Secrets Under the Table at Stecca: What Really Happens in a Tiny Kitchen: Giorgio Vizia and Wimberly Meyer.

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We want you to feel as if you've stepped into our home and we're having

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a dinner party, and we want you to enjoy it just as much as you

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would in our own living room, at our own dining room table. A lot of

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mutual respect. And, and when we came into this, we knew

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that, and that was the only way that we were going to operate, is to

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make sure that, you know, Giorgio had full autonomy in the kitchen,

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and it's his creative vision, and he really is the culinary genius

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behind every dish that comes out. Sit back and grab a

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glass. It's Wine Talks with Paul Kaye.

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Hey, welcome to Wine Talks with Paul Kaye, and we are at an away game

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today. Not so far away as I hang out in Hermosa Beach quite a bit,

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but we're here to have a conversation with Wimberly Meyer and Giorgio

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Vizia. Did I get it right? I always get it wrong.

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Almost. I might be the worst linguist. Yeah, me too. I'm not any good. And

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we're at Stecca Taverna here on Pier Avenue in Hermosa Beach. One of the newest,

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latest, greatest sensations of restaurants in this area. And it's just,

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it's just so much fun to come here. They're gracious enough to give us the

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time today to have a conversation. Welcome to the show. It's a very welcome, welcome

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everyone to the show. I'm Giorgio Vizia, co-owner

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and executive chef of Staccata Berna.

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Benvenuti. Thank you for being here. Yeah, we're excited to

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be talking with you. It's, well, a whole bunch is going to go on

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here. We're just— it's really just a conversation about what was going on, starting with

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the idea that I was in the kitchen. It was a hot kitchen

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and it was a tiny kitchen. And you are serving 150

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covers here on a tip on a good evening. And

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that's phenomenal chefing. I mean, that's just phenomenal chefing.

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How do you do this? Well, because, well, I

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believe that you can, you can prove your talent in different

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aspects. There are chefs that cook

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amazing well. They make one plate look like a Picasso painting and great.

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Me, I can make a plate that tastes really good, but I can

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also— I think my talent is to utilize

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10 square feet, 10

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square feet. I don't even have the 5 square feet

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meter, and find a way to perform

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inside the space and maintain

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the performance through all the night. I don't even think it's 10 square feet or

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3 square meters. That is what I think it is. You didn't see the chain

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under the table because I have to chain

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my worker under. After 1 hour, everybody

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wants to run away. So anyway, what's interesting

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is, is as we began to shoot that, Wimberly noticed that the

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fan was in the shot. And because your, your career up

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until this hospitality thing was

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production, production of film, TV, advertising.

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Advertising. Advertising, commercials, corporate America

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for the last 15 years. So I think the question would be, that has

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nothing to do with hospitality and restaurateur. And here we are

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at a pretty successful place with amazingly successful

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food. And yeah, I think surprisingly, it

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was a surprise to me that being a producer, a lot of

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those— that skill set translates to the hospitality industry.

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You're dealing with budgets. and timelines and

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high-pressure, pressure cooker situations being

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on set and in film. And that's just what being in

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a restaurant is. You know, I actually, I did a show last week at my

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studio in Monrovia with David Schulner. He's a showrunner.

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He's been a writer. And he said the same exact thing. And he said,

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basically, you've got one show that's being shot that day. You've

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got one show that's in the can being edited. You got another show you're writing

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for and juggling these different parts of

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of the process does flow over into

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not only producing a restaurant, but the kitchen as well.

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I think it flows over very well. But also what I think it flows

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over, it's that in our particular

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case, I think a part of our success that

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we all are people

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that love people. We all travel a lot. We all

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know what we like or not. But also we don't step on our feet,

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which means that the decor

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side, the design, all the

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website, everything that is involved in marketing, everything that is involved in

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media is 100% in the end of Emily.

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We clarify certain things based on all our tastes, based

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on our respect to each other, but she has a blank

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page on everything she does in this. I have total trust in her.

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On the other hand, the way I run my kitchen, mentioned, when I prepare my

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menu, the way I create my dishes, he's the same thing. Chef,

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total trust on me. Of course, we clarify certain parts.

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Would you like that? Would you prefer that? But at the end, I think

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that this restaurant is working because we're all

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in charge of something that we don't step on the feet of the other

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person. For example, if my partner was another

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chef or another culinary creator,

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But there might be some competition. No, I like this. No, this tastes

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better, but the way I do it, the way that— we don't really even arrive

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at the point to arguing this thing because we'll have— we

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leave our space. Too many chefs'

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reputations on the line. Yeah, there's no— Too many roosters

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in one coop. So each of us have his own talent, and I think there

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is a big talent, but it doesn't overwhelm the other people's

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talent. And this sort of mental freedom allows us to

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take care of things in a certain way without the pressure.

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There's a lot of mutual respect. And

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when we came into this, we knew that. And that was the only way that

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we were going to operate is to make sure that Giorgio had

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full autonomy in the kitchen. And it's his creative vision. And he

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really is the culinary genius behind every dish that comes out of

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that 3 by 3 or 10 by 10 or whatever size that

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kitchen is. Incredible. And

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then he's allowed me to also have the same sort of respect

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that he's given me to do what I do best. I don't mind telling

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you that, you know, that this restaurant, this location, which so much of restaurateur

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is location, but as well as making it a destination, which

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is this juggling act in this industry,

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that this has been a few restaurants since I've lived here,

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and here one that is hard to get into now. Which I

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don't appreciate. No, I'm kidding. But that's

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phenomenal. What— hey, you chose Hermosa Beach. Are you—

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do you live here? Yeah, we both live here in the South Bay. And so

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you look for a place to go do this and thought this is, you know,

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Pier Avenue, Hermosa Beach, it's a hipper crowd. I mean,

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um, let me put it this way real fast. I, I grew up here, so

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Redondo has this older, stauncher crowd. Hermosa is the younger,

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hipper crowd. Manhattan's a more established, you know, maybe not gonna say wealthier,

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but just a little more upper, upper crust crowd. But Hermosa's a pretty cool

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place. Yeah. Is that what drew you here? I think, well, Giorgio lives here

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in Hermosa, and so I'll definitely let him speak to that. I've lived in Manhattan

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Beach for 25 years. Oh, so you're part of the upper crust and, well, I

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don't know about that. I might be keeping it real now where I

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am. But I think that, you know, we did look

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at a lot of different locations. And we

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considered a lot of different options and where we wanted to be, and this location

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in particular just spoke to us. And

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it has character. A lot of character. It's not, it's not a new build.

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We put a lot of work and effort into remodeling it and

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changing it to make it what we thought the vision should be and what our

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vision is. But we like that it's an older building.

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We like that it has a certain character to it that

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Europe has, that Italy has, that when you walk in, you

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feel the history. First thing we thought when we came in here the first time.

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See, you also feel like almost you're hidden in a living room. You say,

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for a restaurant owner, restaurant chef, like, we invite you in our home.

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It's not, you know, only the word. It looks, it looks really like a

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little, a little living room. On top of that, the restaurant

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was previous to Stecca. I managed it, I think, for almost

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2 years. And I remember that I fell in

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love really with the building, with, with the sort

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of the energy that developed inside the space. And,

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and after Wimberley, he

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really evaluated and upgraded all this

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energy into creating really the ambience that now I think it's

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incredible. You know, this is a A difficult time for

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hospitality in general, for people. Wine business is down.

