I grew up in a land rich in beautiful fruits and incredible landscapes and places. I remember the smells and sounds as I ran around the olive groves during my childhood summers, my heart and soul full of life. Olive oil is one of those elements and a taste that brings me back to those times. I miss the anticipation of summer. I miss the bread with olive oil and salt my mother would prepare for me. I miss the riding two to a bicycle, and I miss the young me, happy and carefree, coming home dirty of grass. I love the Asaro Family’s olive oil and I admire what they have done for a century now in Partanna, Sicily. They are able to bring me back to those summers, every time I taste this olive oil, it makes me miss Sicily and those days a little less. It’s an honor for us to share these memories with you. We hope this is a taste that brings as much joy to your home as it does to ours. The ceramics, well that was my wife’s idea. She wanted me to feel at home in the states and started using her grandmother’s ceramics and buying them from Italy. We sat in the kitchen painting together and discussing designs for weeks. We hope you feel the warmth and joy of using them as we do.
DB
I had a very American-Italian father. His whole family, in fact, was so proud of being Italian. “We are Italian”, “You know, us Italians”, “That’s how Italians do it!” - but like, no one spoke Italian or had lived there since my Great-Grandparents. When I met my husband, I soon realized there was a major difference between Italians and American-Italians, and that both are very real things. For the last almost six years, my husband has taught me so much about what it means to be Italian, specifically southern Italian, and a lot of it really comes down to simplicity. His appreciation for the taste of a tomato, a simple pasta, and most importantly, olive oil, is a very beautiful quality. So as he started teaching me to cook, and we started making our little cooking videos, I realized I wanted to provide products to our viewers that made them feel the way we feel in this house, or more importantly when we are in Italy. Making olive oil with the Asaro Family is unimaginable - they have been making olive oil from olives grown on their land in Sicily since 1916. They are royalty, and most importantly, they are a loving family proud of what they do. This partnership with the family is one of our proudest moments. This product is special, you can taste and feel it from your mouth to your bones.
The ceramics were a very natural progression. We had some custom pasta bowls made for our wedding and my God, I swear I get asked about it every day, even three years later. I found Martina and her company Ci Ci Leu naturally on Instagram. She shares our same values and is working hard to create work, preserve a dying craft, and provide quality, hand-made, Italian products, in her native Puglia. Davide and I spent months creating designs we thought represented his country, but with fun ease, and charm - designs that would simply bring joy to your home.
PB