GUSTI Blog

Gustiamo, Keep Your Day Job!

We, at Gustiamo, are an amazing group of hard workers, passionate about what we do. We seek perfection, love our producers, cook and eat. Singing and dancing are clearly not things we do regularly and are NOT our forte. This video (if you dare to watch it, click the arrow below)  was of our Christmas party, with Martina, Anne, Stefano, Kunle and our landlord of eight years, John Fusco. The video is titled "DON'T GIVE UP YOUR DAY JOB".

Gabriele Riva, the Pastry Chef at Nobu

Stefano and I went to make our first delivery to legendary Nobu restaurant on 57th streed in NYC and had a lovely chat with its amazing pastry chef, Gabriele Riva (left in the picture, with Stefano). So young and so accomplished, already! How is it possible? Gabriele started when he was a kid. Instead of playing with his friends, when not in school, he preferred to play with flour, eggs, and water; he would help his father, also a pastry chef, in his bakery in Milano. It must be in the genes! He knew right away what his future would be. He attended the best culinary school in Italy and learned from best pastry chefs, including Luigi Biasetto. Then, he started to work and see the world: Spain, France, back to Italy and then London, when he started to work at Nobu.

  At Nobu, they saw Gabriele's potential immediately and transferred him to NY, where he oversees the dessert menu at their three restaurants plus the one in Los Angeles.  Not only! Gabriele is a real celebrity! He even went to Martha Stewart who gave him an adorable and long interview (long because Gabriele showed her how to make Panettone - which takes forever). You can watch it here!

Gabriele's mantra is: simplicity and best ingredients. That's how and why we met! Gabriele uses our Pianogrillo EV Olive Oil in many of his creations, in particular his signature dessert: Equilibrium. Go to Nobu, eat great food and make sure you leave room for dessert. You are in for a treat!

Petra Flour, Stone Milled by Molino Quaglia! Are you Petra Worthy, Too???

Petra flour, the stone milled flour made by Molino Quaglia, near Padova, will be in our warehouse in the Spring 2011. We know very little about flour: the closest l get to it is making bread at home, which is often a failure. Don't worry; by spring, we will be prepared!!! We are reading everything about flour; we keep consulting the Quaglia family; we ask our friends who know and cook with flour. We also give a bag of flour to try to the friends we think are "Petra-worthy". Odette Fada, who came to the office for lunch, the other day, considered one of the best chefs in NYC, is certainly very Petra worthy!!! In the video below (click the arrow below) Stefano explains to Odette the difference between Petra number 3 and number 9. I'm not sure I understand, either! It's going to be a long learning process. Anyhow, Odette promised she will try the flour and will get back to us! Grazie Odette. If you think of yourself Petra-worthy, too, let's talk!!!

Panettone and Pandoro. And the Special Thing Stefano Does to Them!

The perfect gift Panettone and Pandoro (left) just arrived!!! They are freshly baked by Luigi Biasetto, master baker/pastry chef and award winner, in Padova. Luigi uses only the freshest and best ingredients, of course. But his secret is the flour: it's Petra stone milled flour made by Molino Quaglia, a couple of kilometers from the bakery. How local is this???

As soon as the cakes arrived in the warehouse, we opened and tasted them (it's called quality control - what a job!). Our Stefano started to do something - his special thing - to the Pandoro I had never seen before! This is a "How To" video. How to finish and how to present the Pandoro. Brilliant! Martha Stewart watch out! Watch the video and click on the arrow below and learn how Italians do it. Enjoy Italy's Best Panettone and Pandoro!

 

Women-Owned Company. What For?

We were kind of proud of our "women-owned business" certification but in fact, recently all we gained from it was an unhappy customer. This is what he just wrote to us:

"Could you image anything more brutta figura than, as a woman, your receiving a business solicitation from a firm that advertised itself as a "certified men-owned business?"

"Basta with this nonsense. It's discriminatory, unwelcoming, and just plain foolish."

"Senta, scusi, but why don't you just tell all of your male customers, "Va fa in culo"?".

"My Italian is obviously poor, but I surely get your message. Your amico, XXX"

Lovely message! What do you think? Is XXX right and the message unwelcoming?