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Some spirits are up. But in general, the hospitality trade is

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in a tough spot. And you, you said you

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weren't frightened by this idea of it. Just it was the

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romantic side of the idea, the profitability side of that, which I don't think can

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drive any passionate business because you can never run out of passion. If you're

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just looking for the cash flow. But, but you— no fear. You

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just thought it's time for this restaurant to be here. For me, it

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was a realization of a career and a dream. I tried

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before over the years to open a restaurant, and somehow

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at the end it never works. We're always getting close. After

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I met Wimberly and James, then the

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dream— let's look at it that then the dream become reality.

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Now I want to say that the difference between— I don't

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think we did that for the financial idea. No, it's for

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the joy. Because people that work in the restaurant know that

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whatever you're getting back is so little that you're here because

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you really love what you're doing. That's what you're doing. But at some point in

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life that you need to do it. The only difference that I feel right now

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between restaurants before and right now that With

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the economy, with the situation, inflation and everything right

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now, it always be a very difficult business, but right now

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there's no more, there's no more something in between.

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Let me explain. Over 20 years ago, you can have a

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restaurant that eventually maybe doesn't do too well, but you

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keeping, you keeping running the show, you keep it, pay your bill. Right now,

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today, or— 10 years ago. Or you have the formula

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to make it, or you have to change.

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This between class is disappearing because or

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you're in or you're out. There's no more business that really fulfills

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everyone's needs. It must, it has to,

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both of you actually, from the business side, the marketing side, and the chefing

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side, it has to light you up when somebody

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says, This was amazing watching you make that dish,

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how simple the ingredients were, but how they work so well together to make

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this complicated character of flavor and balance.

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But it has to light you up to see this, to see people enjoy

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themselves. And even though it's long hours and prep time takes a lot of

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time and all the other issues that go with restaurant, that just

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makes you feel good. Is that— It does. And I think it's, you know, this

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is not a 9-to-5 job. No, it, it doesn't turn off.

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Even when you're sleeping, you're still— you're dreaming about something. When you have

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something. Yeah, it doesn't matter. You're, you're always on.

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And I think that, um, because we have so much passion here and it

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does bring us so much joy, um, it's highly

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personal and we take it personally.

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And to Giorgio's point about feeling— we want you to feel

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as if you've stepped into our home and we're having a dinner party,

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and we want you to enjoy it just as much as you would in our

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own living room and our own dining room table. So every dish that

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comes out, every experience that you have with a server, every

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song that comes over the speaker, everything has to

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hit the right note so that you leave and you feel the same joy that

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we feel when we're here. Mm-hmm. We want that to, to

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be what the customer feels as well. When I was here last,

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a very well-known somm was here. His

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name was Sherman, Paul Sherman. He was a somm at

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Jonathan Club and things. He was sitting at that table. And your

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wine list, I always thought, was amazingly curated, thought through,

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you know, not extensive, which I think is important in today's world. Not these long

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lists that have 75 vendors in them. You know, you've got your vendors. But he

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had one wine I really enjoy, the Aglianico, and I took— sent it

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over to him as a bottle because I wanted him to experience this

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amazing value in wine. And but the food

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has great value too. How are you managing, you know,

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keeping the cost of the place where people feel comfortable? In so many places

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today with the economy, you feel like I didn't really get a very good

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deal out of that. I didn't feel like I really got that much worth.

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How are you doing this? Well, first by shopping by

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myself. So 3, 4 times a week

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and be the one to go inside the store and check the produce.

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Because sometimes that's a part that you can sometimes

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become a little bit lazy with. Think, oh well, you like to have everything that

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comes to you. But the quality of the product, I think part of the

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talent of a chef too. Like I said, we all have our

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our talent. Mine is also to find

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good product following the season.

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We're lucky and unlucky in this restaurant. My lucky

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side, I don't have a large walk-in.

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That means that I cannot buy a lot of product and let it sit in

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there all, all week. Yeah, not a lot. Or make 20 lasagna

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and use all this lasagna through the week. Me, I only

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have a couple of fridge. This, this allow me to have always

228
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fresh ingredient, but always have a, have an amazing food control

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because nothing's sitting in the shelf. No waste. Everything is prepared daily and

230
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finished the same day. I invest more in the preparation, but

231
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really the waste is so little. I had experience working in

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restaurant when you have sometimes the luxury of working big

233
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2 cars can fit in. But a lot of the time, if you're not

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very meticulous, at the end of the week you're wasting

235
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20 to 30% of the stuff and then it adds to the

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cost. So it could be one good

237
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point about our strategy and things like that.

238
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Well, I'm reading this, I hate to tell you, this

239
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ChatGPT conversation

240
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You got to use this stuff. My wife's best friend. You got

241
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to use this. She's going to leave me for ChatGPT. The

242
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day that ChatGPT will become a robot or a

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person, my wife will leave me for him. I had to tell us back off

244
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a minute because I can't talk about something. Oh, no. Okay. No, but it's

245
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an important point because it talks about your grandmother Anna and

246
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Cesarina. And that obviously is in the home

247
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kitchen working. But then it talks about when you're 19

248
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that you cooked for roughly 800 people a day for the military service. I mean,

249
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those are 2 different things. Correct, correct. That was the

250
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best experience I have in the restaurant business, more for the tolerance

251
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of our lifestyle. I have questions,

252
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people say, how sometimes you can be

253
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always excited and happy, how you can handle this. For me, it comes

254
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to tolerance as tolerance a lot. And when you're young,

255
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you have to work. You build your

256
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fundamental, and then automatically,

257
00:16:03,531 --> 00:16:06,935
automatically you build your tolerance for how hard

258
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this business is. For example, I make it very, very quick.

259
00:16:10,807 --> 00:16:14,385
I born in a restaurant when my mother was pregnant to me, already cooking in

260
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the restaurant. For me, restaurant sound for the

261
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dishwashing and the pot, the crunch somewhere. They're already

262
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in my ear even before come out. It's obvious that when you

263
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spend your life in the restaurant and nobody else, your restaurant is your

264
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life. You're not— why I have to complain? I'm

265
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inside my natural environment here. And

266
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so automatically I don't feel tired. That doesn't bother me to

267
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work the weekend. Doesn't bother me to skip a holiday. Doesn't bother me

268
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to be stand up 12 hours because that's what I've done forever. So you

269
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have the nerve. Not also you have. I haven't done anything else

270
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with Vivace, so I don't know. Maybe it's better if I don't.

271
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That takes a very, very trusting spouse, doesn't it? Yes, yes.

272
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But somehow my parents love it. They always— for

273
00:17:02,740 --> 00:17:06,520
us, eating dinner together, and for me also, go out with

274
00:17:06,520 --> 00:17:10,320
my friend, they go to dinner or go out and eat something,

275
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always be the best part of my day. And so somehow food and the wine

276
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And people is related to what we're doing for a living.

277
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So— Do you think Americans are

278
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grasping this idea of this kind of

279
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slow— slower food, slower pace, better food,

280
00:17:30,309 --> 00:17:34,143
you know, the European lifestyle? I think that they've been

281
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grasping for it for a while. And we're sitting in a spot right now

282
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where everybody, because of ChatGPT, Because of AI, because

283
00:17:41,797 --> 00:17:45,473
of how connected we are to our phones and everything else

284
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right now, what we're creating here and the

285
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connections and the slow pace of life—people want that.

