Tell me a story…

I find myself fulfilled and content for the first time in my life: cooking the food that has shaped my life, and telling the stories of my people and my land, through Tour Abruzzo. I find myself returning again and again to these old stories of my food tradition — telling them, listening to them, living them.

We are losing the ability to tell and listen to stories. Attention spans are shortening, and a good story, like a good meal, takes time. When I go out to eat now, I rarely feel emotion, or a connection to something beyond the plate in front of me.

I come from a small village in the mountains of Italy, where my family has owned a restaurant since the Second World War. We have always been deeply local, sustaining ourselves through community and shared work. My family built a strong sense of belonging around the restaurant — a place where individuality disappeared to give space to something collective.

What touches me most is that around the table we are all equals, simply sharing a meal, as people have done since the beginning of humanity. The moment of eating together is, in my experience, the best moment for stories. All the better if the meal is slow, intentional and nourishing. My favourite moment from Tour Abruzzo this year was a long lunch at Rito Pane where we asked our guests why they had come. For each guest, their presence there was deeply meaningful: reconnection to their Italian heritage; a pilgrimage after losing a loved one; a step into doing something for oneself after decades devoted to family; a celebration of a new stage of life; a re-embrace of a long-forgotten adventurous spirit. We all cried and laughed and I’ll never forget those stories told from your hearts.