Two chef, one heritage!

 Here is a Facebook post from one of our long time customers.  

Boun viaggio Italia!

 Today we make our journey back to Ohio.   This past week was just a wonderful way to experience La dolce Vita.  The weather was perfect, the company was excellent and the experiences were amazing.   

We hope you enjoyed our travels.  See you back at La Campagna and we hope to bring some new menu items inspired by the journey.  

La Famiglia

It was a wonderful surprise to have our Italian cousins join us in Orsara.  They drove in from Foggia.  My cousin Rita with her family...it was so good to see her. Her mother Maria and my mom could have passed as sisters, they were first cousins. What an emotional reunion. Our mothers passed away a year apart, her mother at 95 in 2022 and mine at 94 in 2023.

Her husband and her son Francesco Pio came with her. It was nice because Anthony and Pio exchanged phone numbers. Pio is a school teacher and teaches English but wants to visit in the United States. Nice for the next generation to keep those family roots strong

Orsara di Puglia, our anceatral home.

Orsara di Puglia for me is like the roots of the tree they go deep and feed all our branches no matter where life brings us, but somehow those roots bring us back to the beginning. The landscape is beautiful except for those awful windmills that ruin the beauty of the land. So adventure started with a bus much larger then we need for only 9 people, you would have thought we had a big tour group.  

I am always so amazed on each visit how much has changed and improved. The gardens are bigger, more olive trees planted,but the one thing that remains the same and is constant is the gracious hospitality of Peppe and his staff. We were welcomed with open arms. It was so good to see everyone and you knew that one special lady was missing. In true fashion Peppe loves to teach, as we start towards the garden we stop as he points out an olive tree that is 800 years old and still producing olives.

As we continue to walk he tells me that the Mayor Mario was coming to see me and that one of my relatives was stopping by.

The oliva tree- 

Mario the Mayor who gave me a plaque from the city years ago that still hangs in my restaurant today. He is such a gracious man.

Mario the Mayor who gave me a plaque from the city years ago that still hangs in my restaurant today. He is such a gracious man.

Lois and Don at the entrance of Villa Jamele.Kathleen enjoying a break
Here is Peppe's kitchen in the garden .Reminded me of my grandparents home with the grape arbor above the picnic table. And then we got to taste the grapes as Peppe cut some down. They tasted like white concords

Now Peppe takes the group in the field to pick vegetables for our lunch.

Entering the wine cellar as Peppe explains the history.

Everyone has to sit in the Sheep chair

Peppe with Mimma and Audi.....keep your fingers crossed we can make the import of his wines possible.

So as We sit down for lunch a lady from the next table says to Sylvania.....where is that lady from? So I tell Sylvania and then Lina said to me I thought I recognized you....We are facebook friends. Her family is from Orsara but she now lives in Tuscany.

Back to the mainland.

 Now time for lunch....we head to a great little seaside restaurant ...great seafood to finish off the day.

Appetizer plate, potato croquettes, eggplant, and bruschetta

Oh and did I forget to mention that Lois and Don celebrated their 28 wedding Anniversary with us today. Tanto Auguri!!!

Anthony and Michelle road the bikes down to the board walk .Anthony wanted to capture the sunset on the sea. BUONA Serra tutti! 

Ischia and Wine

Here is our trip to the island of Ischia with Danilo and Daniellea from the Trabuco Winery where we go to visit a very small winery Antonio Mazzella, started in 1949. A small family winery and his 13 year old son is in wine school and hopefully go into the 4th generation of wine makers.  It has very small production, but awesome wines. They pick these grapes by hand and have to wheel them out due to the terrain.

Here are two awesome wine makers Nicola from Mazzella winery on the left and on the right Danilo from Trabuco Winery..mutual respect for each other

We just got done tasting this years wine at end of fermentation

 Ischia has a rich history dating back to around **700 BC** when it was settled by the Greeks, who named it Pithekoussai. The island later came under Roman control and was known as Aenaria, recognized for its excellent vineyards and thermal springs, and has been inhabited continuously since ancient times.

We siblings enjoyed our time together.   

Pizza!

 After our tour of Naples...We also had Master Chef teach the group how to make Napolitano Pizza to end the day.

Federico was our Master Chef!  

Our lovely tour guide through Naples.  She spoke many languages and was very knowledgeable.  

Touring Naples!

October 1st a walking tour of Naples. Talking about getting your steps in is an understatement.  

So much history to take in. 

The history of Naples, Italy, stretches back over 2,500 years, making it one of the oldest continuously inhabited urban environments in the entire world. Founded by ancient Greek settlers in the first millennium BCE, the city evolved from an important maritime trading hub of Magna Graecia into a favored, elegant retreat for the Roman elite. Throughout its long history, Naples has uniquely preserved its ancient past by literally stacking new eras of architecture, culture, and infrastructure directly on top of its ancient foundations.

🌋 A City Built in Layers

What makes ancient Naples truly spectacular is its physical stratification. Because space was limited by the surrounding volcanic landscape—nestled between Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields—the city grew by recycling itself.

Instead of tearing old structures down, generations built directly on top of older Greek and Roman foundations. To solve practical space problems, the Romans dug underground. They carved a massive 450-kilometer network of tunnels, aqueducts, and cisterns deep into the tufo (a soft, yellow volcanic ash rock). These underground networks were later repurposed as early Christian catacombs, storage, and even air-raid shelters during World War II.

Here are some photos of our day.