We’ve reached that moment in the year: the end. A time that matters just as much as what comes right after: a new beginning.
It’s a moment to slow down, and we all know how time seems to stretch when we do: commitments fade into the background, we finally get around to things we’ve been postponing for months, maybe even set off on a trip to discover somewhere new or to return to places we already love. It’s also a time for reflection: to choose what we’ll bring into the new year and what we’re ready to let go of. What matters to us, beyond the simple turn of the calendar, is understanding what can genuinely enrich us and stay with us in the year ahead.
È quindi tempo di rallentare e, in questi casi si sa, il tempo sembra dilatarsi: si mettono da parte gli impegni, si iniziano a fare quelle cose che si rimandano da mesi, magari un viaggio per scoprire posti nuovi o per tornare in luoghi a cui siamo già affezionati. È anche tempo di fare dei bilanci: capire cosa portare con noi nel prossimo anno e cosa invece lasciare. Più che il semplice passaggio da un anno all’altro, per noi conta capire cosa può realmente arricchirci e accompagnarci nel percorso che verrà.
That’s why we’ve curated a selection of 10 reads for you, meant to be enjoyed slowly.
A list that ranges from the most-read piece of the year to the one that makes our hearts skip a beat; from the article that keeps the holiday spirit alive all year long, to the one that transports us to the place where we’d love to be in for the New Year. You’ll also find something that gives us hope for the world’s future, one that lets us travel through words, and one that invites us to reflect on our own journey so far. Then there’s one that makes you thirsty, another that takes you on a roaming adventure across our seas, and finally, one that makes you feel warm, at home.
1. Stay Human Stay Mariella
Not far from Parma, in Calestano, there’s a place where people still come before the business of running a restaurant: Locanda Mariella. Mariella Gennari and Guido Cerioni are the heart and soul of this place, where murals by street artists coexist with the warmth of traditional local hospitality – a true one-of-a-kind spot. Here, wines are told as stories before they’re tasted, the unexpected Japanese-Italian fusion in the kitchen surprises with every bite, and people are genuinely treated as people – always first, above everything else.
2. Cascina Iuli and the wines of rediscovered time
We pour ourselves another glass of wine – slowly – because when it comes to wine, time is everything. In a small corner of Monferrato, Cascina Iuli honours the rhythm of its wines: rooted in history, organic, crafted by listening closely to the raw ingredients and balancing traditional methods with today’s practices. At a time of year when everything pauses, let’s remember this: if you don’t have time to drink wine, then you should probably drink something else. Because, as Fabrizio Iuli says, “Wine is meant to be sipped. It needs its own time, and something to eat alongside it; drinking should bring out the humanity in people”.
3. Excesses and reflections
Let’s linger in Piedmont a little longer – after all, what’s cosier than the artist’s lights that illuminate Turin each year? In the city you’ll find Consorzio, run by Pietro Vergano and Andrea Gherra, a place whose story unfolds through a blend of excess and reflection that ultimately reshaped the very idea of the Italian osteria. Natural wine has been poured here long before it became fashionable, and the ingredients are chosen with great care by Valentina Chiaramonte, who brings together past and future, the Mediterranean and Northern Europe, in every dish.
4. Love actually
For one last stop in Sabaudian territory, we head to Valchiusella, where time matters, but above all, it slows to a halt. Here you’ll find Rantan Farmhouse, the home (quite literally) of Carol Choi and Francesco Scarrone. The two met in Copenhagen, where they built up their own personal wealth of experience, before deciding to create a magical place of their own – casual, comforting, and decidedly hygge. A single long table, an open kitchen, local produce (truly local, grown just a few steps from where it’s served), and wonderful humans who warm the heart.
5. Duo is better than one
Let’s move on to another couple – or rather, a Duo: Lucia De Prai, a Roman pastry chef, and Marco Primiceri, a Piedmontese cook. The two have made their home in Chiavari, where, at Duo, they put local producers at centre stage, transforming a former print shop into an elegant and creative restaurant. Alongside all things Ligurian, you’ll also find touches of the East and the occasional Spanish accent, all brought together with remarkable harmony. Everything is guided by spontaneity, flair and a spirit of sharing. In this case, you really can say: Duo is definitely better than one!
6. Sailing against the wind
Some travel from north to south: after his time in Milan, Marco Ambrosino arrived in Naples, where with ScottoJonno and di Sustanza – respectively a bistro and a fine-dining restaurant – he has helped spark the revival of the Galleria Principe di Napoli. Here, Ambrosino has become a cartographer of the Mediterranean, mapping it out to create Sustanza’s menu: a menu that doesn’t begin with gastronomy, but with humanity, rooted in relationships with the surrounding territory. Ambrosino himself believes that his dishes “aren’t meant to be merely delicious, but also unsettling, even a little uncomfortable”.
7. Chiara, Francesco and the free state of Venissa
Another stretch of sea, another story: on the island of Mazzorbo, Chiara Pavan and Francesco Brutto not only express their creativity, but also put their projects into practice, supporting the Venetian lagoon in its fight against environmental degradation. The story of this place began more than twenty years ago, thanks to the intuition and determination of winemaker Gianluca Bisol, who discovered on the island of Torcello a few remaining vines of an almost-forgotten native grape variety, dorona, which had all but vanished from the lagoon. Hospitality and dining were later added to the project, eventually bringing in the duo Pavan–Brutto. With them, the conversation shifted towards environmental cuisine and no-waste principles. Welcome to Venissa – a place of identity, roots, and ethical experimentation.
8. The Northernmost
Who hasn’t, at some point, felt the need to get away, to leave everything behind and lose themselves for a while in a far-off place? We believe the Svalbard islands are the perfect setting for that kind of reflection: a community that loves its land and those who inhabit it, but above all respects it and honours it, even at the dinner table, amid the frozen darkness of a polar night. It’s a place of oxymorons and contrasts, where polar bears outnumber people and where the food scene is unexpectedly remarkable. A journey worth making, or at the very least, worth reading about in one breath.
9. The Glenturret Lalique Restaurant in Scotland
Speaking of travelling, why not venture into the evocative Scottish Highlands, to the Glenturret Lalique Restaurant, located within The Glenturret distillery – one of the oldest in Scotland? Here, Mark Donald offers a gastronomic experience that celebrates local and seasonal ingredients, reimagined with elegance, while still welcoming flavours from around the world. Each dish is served in a space designed in collaboration with Lalique, creating an atmosphere of refined, understated luxury.
10. The New Nomads: Roots & Rootlessness
Last but by no means least, we leave you with an essay in which Nicholas Gill explores the dynamic state of how we live and work in today’s gastronomic world, with or without roots. Is rootlessness an attempt to escape one’s responsibilities, a desire for freedom, or perhaps the urge to create – and recreate – oneself across many different lives? An invitation to pause, reflect, and consider the world we inhabit today.
Happy holidays and happy reading.
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