286
00:17:53,260 --> 00:17:56,969
They're craving it. They've been missing it. And and I think we're

287
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only gonna see that grow more. And and hopefully,

288
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I mean, I hope that's the direction that we're going in—that we're gonna swing back

289
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to a real human experience. I think

290
00:18:08,669 --> 00:18:11,010
it parallels the wine trade.

291
00:18:11,811 --> 00:18:15,466
And I had this conversation 2 nights ago at a wine dinner at

292
00:18:15,482 --> 00:18:18,784
Château Haut-Bailly where wine is going back to the

293
00:18:18,800 --> 00:18:22,310
experiential side. Mm-hmm. Like enough shelf talkers at the

294
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market and enough $89

295
00:18:25,901 --> 00:18:29,315
cases shipped for free to your door of pretty bad

296
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wine and back to sitting with somebody, having a

297
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glass, Going to a dinner, sharing the experience,

298
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having conversation on the wine side. And it's going to

299
00:18:40,824 --> 00:18:44,238
be a little bit of a valley in the sales volume because of that. But

300
00:18:44,334 --> 00:18:46,466
eventually, I don't think you can

301
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ever innovate your way around

302
00:18:51,227 --> 00:18:54,977
quality food and quality experience and quality

303
00:18:54,993 --> 00:18:58,471
wine. Yeah. Right? Yeah. And I mean, we're built for connection.

304
00:18:59,337 --> 00:19:02,752
Yes. That's what we're supposed to be doing as people. And

305
00:19:03,025 --> 00:19:06,557
to pretend that it's any other way, I think, is a mistake.

306
00:19:06,894 --> 00:19:09,944
So I'm really happy to see that people are wanting to come back

307
00:19:10,731 --> 00:19:14,423
and slow down a little bit. And to give them something that's

308
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really truly authentic Italian, that they, when they walk

309
00:19:18,259 --> 00:19:21,855
in, they go, oh wow, I feel like I'm back in a village in Italy

310
00:19:21,967 --> 00:19:25,740
or in Milan or Rome. Or I remember this one time on vacation and

311
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I had something that was similar that Giorgio's creating because

312
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It came from his mother and grandmother and growing up there. I think

313
00:19:33,438 --> 00:19:36,594
it's a really beautiful thing, and we're really lucky and blessed to have it here

314
00:19:36,643 --> 00:19:39,879
in Hermosa. You came from a pretty fast-paced industry.

315
00:19:40,488 --> 00:19:43,196
Are you still in it? I am still in it. And so

316
00:19:43,293 --> 00:19:47,106
what an irony between the two industries,

317
00:19:47,379 --> 00:19:51,128
which is cutthroat, I mean, literally cutthroat business where you're cutting deals all the

318
00:19:51,128 --> 00:19:54,894
time and trying to communicate. But it's also communication. It is, yeah.

319
00:19:54,958 --> 00:19:57,894
Which is pretty interesting. Yeah. What got you into the film in the first place?

320
00:19:58,744 --> 00:20:01,857
Oh wow, um, that's a great question.

321
00:20:02,596 --> 00:20:06,271
I, um, started off in action sports and I was

322
00:20:06,367 --> 00:20:10,170
chasing surf and snow with all the action sports teams

323
00:20:10,170 --> 00:20:13,797
around the world. Really? Um, yeah, I

324
00:20:14,086 --> 00:20:17,729
was doing that 20 days a month and 365 days a

325
00:20:17,777 --> 00:20:21,371
year in 35 different countries and with a

326
00:20:21,404 --> 00:20:24,838
6-week-old and year old at home. Wow, wow, wow, wow. And

327
00:20:24,838 --> 00:20:28,642
decided that probably wasn't too sustainable. So how do you dial

328
00:20:28,690 --> 00:20:32,414
that back a little bit and still stay in it? Because I do enjoy

329
00:20:32,462 --> 00:20:35,543
it. But again, I mean, I've been

330
00:20:35,993 --> 00:20:39,765
hiring people from the restaurant industry into the

331
00:20:39,765 --> 00:20:43,263
film industry for years. And anytime someone

332
00:20:43,360 --> 00:20:47,196
comes to me on the film side and on production and says that they have

333
00:20:47,228 --> 00:20:50,373
restaurant experience, I know they're going to be a great employee.

334
00:20:50,437 --> 00:20:53,710
That's interesting. Because they live in a high-pressure

335
00:20:53,710 --> 00:20:57,545
environment. They know how to smile and let

336
00:20:57,577 --> 00:21:01,379
things roll off their back even when somebody says something they might not

337
00:21:01,427 --> 00:21:05,085
like. Yeah. And so the 2 worlds are similar in

338
00:21:05,117 --> 00:21:08,952
that. Let me go back a little bit. I had

339
00:21:08,952 --> 00:21:12,658
a really interesting conversation with an Armenian woman who makes wine in Armenia.

340
00:21:12,802 --> 00:21:16,383
She's from a very wealthy Russian family. And

341
00:21:16,592 --> 00:21:19,725
she used to lecture all over Los Angeles and

342
00:21:19,725 --> 00:21:23,484
California on behalf of women in industry. And we can do

343
00:21:23,500 --> 00:21:26,761
it both. We can have a family, we can run these. And then,

344
00:21:27,821 --> 00:21:31,227
and then that was when I knew her during her career. Now she's

345
00:21:32,078 --> 00:21:35,548
come to California and she says— Yes. I'm going to tell you what she said.

346
00:21:35,612 --> 00:21:38,873
She said, it's all a lie, that you can

347
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think that you can raise a family And be— now,

348
00:21:43,243 --> 00:21:46,761
restaurateurs, probably similar, but the wine business, because you're entertaining

349
00:21:46,873 --> 00:21:50,616
people starting at 11 o'clock at night, you know, when Clovis Taittinger

350
00:21:50,712 --> 00:21:54,519
comes to LA and it starts a midnight release of his champagne, you

351
00:21:54,567 --> 00:21:58,310
have to be there, which means you're not there. Have you

352
00:21:58,438 --> 00:22:02,036
experienced that irony or that balance

353
00:22:02,036 --> 00:22:05,666
problem in your life for that? Absolutely. And I do think the

354
00:22:05,811 --> 00:22:09,399
idea of You know, I think

355
00:22:10,252 --> 00:22:14,100
some days are balanced and some days aren't. Yeah. And you can't look at

356
00:22:14,100 --> 00:22:17,877
it as I've lived a balanced life because

357
00:22:18,056 --> 00:22:21,832
I'm trying to be a mom and an entrepreneur. I look at it more

358
00:22:21,881 --> 00:22:25,717
as, was today balanced? Yes. And how can I bring a little bit

359
00:22:25,717 --> 00:22:29,524
of that into today knowing that tomorrow might not be? It might—

360
00:22:29,589 --> 00:22:33,173
it probably won't be, right? Right. But, and you're at home with Well,

361
00:22:33,318 --> 00:22:36,773
me, I'm lucky. Well, not lucky, but I was able to maintain

362
00:22:37,935 --> 00:22:40,808
my marriage up to now. We've been married 21 years.

363
00:22:41,630 --> 00:22:45,122
Congratulations. 3 kids. That sounds pretty solid. She's

364
00:22:45,171 --> 00:22:48,841
amazing. Well, me, family is very important.

365
00:22:49,068 --> 00:22:51,946
When I don't work, I spend my time with the family.

