Massimo Tundo didn’t feel like going out that night in November 2003. A friend had to push hard to get him to join a dinner party at a restaurant in Piacenza, Italy. Massimo sat across from a woman with short red hair, warm eyes and something about her that kept them talking all night.

Elisabetta Callegaro, who was working as a chef on a sailboat, knew something was happening between them when Massimo reached across the table to share his roasted potatoes. “It was like he knew they were my favorite,” she said. Massimo told her that he was moving to Florida to open a pasta company. They started dating anyway.