A pausa means a break in Italian, and Tuesday’s are now our day off from the restaurant. Our lives have turned upside down in the past few months. I’ve gone from doing extensive recipe research and development, to basically preparing and cooking the same thing every day. Both are pleasurable, but very, very different.
So, what did we do on our recent day off? I hade a bunch of people over for dinner! It seems that even though I’ve gone over to the other side, I still love being a home chef and having people around my table. Last Tuesday was our first day off since the beginning of the summer, and we were lucky to have visiting Dutch friends celebrate our day off with us. We made a simple, and tasty dinner at home and talked until we were too tired to talk any more. Later that week I got an e-mail from Klary saying how much she enjoyed her time in Montone, but wished that we had had more kitchen table time together. That really resonated with me; and made me think about all the good things that come with being a home chef. That daily need to put some kind of food on the table, no matter how tired or how crazy your day was. So, here’s a toast to all those home chefs and to all those meals that have been lovingly prepared and shared.