Palmabella's Passions

This is incredible to me. When I was in Bologna in May, I met a lovely couple during pranzo at a nice restaurant. The tables were close together, I was dining alone, and they were quite friendly. We struck up a conversation over lunch, and by the time our meal was over, we felt like old friends. When I said that our next trip would be to the Veneto, they said they lived very close to Bassano, and to call when we came here. We exchanged email addresses and phone numbers. I contacted them last month.

I spoke to Rosalia from Verona, and she said to meet her on the bridge at 4. She arrived, and spent the whole afternoon showing us around Bassano, and then taking us to the neighboring town of Marostica. As it turns out, she and her husband, Roberto and two children live in Nove, the little ceramic town 7K from here!!! Who knew? But even her afternoon of sightseeing was topped off by having prepared for us an eveing meal of local specialties at their home! Incredible. I kept telling her, this would not be likely to happen in the U.S..

We were both overwhelmed and charmed by their generous hospitality! Their home is charming, and their 19 and 20 year-old children are absolutely lovely and very well-mannered! Both are in college with their daughter studying economics and their son in cooking school! Here is their lovely home:

We began with prosecco, and then had a wonderful dinner with the family: Risotto with two seasonal mushrooms, grilled local polenta with salumi (local sopressa) and local cheeses. This was followed by Rosalia's delicious brown sugar-pear torta!

What a wonderful evening! We were having so much fun, I forgot to take a photo of the family, but we are taking them to dinner on Saturday!