My guest this week is Susan Gravely with her magnificent new book “Italy on a Plate – Travel, Memories, Menus.”
In her debut memoir and cookbook, Susan Gravely celebrates 40 years as Founder and Creative Director of VIETRI. Italy on a Plate is an exploration into what makes Italy so magical: its staggering beauty, unparalleled style, artistic legacy, and incredible food. The close friends Gravely has made during her years of Italian travel have graciously shared their homes and their favorite family recipes, and this book gives a culinary tour of Italy’s flavors with recipes you will enjoy with loved ones for years to come.
“This year, VIETRI celebrates forty years. In honor of four incredible decades, and with gratitude for my Italian friends who have welcomed me into their lives, their homes, and to their tables for good food, fine wine, and cherished companionship, I have written this memoir and cookbook. Thanks to their kindness, hospitality, and generosity, my friends have shared the recipes found in this book. I hope these wonderful dishes, and the personal stories of our time together, will bring you the comfort and warmth they have brought me.” Susan Gravely
Susan Gravely is the Founder and CEO of VIETRI, a lifestyle brand offering handcrafted Italian tabletop and home and garden accessories. Susan grew up in eastern North Carolina, and due to her father’s international business, her family hosted his visiting colleagues from around the world for wonderful dinner parties. From her earliest days, Susan helped set the table for those dinners, appreciating the varied wonders of the world and gathering together.
In 1983, Susan took a trip to Italy with her mother and sister. The three women fell in love with the colorful handpainted dinnerware they discovered on the Amalfi Coast, and they decided to build a wholesale company to share it with their friends and family back home. Since then, VIETRI has grown to become America’s largest importer of Italian ceramics. VIETRI products can be found in more than 2,000 specialty retailers and department stores in all 50 states and internationally. Susan currently oversees product design for VIETRI and lives in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with her husband, Bill, and dog, Franco.
Good Life Guy’s Wine of the Week:
2018 Petra Zingari Toscana
Francesca Moretti’s Petra estate perches on the rolling hills the separate the seaside plains of Tuscany’s Maremma and the taller peaks of the Colline Metallifere – the “metal-bearing hills” mined from Etruscan times through the mid-19th Century. Originally planted to Cabernet, Merlot and Sangiovese in 1808 by Bonaparte Baciocchi, Napoleon’s sister and Grand Duchess of Tuscany, the diverse exposures, iron-rich soils, and blend of Tuscan heat and cooling breezes from the nearby Tyrrhenian Sea make this a perfect site for both French varietals like Syrah, Petit Verdot and Merlot and Tuscany’s own Sangiovese.
A few years ago, then Wine Advocate Italian critic Antonio Galloni wrote that “Petra is one of my favorite properties for intense, flavorful wines from the Suvereto district in Maremma,” and he later added, “I rarely hear Petra mentioned in a discussion of the best wines and wineries from the Tuscan coast, but year after year the wines are reliably outstanding and fairly priced… The house style is one of bold, exuberant wines.” That’s what you’ll find here – a wine of bold flavors and texture that remains silky smooth and succulent whether paired up with bold foods or simply sipped solo. Enjoy now – 2033.
Critical Acclaim JSJames Suckling
A fresh, vivid red with cherries, currants and hints of hazelnuts and chocolate. Medium body. Racy finish. Like the vivid acidity that runs through this. Drink or hold.
Grab a bottle or two at Jacob Liquor Exchange on North Rock Road in Wichita or your local wine merchant and join us.