UNFORGETTABLE

UNFORGETTABLE

An experience I will never forget

Have you ever experienced the feeling of being totally fulfilled? Do you know when you are so satisfied that hour after hour, instead of fading, the effect increases? Well, I feel that way today and it’s just fine!

It’s been a long time since I wanted to do it, but for one reason or another (let’s say the whole thing can be summed up in one word: Covid) I had never organized. But precisely because Covid has limited the celebrations in the last 2 years, this time I decided to recover and Roberto’s 42 years birthday party has become the 40+2 one.

To be honest, I didn’t expect anything like that. I really underestimated the potential.

After thinking about buying him a kamado, a camera or planning a trip, I remembered that long-cherished idea and said to myself “Why not?”. I contacted Elena and Paco and fortunately they were available the evening of the birthday: a sign of fate.

After an initial evaluation for a romantic dinner for two, I thought that Roberto is lucky enough to still have a grandmother and that it is better not to waste the gifts of time, so I decided to schedule a dinner with chef at home, but at his parents’ house, involving the whole family. Never choice was more apt, it was an evening so beautiful as to seem surreal.

Beyond the pleasant surprise effect for the birthday boy, seeing an 89-year-old woman who grew up in a mountain village appreciate the modernity of a cuisine that certainly cannot be defined as traditional was a real enjoyment. Grandma Ida appreciated it so much that she hoped to see Elena and Paco again (I think Paco really enjoyed her original expression in dialect, which I am not able to report).

Little appearance and a lot of substance. I’m not even talking about the dishes, because those who know the quality of the preparations by Paco Zanobini and Elena Minari from De Smart Kitchen do not need any introduction. But if you do not know them, it is right that you know that in addition to being fabulous cooks, they are also wonderful people.

A simple evening, without many frills, but that left me much more than the memory of a dinner. Maybe because the quality of the people present was invaluable (Elena and Paco included) or perhaps because a nice family scent could be smelt in the air.