366
00:22:52,962 --> 00:22:55,791
I don't do other things. On the other hand,

367
00:22:57,390 --> 00:23:01,174
the world needs people like us that work with other people don't work.

368
00:23:01,543 --> 00:23:05,268
Our family really love me. They

369
00:23:05,268 --> 00:23:08,961
know that I have to do this. And life, I think, they give you

370
00:23:08,961 --> 00:23:12,445
things in the beginning, I think in the end. For example, if I don't spend

371
00:23:12,638 --> 00:23:16,058
too much time right now that my kids are young, I will probably spend

372
00:23:16,411 --> 00:23:18,868
more time when they're getting older. And,

373
00:23:20,008 --> 00:23:23,733
and it's always a balance. Whatever you don't get at the beginning, maybe you

374
00:23:23,797 --> 00:23:27,489
get it at the end. At some

375
00:23:27,489 --> 00:23:30,571
point, it's

376
00:23:30,875 --> 00:23:33,443
difficult to manage. But maybe

377
00:23:34,551 --> 00:23:38,113
God put us together to be together 3 hours a day,

378
00:23:38,306 --> 00:23:41,997
have 3 good hours a day instead of 10 hours a day. Yeah, it's quality

379
00:23:41,997 --> 00:23:45,801
over quantity sometimes. During COVID I was with my wife in our

380
00:23:45,865 --> 00:23:49,572
home 12 hours a day, and it was difficult. It was

381
00:23:49,572 --> 00:23:53,151
difficult because there was a moment that we would pick up on each

382
00:23:53,151 --> 00:23:56,990
other because we were like, missing and the kids was frustrated.

383
00:23:57,700 --> 00:24:00,700
And that's the way it is. And we have to— Well, I can tell you

384
00:24:00,700 --> 00:24:04,460
from— I can tell you both sides. When we got married, she was a licensed

385
00:24:04,460 --> 00:24:08,040
CPA. I was traveling to Riverside every day from Redondo and she was going to

386
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:11,520
Beverly Hills. And we saw each other like passing in the night.

387
00:24:11,520 --> 00:24:15,340
Yeah. But then she ended up working with me for 25 years. And so

388
00:24:15,340 --> 00:24:18,040
we had to be very careful about how we built the offices every time we

389
00:24:18,040 --> 00:24:21,820
moved to make sure that there wasn't a complete open channel between them because she

390
00:24:21,820 --> 00:24:24,580
didn't like what I was saying on the phone sometimes. And so she'd roll the

391
00:24:24,580 --> 00:24:28,301
window closed. So, you know, it is a balancing act. Correct. Any industry, I

392
00:24:28,301 --> 00:24:32,040
think, and you got to raise a family. But it's interesting

393
00:24:32,072 --> 00:24:35,892
because now with the Gen Zs and some of the millennials, they're used to working

394
00:24:35,924 --> 00:24:39,599
at home, but they're not— this is starting to break loose a little

395
00:24:39,615 --> 00:24:43,338
bit. They're like, this is too hard. You can't really do both.

396
00:24:43,531 --> 00:24:47,045
You need a place to go. And I opened up a little

397
00:24:47,094 --> 00:24:49,726
executive suite in one of my old buildings where the Wine of the Month Club

398
00:24:49,726 --> 00:24:53,094
was just for that. And it's full already. There's 20 suites there. Yeah,

399
00:24:53,415 --> 00:24:57,006
but I think that goes back to what we were talking about connection though.

400
00:24:57,567 --> 00:25:01,078
Yeah, you know, even in the work environment, you know, having those

401
00:25:01,174 --> 00:25:04,957
connections, especially when you're starting out, you need to have a mentor. You need to

402
00:25:04,957 --> 00:25:08,532
have somebody that you can look to and have those in-person conversations.

403
00:25:09,750 --> 00:25:13,373
And stop in the hallway. And stop in the hallway and, you know,

404
00:25:13,534 --> 00:25:16,916
go have a glass of wine after work or whatever. Yeah, I think that's all

405
00:25:16,916 --> 00:25:20,731
important. What was it about this? You've been to the restaurant, we talked

406
00:25:20,731 --> 00:25:24,505
about Drago Central, our friend Piero

407
00:25:24,505 --> 00:25:28,251
Selvaggio, our mutual friend, and the owners of—

408
00:25:29,408 --> 00:25:31,306
what did you do at Drago? And then

409
00:25:33,416 --> 00:25:36,755
were you working between Drago and Stecca, or what were you doing? Well, I

410
00:25:37,239 --> 00:25:41,062
started with Drago in 2005. I was working

411
00:25:41,094 --> 00:25:44,918
as a server. And I love them. I grew up

412
00:25:44,918 --> 00:25:48,419
with them. And they left in 2016.

413
00:25:48,773 --> 00:25:52,370
Then I was running the place pretty much, me with another

414
00:25:52,370 --> 00:25:56,160
gentleman called Mario. I grew up a lot with them. Oh, Mario, the song

415
00:25:56,160 --> 00:25:59,629
at Celestino? The Celestino, yes. I know him.

416
00:25:59,854 --> 00:26:03,548
That is something else. It's a Broadway for me.

417
00:26:03,805 --> 00:26:06,728
So, but at the time, and I,

418
00:26:07,627 --> 00:26:11,304
I was working lunch and dinner 7 days a week. I

419
00:26:11,481 --> 00:26:14,756
really grew up very well with them. There was a point in my life that,

420
00:26:15,189 --> 00:26:18,834
you know, you, you don't have passion, you want to do something

421
00:26:18,834 --> 00:26:22,141
more. And honestly, I quit the Drago because

422
00:26:22,639 --> 00:26:25,256
we had 3 kids at the time. I had

423
00:26:26,572 --> 00:26:30,297
Valentino, my oldest, he was 3 years old. Francesco,

424
00:26:30,361 --> 00:26:34,005
my little, my second one, 1, and my wife's pregnant on the third one. My

425
00:26:34,053 --> 00:26:37,390
wife worked full-time, so gone all day long. She was getting very

426
00:26:37,390 --> 00:26:40,930
tired. And so I decided to find a

427
00:26:40,930 --> 00:26:44,490
restaurant to manage where the hour was a little bit better than fine dining

428
00:26:44,490 --> 00:26:48,190
because it was difficult for me to come back home at 2 AM

429
00:26:48,190 --> 00:26:51,930
every night. So I became general manager of San Antonio

430
00:26:51,930 --> 00:26:55,490
Winery in downtown LA. Stella Rosa brand. I worked

431
00:26:55,490 --> 00:26:59,210
there for 7 years. But while you were with Santo and Stevie? Santo and Stevie.

432
00:26:59,210 --> 00:27:02,890
7 years GM there. And Madalena. Steve went to Italy to

433
00:27:02,890 --> 00:27:06,150
visit my mom and dad. Really? For a dinner in my mom's house. Well, they're

434
00:27:06,150 --> 00:27:09,694
from Bergamo. I met Maddalena when I was working there. She was

435
00:27:09,694 --> 00:27:13,534
still with us. Even Papa Steve, I have the honor to talk with

436
00:27:13,566 --> 00:27:16,941
him and give him the hug sometimes. So I worked there for AGM 7 years.

