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My husband and I renewed our wedding vows in a chapel on a hilltop town in Tuscany, where we had rented a house with friends. A lovely woman named Danica took care of the celebratory dinner afterward, the best meal of my life—not quite as many courses as the eleven served by Peggy Guggenheim on the rooftop terrace of her Venetian palazzo in Every Time We Say Goodbye, but very inspiring for me as an author to fondly recall in its writing.
And so I highly suggest that a similar menu of several small courses be served as accompaniments to my new book: an aperitivo such as an Aperol Spritz, which the Socialist prince and indie filmmaker Nino Tremonti serves poolside while under house arrest; an antipasto of grilled peaches with fresh mint, balsamic vinegar and mascarpone cheese, which the Tremonti family enjoys under the pergola at lunch; a secondi of ravioli (your choice of filling!) with brown butter and sage; a contorni of Panzanella salad made from day-old bread and fresh tomatoes; a taglieri (cutting board) of cheeses, salamis and olives, the type of wonderfully fresh and simple fare that Vivien and Levi are served in the farmhouse that figures at the heart of his wartime trauma; a dolci of tiramisu or gelato, which Vivien treats little Margarita to during their bicycle tour of the Cinecittà studio lot; and, finally, for the digestivo— espresso with a hazelnut biscotti to cap it all off.
I thought of food the entire time I wrote this book, and I hope you do, too!
-Natalie Jenner
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