A Sunday in Sant’ Ermo with the Volpi Family is something not to be missed, so when I got the call for the invitation, my calendar (calendario) was marked and the Lancia was headed that way! Sant’ Ermo is a small little village (villaggio) in Tuscany and unless you know of it or are visiting Cantina Volpi the winery there, which is FABULOUS or another agriturismo nearby (vincino) you probably wouldn’t know about this special little village. It someway is like the TV show Cheers, “a place where everybody knows your name” and after just your first visit the WHOLE village knows who you are!


This particular Sunday (domenica) was all about family and friends and of course food and drink! Benito Volpi was our host and Benito is full of love, life and always a joke (scherzo). His home in Sant’ Ermo is rustic (rustico) and was originally an old barn that he has renovated. So it is very Tuscan and when I walk into his home and see the brick arches & the way they frame the kitchen, the large open fireplace (camino) that greets the main room and all the wine bottles and dried items from the fields hanging, I never want to leave. I get lost in my day dreams and I want to just sit, pour a nice glass of red wine (vino rosso) , listen to Andrea Bocelli and eat some warm toasted bread & pecorino cheese that has just been pulled off the grill from the fireplace & dripped with olive oil (olio d'oliva). SNAP - SNAP! Back to reality & out of my fantasy (fantasia) because in the Volpi family besides my girlfriend Francesca (Benito’s oldest daughter) who greets me with kisses like a whirlwind, her two sisters are close behind, Federica & Fabiola, they are twins (not identical in looks nor lifestyle Federica lives on a farm and Fabiola is more of a city girl). I knew most of everyone who arrived and who I didn’t someone introduced them quickly.

Fabiola was busy in the kitchen as she loves to cook and as fast as she handed items to Francesca & Federica they were moved to the next table (tavola) for additional preparation. Another person was taking orders and setting the table. As for me, I was given direction to take photos & this I could handle! Federica had made it clear no photos of her but everyone else was smiling, posing and anxious for the food to begin. So food & people were easy to be shot, in between me marveling at all the food (cibo)!

But something very special had arrived because several people were huddled around what looked like a wrapped package in a sheet. As I got closer to the bench, I saw it was pasta! Pasta??? Yes, one of the women, Fabio’s mother had made homemade pasta for everyone. It was the most amazing pasta I had ever scene & tasted and I was told it took over 30 eggs to make these masterpieces. Yes, this pasta was a work of art (arte)!

It was starting to feel like Christmas (Natale) for me, where the anticipation starts to build. But not before the guest of honor arrived, a 1/2 pig (maiale), 1/2 boar (cinghiale) that Fabio & Roberto had been cooking out on the farm all day. He was unbelievable but what was more unbelievable was this was Fabio & Federica’s had raised this pig/boar. Today was truly something special for me as I was engulfed in Tuscan love & food at it’s finest and I was soaking up every moment!

This is what eating is like in Italy. It is not a California Pizza Kitchen, a BJ’s, a Houston’s or even your best locally owned restaurant. It is your neighbor, your friend, your relative, your friend’s friend, your relative’s relative ALL putting this amazing amount of love and their natural resources into a meal and then you sit and you enjoy all of it for SEVERAL hours but it does not have to be a special occasion. You do it because you have to eat, you want to eat, you LOVE to eat and because it is Sunday.

Isn’t Sunday a good reason?

See Galleria for more Photos: "Sunday is a Good Reason & So is SANT' ERMO!"