437
00:27:17,455 --> 00:27:20,653
That's amazing. And then after that— I'm surprised we didn't meet there because I bought

438
00:27:20,733 --> 00:27:24,397
a lot of wine from Sacco. I was there every day. And then when life

439
00:27:24,525 --> 00:27:27,112
become too— sometimes when my life become too

440
00:27:28,060 --> 00:27:31,676
normal, I don't know if the right way to use our tool, I always like

441
00:27:31,676 --> 00:27:35,285
to find a challenge to to change it, and I decided to

442
00:27:35,285 --> 00:27:39,018
quit and manage the restaurant that was here previously. Oh, right.

443
00:27:39,130 --> 00:27:42,799
Sosta Cucina. Yeah, I remember. And through Sosta Cucina, I met

444
00:27:42,799 --> 00:27:46,275
Wimberly and James, and we created Stecca. So

445
00:27:46,580 --> 00:27:50,265
it's all— So his headwinds and challenges in

446
00:27:50,265 --> 00:27:52,396
this industry. Yeah. What

447
00:27:53,485 --> 00:27:57,314
surprised you? I mean, you're used to a lot of moving parts coming from

448
00:27:57,314 --> 00:28:00,711
the industry you're in, and we talked about different

449
00:28:00,999 --> 00:28:04,671
stages of different projects. What surprised you when you got

450
00:28:04,671 --> 00:28:08,488
into restaurant touring that you didn't expect? Anything? Or you just

451
00:28:08,488 --> 00:28:12,146
said— or you had an open book and you just— I think I am

452
00:28:12,146 --> 00:28:15,659
very risk-averse just as a person. And so— Oh, you are?

453
00:28:15,771 --> 00:28:19,589
Very. I am very much— What are you doing here? I will— no, I

454
00:28:19,701 --> 00:28:23,262
mean, I'm a risk-taker. Sorry, I'm not risk-averse. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Not averse.

455
00:28:24,641 --> 00:28:28,122
And so I think, you know, if anybody's going to jump off the end of

456
00:28:28,170 --> 00:28:31,748
the bridge, I'm usually the first one. And I like that and I love it.

457
00:28:31,973 --> 00:28:34,862
And every day is something different. Is your husband like that too?

458
00:28:36,066 --> 00:28:39,886
Sometimes. Sometimes, yeah. We're not like that at our home. I'm the

459
00:28:39,886 --> 00:28:43,465
guy that'll jump off the bridge. My wife will say, you know, try

460
00:28:43,513 --> 00:28:47,188
to get a rope around my neck. Yeah. Yeah. We're

461
00:28:47,188 --> 00:28:50,944
usually both jumping off at the same time, I'd say. Well, is there something

462
00:28:51,281 --> 00:28:54,635
that when you started this alcohol licensing, food purveying,

463
00:28:56,417 --> 00:29:00,206
Health department, anything that's just like, wow, this is just, you know, a

464
00:29:00,206 --> 00:29:03,177
pain in the rear end? Well, I mean, a pain in the rear end and

465
00:29:03,177 --> 00:29:06,902
surprises are 2 different things, but I don't know if there's— Pain

466
00:29:07,014 --> 00:29:10,322
in the rear end is every day when you wake up

467
00:29:10,482 --> 00:29:13,918
and 1 minute before to go to bed. Yeah, but

468
00:29:13,918 --> 00:29:17,290
it's— and then that's the way I think.

469
00:29:18,655 --> 00:29:22,397
I think that it's like that for anyone that takes his job very

470
00:29:22,445 --> 00:29:26,235
serious. Um, yeah, ambition to— yeah, I mean, I've never—

471
00:29:26,765 --> 00:29:30,492
and be successful, it's— the road is pretty

472
00:29:30,492 --> 00:29:34,234
much the same. Yeah, just change the environment, not the

473
00:29:34,234 --> 00:29:37,479
fatigue and, and the effort that you put them in. It

474
00:29:38,186 --> 00:29:40,788
must be the same. Yeah, but you know, there's something— my father was an immigrant,

475
00:29:40,916 --> 00:29:44,659
came from Cairo, and I love telling a story,

476
00:29:44,755 --> 00:29:48,481
and I, and I always jealous of that story. Well, for sure, I can

477
00:29:48,481 --> 00:29:52,319
see my kids. My kids are wonderful people. They live in— they're

478
00:29:52,319 --> 00:29:55,851
growing up in Hermosa Beach. I grew up in a 300-people

479
00:29:55,996 --> 00:29:59,624
town. Wow, what a difference. Go to school with a log of wood in my

480
00:29:59,769 --> 00:30:03,574
back in elementary school because you have a stove, a solid. And the

481
00:30:03,574 --> 00:30:07,396
thing is that, yes, sometimes when you

482
00:30:07,396 --> 00:30:11,073
leave your country and you're comfortable there, you

483
00:30:11,105 --> 00:30:14,797
move to another country to do better. And America, they

484
00:30:14,957 --> 00:30:18,536
offered this opportunity because I experienced, but I'm

485
00:30:18,568 --> 00:30:22,115
here to do better. Otherwise, for me, if you have to leave your

486
00:30:22,195 --> 00:30:25,854
country, your family, your culture, and do worse than what you did

487
00:30:25,854 --> 00:30:29,529
there, might as well stay in your country. I wouldn't stay in

488
00:30:29,577 --> 00:30:32,979
my town. So I take the challenge to come here. Then I fall in love

489
00:30:33,011 --> 00:30:35,595
with my wife. We build a family. But I think

490
00:30:36,782 --> 00:30:40,168
that if you're hungry to succeed,

491
00:30:40,633 --> 00:30:43,650
then that's what drives you most. You know, they say that

492
00:30:45,272 --> 00:30:49,046
The wolf that climbed the hill is angrier than the wolf that lives

493
00:30:49,078 --> 00:30:52,578
in the hill. Yes, because when you want

494
00:30:52,578 --> 00:30:56,127
something you haven't had for a little bit,

495
00:30:56,753 --> 00:30:59,916
you find a way to get it. Yeah. And the town in Georgia was a

496
00:30:59,980 --> 00:31:03,657
big town? No, it was a small island off the coast. Oh,

497
00:31:03,673 --> 00:31:06,483
really? Yeah, just south of Savannah, Georgia.

498
00:31:08,892 --> 00:31:12,612
I worked in restaurants there. I waited tables, I bartended, I did things like

499
00:31:12,612 --> 00:31:16,284
that through college and high school. Certainly never

500
00:31:16,365 --> 00:31:20,172
operated a restaurant, and that's a completely different beast and

501
00:31:20,334 --> 00:31:24,170
animal. Well, yes. Well, every starving

502
00:31:24,524 --> 00:31:28,210
producer, writer, director, filmmaker has waited tables. Waited

503
00:31:28,226 --> 00:31:31,578
tables, right? Yeah. It's normal, right? Yeah, it's totally normal. So

504
00:31:32,079 --> 00:31:34,826
I think the biggest— I don't know if your question was about the challenge though,

505
00:31:34,890 --> 00:31:38,649
but— and Giorgio hit on it a little bit. It's like even This

506
00:31:38,649 --> 00:31:42,261
community has been so supportive of us and has been so

507
00:31:42,277 --> 00:31:46,067
generous with the love that they've given us and how they have

508
00:31:46,067 --> 00:31:48,989
supported us over the last year. And

509
00:31:50,065 --> 00:31:53,838
we can have 150 people on a night and 4-star

510
00:31:53,838 --> 00:31:57,579
reviews, 5-star reviews, and press and all of these things that we have been

