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During those first few weeks of the Covid-19 outbreak, the Rome newspaper Il Foglio ran a panicky headline that proclaimed “La morte del bacio” (The Death of Kissing). In the age of social distancing, Italians wondered if smooching would soon go the way of the Roman Empire. One hundred and forty miles down the coast, in Naples, where restaurants we...

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Stories of Italy’s Matilde Antonacci and Dario Buratto, both born in 1981, only need a few words in a WhatsApp chat to understand each other. We met Dario of Stories of Italy, the studio whose name declares a mission – to tell the story of their country outside Italy (but not only). Matilde and Dario met at university twenty years ago, on the very...

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President’s Day comes with few notable traditions. But a toast of “Philip” Cabernet Sauvignon from the Fonterutoli Estate in Tuscany, Italy is an appropriate option. The namesake, Philip Mazzei, was an illustrious member of an Italian winemaking family that taught Thomas Jefferson, America's second president, the ins and outs of Italian wine over 2...

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In 2015, the Beer Judge Certification Program guidelines were updated to include a brand-new category: Italian Grape Ale.  With its relatively young beer movement, Italy had long stood apart from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, and other European neighbors, in that it was not widely recognized for having a native beer style. But here was a di...

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Thick, sweet, and creamy: the holy trinity of a world-renowned spread made of hazelnuts, the then substitute to the scarcity of cocoa and the foundation of its fame and fortune. For the taste buds that cry out for sugary delight in breakfast, lathering a spoonful of this gooey cream on toast, pancakes, waffles or a bowl of oatmeal curbs the sweet-t...

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In Italy, after a hearty meal on a cold winter's night, we reach for grappa, a traditional digestivo, or after-dinner drink. Learn more about this Italian liquor with our guide below. WHAT IS GRAPPA?  Grappa is made by distilling the pomace (a blend of grape seeds, stalks, and stems) leftover from the wine-making process. (It's the perfect example...

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For the ancestral footwear factories that dot Italy's eastern coast, March is one of the busiest months. Not only do these four weeks arrive smackdab in the middle of manufacturers' enormous spring deliveries, they also usher in the lucrative resort season, too. So as the Northern Hemisphere begins its annual defrost, Italy's family-run operations...

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Last Friday, my 20-year-old heater stopped working, under duress from a historic snowstorm that ripped through Portland. On Monday morning, I woke up shivering, confused as to why my electric space heater had shut off overnight—and then I realized my power was out. The power returned Tuesday evening, and I sent a triumphant text to my coworkers. “I...

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"How much corvina did you use?” asks Giacomo Bretzel. The photographer is my Valpolicella travel companion, and we’re currently in the Pasqua cellars about to complete the final phase of the winemaker’s new tasting experience. In the aging room sits a table topped with various tools of the trade: two “wine thieves” (pipettes used to draw small amou...

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Italian popular music at the turn of the 20th century was like a small child, ready to absorb the inputs coming from the outside world. It was strongly, and somewhat randomly, influenced by the Opera and by the so called Neapolitan Song and by foreign musical styles. Styles such as the French Café Chantant or the American Charleston. Then, First Wo...

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