Saraghina - Great Italian Food in the Middle of Nowhere

Our colleague and friend, Stefano, lives in Bed Stuy, Brooklyn, and often complains about the tough neighborhood and how far it is from the office. 2 negatives evidently more than compensated by the positives of inexpensive rent and vicinity to Saraghina, which has become Stefano and Chiara's, his girlfriend, primary dining room. Stefano marvels all the times about the chefs and coowners Chicco and Edo's food, pizza and hospitality. It's been months that we keep saying we should all go.
The other day, catching up with my old stack of New Yorkers, I made it to the November issue - 2009, that is - and what do I see? Tables for Two on Saraghina! Truly excited, because I felt like Edo and his staff  were my friends, too. If you are a friend of my friend, you are my friend. Lyla Byock's great review in the New Yorker only confirmed Stefano's descriptions. Belated congratulations on the great article. All deserved. And ... I really want to go, now.

The Doors of Our Warehouse are Open - No Purchase Necessary!

Of the series: we love to see you in the warehouse, in the Bronx. We can do all the tasting of our products and talk as much as we want (and we talk a lot!) - nobody can stop us! It's our home. As Jon was saying good bye, Antonio says hello. Antonio Vozzolo often comes to the warehouse. He sits at the computer, places his order, prints the order form, picks and packs it. Our best customer! We don't need to do anything! Why all this familiarity? Antonio used to work at Gustiamo a few years ago and knows how to move around here! Antonio loves our food! As he says here, in another of our memorable interviews, he likes Sant'Eustachio coffee, Tratturello Olive Oil, the capers and the new Faella pasta from Gragnano. When Antonio worked at Gustiamo, he got interested in our importing operations and became a US Customs broker. He just opened his own company, Pangaea Logistics, an international shipping and relocation company. Good luck, Antonio, with your new adventure!

Have a coffee with Gustiamo and you'll fall in love, too.

Thanks to Woman Around Town, who wrote a splendid article about Gustiamo, its founders, philosophy and products.

Giovanna (Jane Hope Fox) and I had a lovely chat one evening over a cup of Sant'Eustachio coffee. Passion is catching. When you read Giovanna's article, you'll feel she came to love our products almost as much as we do. She mentions a few: Martelli and Latini pasta, Piennolo tomatoes by Casa Barone on Mount Vesuvio, cookies by Di Ciaccio in Gaeta, nougats and jams by Caffe' Sicilia in Noto... There is also a lovely picture in the article of me and Martina in our warehouse. We took it: not bad, either!

Giovanna's article ends with: " Every product has a story, a history and an Italian family behind it. Shopping with Gustiamo is a unique experience; it is almost like a quick trip to la bella Italia."  Beautiful. Coming from Giovanna, an Italophile who travels to Italy very often and lived in Florence for many years, you ought to believe! Grazie mille Giovanna, it was a pleasure meeting you, too.

 

Piennolo Tomatoes at BKLYN LARDER

  Tomorrow, Saturday Oct 17, from 2 and 5pm at Brooklyn Larder, the new but already legendary food shop in Brooklyn, we'll do a presentation of our fantastic Piennolo Vine Tomatoes. You will be able to ask the question you never dared to ask: why are these tomatoes so damn expensive and are they worth it?
Sergio (Bklyn Larder) will cook for you a special pasta dish with Piennolo tomatoes, tubetti pasta and lentils.
Stefano (Gustiamo) will prepare bruschetta with Piennolo tomatoes. 

Try these and you'll understand what we are talking about. So stop by, say hello, grab a recipe, hear everything about it and taste the sun of Mount Vesuvio National Park.

Stefano in America

 This is a story of honesty, passion and persistence: all winning ingredients for a long succesful relationship.

Stefano emailed Gustiamo last March, out of the blue. Just graduated from the Slow Food University of Gastronomic Sciences, it was difficult for Stefano to find a job in Italy. He wanted to come to work in America. Yes, and I want to become a rock star ... I thought, at first! Do you know how many similar emails we receive? A lot! What made me think this was not such a crazy idea was the fact that Stefano seemed honest, had a real passion for food and he was persistent without driving me nuts. After many emails, skype calls, a meeting in Roma, visa application, Stefano's dream came through and he is now in our office.

Stefano knows (or would study) everything there is to know about Italian real food products and how to use them. He will tell you to break a bay leaf in the stew to release its fragrance (I did it, last night, when I made my beef stew: what a difference!); what is the difference between basil from Pra and your ordinary basil; what is the proper name of the little barrels where the traditional balsamic vinegar ages for decades (vasselli). Wait until his English becomes perfect (a couple of weeks?) and watch out! Stefano, welcome to Gustiamo and good luck to you!