511
00:31:57,676 --> 00:32:01,192
blessed with. But Giorgio and I both come from the mindset that

512
00:32:01,321 --> 00:32:05,142
something can always be better. And we never let that go. And

513
00:32:05,302 --> 00:32:08,818
every single day is day one. Correct. And every

514
00:32:08,850 --> 00:32:12,495
single day we have to do better than the day before or

515
00:32:13,329 --> 00:32:17,022
we're going in the wrong direction. I think that's an important criteria. And the reason

516
00:32:17,022 --> 00:32:19,815
I brought up the sort of the direction I was going with that question was

517
00:32:19,831 --> 00:32:23,427
really there's a certain amount of risk involved with

518
00:32:23,540 --> 00:32:27,184
coming to America and basically putting

519
00:32:27,232 --> 00:32:30,591
everything behind you and trying to forge a new life. And I find that A

520
00:32:30,591 --> 00:32:33,659
fascinating part of any immigrant to America,

521
00:32:34,627 --> 00:32:37,663
and how do we instill that kind

522
00:32:38,422 --> 00:32:42,071
of motivation and challenge and guide to success

523
00:32:42,280 --> 00:32:46,103
inside of America with somebody that was raised in Hermosa

524
00:32:46,151 --> 00:32:49,545
Beach? I was raised at the beach. I mean, I was surfing, not

525
00:32:49,852 --> 00:32:53,612
trying to figure out how to get to America with $35 in my pocket. I

526
00:32:53,628 --> 00:32:56,886
wonder how that forms, you know, these. different generations?

527
00:32:57,868 --> 00:33:01,523
Well, the mentality, what

528
00:33:01,668 --> 00:33:05,500
Wimberley said, you can always do better. It's reflected also in your

529
00:33:05,532 --> 00:33:09,375
life. Where do they come from? Why not? Where do they come from for

530
00:33:09,375 --> 00:33:13,186
you? Your parents? Well, my parents, they teach

531
00:33:13,314 --> 00:33:17,034
me how— well, they teach me how to travel, how to

532
00:33:17,034 --> 00:33:20,577
be open-minded. At the same time, also, we have

533
00:33:20,577 --> 00:33:24,043
situations when I born in a

534
00:33:24,043 --> 00:33:27,442
wealthy environment, and, and then

535
00:33:27,971 --> 00:33:31,818
my parents somehow, some bad decision at work,

536
00:33:32,379 --> 00:33:36,082
the wealth environment transformed in not good environment.

537
00:33:36,851 --> 00:33:40,522
And so probably my luck that I experienced both, and

538
00:33:40,635 --> 00:33:43,889
now I know what I want to be. But if I have to be in

539
00:33:43,921 --> 00:33:47,367
the one that is not the good one, I can

540
00:33:47,367 --> 00:33:50,864
handle it. I can find a way to I move on.

541
00:33:51,394 --> 00:33:55,231
It's not like I'm going just like let myself go. I had my

542
00:33:55,295 --> 00:33:58,876
experience, but now I know what, what I want to be, and,

543
00:33:59,727 --> 00:34:02,874
and I'm not going to go back there for sure. So I move on. I

544
00:34:02,938 --> 00:34:06,246
mean, there's a certain amount of— and I have a podcast called The Song of

545
00:34:06,246 --> 00:34:09,489
America where I interview immigration to America, and there's stories.

546
00:34:10,324 --> 00:34:12,909
Unfortunately, I don't have much time to make this thing work, but I do have

547
00:34:12,909 --> 00:34:16,538
about 10 episodes, and they're incredible stories. And I can see where

548
00:34:16,987 --> 00:34:20,325
your motivation is driven because of my family's integration.

549
00:34:20,742 --> 00:34:23,872
But I wonder, like, where did your motivation come from? Because this is a lot

550
00:34:23,872 --> 00:34:27,339
of work. The industry you're in is a lot of work. Is it just the

551
00:34:27,403 --> 00:34:30,565
challenge? Is it just, I want to be the best at doing this? Was that

552
00:34:30,565 --> 00:34:34,079
something that was instilled in you as a child? Yeah, I think it, I

553
00:34:34,320 --> 00:34:38,108
think it starts at home. I came from a very disciplined

554
00:34:38,108 --> 00:34:41,654
environment from both of my parents. I

555
00:34:41,863 --> 00:34:44,863
grew up with an incredible

556
00:34:46,355 --> 00:34:49,852
group of strong female family members who all worked really

557
00:34:49,949 --> 00:34:53,751
hard. So that example was always instilled. And, you

558
00:34:53,751 --> 00:34:57,264
know, we— the motto in our house was there were no excuses and there were

559
00:34:57,264 --> 00:35:00,986
no handouts. Wow. And so if you didn't earn it

560
00:35:01,339 --> 00:35:04,452
and do it, then it didn't happen. And,

561
00:35:05,125 --> 00:35:08,865
you know, Giorgio has 3 boys. I have a son and a daughter, and

562
00:35:09,378 --> 00:35:12,686
we sort of live that same way even though we're in Manhattan Beach,

563
00:35:12,911 --> 00:35:16,523
California. You know, they're gonna learn by example.

564
00:35:16,764 --> 00:35:20,457
Yeah. And, um, and hopefully they

565
00:35:20,457 --> 00:35:24,230
don't have to immigrate anywhere, and, you know, hopefully we

566
00:35:24,294 --> 00:35:27,633
can give them a better life than what we've had.

567
00:35:28,324 --> 00:35:31,631
But they're gonna have to work for it, and it's not gonna be handed out.

568
00:35:32,322 --> 00:35:35,695
That's the— that's a really solid position. Because I think

569
00:35:37,463 --> 00:35:41,255
generationally you have extra pressures anyway. Millennials are different than Gen Zers, and

570
00:35:41,255 --> 00:35:44,984
I'm a baby boomer, so they're all different. But they— you— all my kids

571
00:35:44,984 --> 00:35:48,776
are hardworking. Millennials aren't known for that, right? But they're all

572
00:35:48,888 --> 00:35:52,728
really hard workers. That's because my wife and I worked hard. And the people

573
00:35:52,728 --> 00:35:55,668
in the wine trade that came to visit me and sell me wine saw that

574
00:35:55,668 --> 00:35:58,692
we worked hard and we were always doing something to do that. And I don't

575
00:35:58,757 --> 00:36:02,123
know if it was fear of not looking back. It's And not wanting to look

576
00:36:02,187 --> 00:36:05,800
back and find the mistakes I made. I don't know what it is. Maybe it

577
00:36:05,800 --> 00:36:09,220
was being around my dad who took me to his

578
00:36:09,332 --> 00:36:12,945
management meetings at nighttime at the pharmacies in Whittier, you know,

579
00:36:13,748 --> 00:36:17,473
or go clean the carpets at midnight because the Inglewood store,

580
00:36:17,602 --> 00:36:20,893
the carpets are dirty. You know, I'm like, okay, Dad, whatever you want, I'll go

581
00:36:20,893 --> 00:36:24,683
do it, right? Was it like that in your home then? Oh, in my home?

582
00:36:24,747 --> 00:36:28,515
Yeah. Oh, for sure. You know, boys, girls, we

583
00:36:28,579 --> 00:36:32,345
all did all the work. It didn't matter what it was. I mowed the

584
00:36:32,361 --> 00:36:36,063
lawn. I dug holes in the front yard with, you

585
00:36:36,063 --> 00:36:39,764
know, to plant trees and also helped my mom peel

586
00:36:39,812 --> 00:36:43,514
peaches in the kitchen. You know, it was like everybody all hands on deck.

587
00:36:43,562 --> 00:36:46,831
Yeah, that was true. My mom would try to get me to pick the strawberries,

588
00:36:47,584 --> 00:36:50,596
but I didn't really take to that too well. So

589
00:36:50,933 --> 00:36:54,637
what's happening here? uh, at Stecca. Your wine

590
00:36:54,637 --> 00:36:58,487
list is incredible. Where did that come from and how are you

591
00:36:58,487 --> 00:37:02,177
curating this list? The wine list comes from a little

592
00:37:02,177 --> 00:37:06,027
bit old experience that I work in, um, a bit half based

593
00:37:06,027 --> 00:37:09,781
on my personal taste. I saw wine that

594
00:37:10,615 --> 00:37:13,279
naturally pairing to the food that I serve.

595
00:37:14,530 --> 00:37:16,696
Second base— Do you believe in that? Let me stop you there. Do you believe

596
00:37:16,696 --> 00:37:18,781
in food pairing? A little bit.

597
00:37:20,531 --> 00:37:24,207
I believe more like, um, it's like if you are in a, um,

598
00:37:24,897 --> 00:37:28,573
if you ride in a car in a big road, you have, you have the

599
00:37:28,573 --> 00:37:31,945
road without bumps and you drive, and then there is a road with a little

600
00:37:31,945 --> 00:37:35,781
bit bumps. You want, if you like bumps, you're welcome to. That's

601
00:37:35,781 --> 00:37:39,618
it. I've never, all these years, 500 episodes, I've never heard that analogy.

602
00:37:39,714 --> 00:37:43,021
You can go in the bumps, you enjoy it, and it means try it. Like

603
00:37:43,021 --> 00:37:46,296
you said, that's why it'll be different, but if you like it, why not? Yeah,

604
00:37:46,392 --> 00:37:49,986
you want to stay straight. The pairing, I mean, that, that's pretty much

605
00:37:50,002 --> 00:37:53,852
what it— the pairing is not really too much to, I think,

606
00:37:54,028 --> 00:37:57,798
overpower the dish, but not to ruin it. Yeah. Okay.

607
00:37:58,103 --> 00:38:01,664
Enhance it. Which, I mean, maybe, maybe a very acidic wine,

608
00:38:02,578 --> 00:38:06,027
red, very strong. If you eat an anchovy pasta, would be the

609
00:38:06,123 --> 00:38:09,861
tannin very killing the flavor, just because naturally

610
00:38:10,599 --> 00:38:14,193
the tannin in your mouth to create this sort of a weird feeling.

611
00:38:15,027 --> 00:38:18,735
That's just the pairing for me. It's not something that you need

612
00:38:18,799 --> 00:38:22,571
to follow because each of us have our own taste and our

613
00:38:23,357 --> 00:38:26,936
way to express our palate. So why not? Everything is

614
00:38:26,936 --> 00:38:29,889
permitted in the kitchen. I think that it's

615
00:38:30,258 --> 00:38:33,998
overplayed and that it's a problem

616
00:38:34,046 --> 00:38:37,176
in the wine industry in general. It has been for hundreds of years really, for

617
00:38:37,176 --> 00:38:41,011
the most part, but modern history that wine's intimidating. People don't

618
00:38:41,028 --> 00:38:43,483
understand it. They don't want to hear those things. And when they do hear it,

619
00:38:43,595 --> 00:38:46,934
their heads swim with food pairings. It's one of those ideas.

620
00:38:47,833 --> 00:38:49,935
And it really comes down to, if you like, like you said, if you like

621
00:38:49,935 --> 00:38:53,354
the bumpy road, then have the bumpy road. Perfectly

622
00:38:53,691 --> 00:38:57,446
fine. There's obvious pairings that

623
00:38:57,478 --> 00:39:01,138
don't work right, that just feel funny. That's okay too. One of the things

624
00:39:01,234 --> 00:39:04,941
I do when I had a staff was have them sip

625
00:39:05,583 --> 00:39:09,382
Nebbiolo, for instance, and then have a bite of a cucumber with the skin on

626
00:39:09,446 --> 00:39:12,235
and then taste it again and you'll find it completely different. So I see there's

627
00:39:12,235 --> 00:39:15,842
a thing. But one of the concepts I think romantically I

628
00:39:15,906 --> 00:39:19,224
really love, and I hope it's true, which is what

629
00:39:19,673 --> 00:39:22,623
grows together goes together. And that in

630
00:39:22,959 --> 00:39:26,758
Carnuba, you know, in Piemonte, that the foods grown

631
00:39:26,758 --> 00:39:30,509
around there in Alba and that kind of grew up with

632
00:39:30,509 --> 00:39:34,205
the wines that are grown there do have synergy, not just because the

633
00:39:34,205 --> 00:39:38,049
same soil and the same weather and the same terroir. They do have

634
00:39:38,065 --> 00:39:41,887
synergy. They do. And if

635
00:39:41,967 --> 00:39:45,559
they grow up there for 1,000 years, there's really

636
00:39:47,202 --> 00:39:50,628
a reason that maybe requires an explanation,

637
00:39:51,142 --> 00:39:54,597
or maybe not. You just take it because it's there.

638
00:39:54,838 --> 00:39:57,875
Yeah. It's like asking why the sky is blue.

639
00:39:59,110 --> 00:40:02,741
Well, it's blue. Could be green or red, but I don't

640
00:40:02,741 --> 00:40:06,292
even think about that. We just like it because it's blue and we take it

641
00:40:06,903 --> 00:40:10,389
because it's that. But definitely for certain

642
00:40:10,389 --> 00:40:14,117
soils, certain minerality, every region offers

643
00:40:14,293 --> 00:40:17,587
whatever grows, whatever grows got together, right? And so

644
00:40:18,969 --> 00:40:22,504
if truffle, mushroom, cow, and

645
00:40:22,504 --> 00:40:25,811
Nebbiolo grow there, for sure. That's right. I think it must be

646
00:40:25,811 --> 00:40:29,521
romantic. Romantically, I want that to happen. And here's the other reason I

647
00:40:29,521 --> 00:40:32,424
like this idea. I'm going to ask our American counterpart here.

648
00:40:34,380 --> 00:40:38,172
I'm jealous of places where he grew up. I'm jealous of the

649
00:40:38,172 --> 00:40:41,996
French. I'm jealous because they protect their food, their

650
00:40:42,028 --> 00:40:45,640
cheese. They protect their butter. They protect their wine. On the flip side of

651
00:40:45,656 --> 00:40:48,876
that, they come to America because there are no rules.

652
00:40:49,459 --> 00:40:52,371
You can grow whatever you want, wherever you want, and you can try anything you

653
00:40:52,371 --> 00:40:55,812
want to do. in the kitchen to see if it works. And so the New

654
00:40:55,957 --> 00:40:59,739
World to them is really an attractive place. But I— maybe

655
00:40:59,739 --> 00:41:03,410
the grass is always greener. But have you ever thought about the

656
00:41:03,410 --> 00:41:07,176
way that— you just got back from Sardinia. Very protected

657
00:41:07,176 --> 00:41:10,654
place, right? Very. You know, the wines and the food and the salty air. That's

658
00:41:10,702 --> 00:41:14,469
the best. Anyway, so how do you feel about that concept?

659
00:41:14,757 --> 00:41:18,395
Well, I would definitely lean more Old World. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, we spend a

660
00:41:18,395 --> 00:41:21,633
lot of time in Europe and I've traveled extensively throughout and

661
00:41:23,264 --> 00:41:26,718
You know, your butter and your tomatoes taste very

662
00:41:26,782 --> 00:41:30,430
different in Italy than in Sardinia or anywhere else,

663
00:41:30,995 --> 00:41:34,209
you know, than they do here. And there's a reason for that.

664
00:41:36,266 --> 00:41:39,834
And I— anything that we can do to bring some of that old-world

665
00:41:39,882 --> 00:41:43,161
mentality in our dishes and our wines,

666
00:41:43,659 --> 00:41:47,243
I think that we would benefit greatly. We're in

667
00:41:47,525 --> 00:41:51,347
Dublin. last month, and we went on a

668
00:41:51,347 --> 00:41:54,462
walking food tour. In fact, the woman's going on the show. It was really interesting.

669
00:41:54,591 --> 00:41:58,332
And we went into a French bakery in Dublin. It wasn't Dublin. It was a

670
00:41:58,332 --> 00:42:01,993
little village outside Dublin. And anyway, they

671
00:42:02,041 --> 00:42:05,605
were— all the butter for their croissants was from France.

672
00:42:05,894 --> 00:42:09,716
All the flour was from France. And so the water wasn't. But

673
00:42:10,551 --> 00:42:14,310
it almost feels like you could do— even do that. and still not

674
00:42:14,310 --> 00:42:17,868
get that feeling you get when you go back to the village in

675
00:42:17,868 --> 00:42:21,635
Piemonte because the weather and the soil and everything, it's the

676
00:42:21,635 --> 00:42:25,213
whole culture. Mm-hmm. And I think food is like,

677
00:42:25,278 --> 00:42:29,086
it's like wine, right? In the

678
00:42:29,086 --> 00:42:32,766
sense of it's also the experience. You come to this

679
00:42:32,766 --> 00:42:35,986
restaurant and you feel like you said in somebody's living room and you're having a

680
00:42:35,986 --> 00:42:38,756
meal and there's lots of volume and there's lots of things going on and you

681
00:42:38,756 --> 00:42:42,546
leave there with this wonderful experience that you'll remember all the time. that you

682
00:42:42,595 --> 00:42:46,382
want to come back to. And it's the same reason why when you go

683
00:42:46,527 --> 00:42:50,234
to— well, we were just in Rome and we're

684
00:42:50,234 --> 00:42:53,754
sitting in front of the Parthenon and we're having a glass of wine

685
00:42:54,573 --> 00:42:58,382
and you say, this is the best wine I've ever had, with this trattoria,

686
00:42:58,510 --> 00:43:02,252
you know, Gian, yeah. From a fiasco, right? And you

687
00:43:02,252 --> 00:43:05,311
bring that bottle home and you take it home and you go, it doesn't really

688
00:43:05,327 --> 00:43:09,071
taste the same, right? It's the experience. It's the

689
00:43:09,071 --> 00:43:12,910
experience because you're hitting on your emotions. And that's

690
00:43:12,910 --> 00:43:16,732
what I think we're doing here is we're creating an emotional experience

691
00:43:16,732 --> 00:43:20,555
and we're tapping into that at each of our tables. And that's what we

692
00:43:20,571 --> 00:43:23,912
want. That's very intentional. Your sommelier, the tall gentleman,

693
00:43:24,988 --> 00:43:27,880
wavy hair. Diego. His name's Diego.

694
00:43:28,104 --> 00:43:31,831
He's our manager and partner. He does a

695
00:43:31,895 --> 00:43:35,530
really good job of making you feel feel exactly what you're just talking about. Yeah,

696
00:43:35,530 --> 00:43:39,250
he's incredible. What a talented— uh, it's a talent to do that.

697
00:43:39,250 --> 00:43:42,990
Yeah. And you can't do it without the passion. We were servers together for 12

698
00:43:42,990 --> 00:43:46,710
years. Really? So where was

699
00:43:46,710 --> 00:43:50,530
that at? Celestino. Celestino? Yep, with him 12 years. I mean,

700
00:43:50,530 --> 00:43:53,750
I was telling him off camera that I didn't really care for Celestino so much.

701
00:43:54,220 --> 00:43:58,030
I didn't know they were there. I drive through here

702
00:43:58,030 --> 00:44:01,810
all the time. I know. Well, everybody, like I said, everybody has his

703
00:44:01,810 --> 00:44:05,079
own— But we go to Drago all the time. You know, you can't be everyone's

704
00:44:05,079 --> 00:44:08,898
cup of tea. Drago have the beautiful— when

705
00:44:08,946 --> 00:44:12,443
you really mix Drago Cenn through the design,

706
00:44:13,438 --> 00:44:16,246
prominent, luxurious, beautiful.

707
00:44:16,887 --> 00:44:20,641
Celestino remain more like that trattoria. Yeah, and be like

708
00:44:20,657 --> 00:44:24,492
that forever. But you know, that's

709
00:44:24,492 --> 00:44:28,182
what it is. People— Well, we're out of time. It's

710
00:44:28,182 --> 00:44:31,150
hard to believe, but it's much to talk about, but we'll be

711
00:44:31,150 --> 00:44:34,410
back and we'll be back for dinner for sure.

712
00:44:34,570 --> 00:44:37,550
Please. And we have friends that want to come. And you know what's amazing to

713
00:44:37,550 --> 00:44:40,370
me? I wrote this down. I didn't bring it up yet, but as long as

714
00:44:40,370 --> 00:44:43,210
you've been here, which is over a year at least, right? I mean, 2 years?

715
00:44:43,210 --> 00:44:47,010
We just celebrated a year in May. Okay, in May. So, so many

716
00:44:47,010 --> 00:44:50,670
people have never still heard of it. And that's good, right? Because you're

717
00:44:50,670 --> 00:44:54,350
busy. It's hard to get a reservation sometimes. And you still

718
00:44:54,350 --> 00:44:58,010
have this whole group of people that need to experience it.

719
00:44:58,010 --> 00:45:01,687
Yeah. I know that whenever we have guests— and by the way,

720
00:45:01,992 --> 00:45:04,909
we're rebuilding our house here on 18th Street and we're going to have 6 parking

721
00:45:04,909 --> 00:45:08,499
spots. So they can't give us the complaint that there's no

722
00:45:08,499 --> 00:45:11,577
parking here most of the week. Lucky you.

723
00:45:12,346 --> 00:45:15,375
We don't have 6 parking spots.

724
00:45:16,257 --> 00:45:20,023
I told my wife, I said, I don't care if it costs us 500 square

725
00:45:20,023 --> 00:45:23,421
feet of living. We are parking people so that we can walk to

726
00:45:23,421 --> 00:45:26,819
Stecca, we can walk to the Pier Avenue and not worry about it.

727
00:45:27,550 --> 00:45:30,317
Anyway, such an honor to have you on the show. I really appreciate the time.

728
00:45:30,479 --> 00:45:33,376
Thank you. We really appreciate it. Thank you so much again. Really, with my heart.

729
00:45:33,570 --> 00:45:35,366
Thank you. Cheers. Cheers. Cheers.