I Am Not A Fish (meditations on the Italian language)
Penne: Porta San Francesco (on the far right, you can just make out the entrance to the hardware store) Wait. Crap. What’s the Italian...
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Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Jun 19, 2022
- 9 min
Our Imperfectly Perfect Corner of America
Bomb-Bomb Italian Restaurant, 1026 Wolf Street (photo from vrconsierge.com) Our restaurant’s on East Passyunk Avenue, the old business...
1,751 views3 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Jan 3, 2022
- 14 min
The House in Penne, Abruzzo: Completing the Circle
Via del Genio, centro storico, Penne We’re buying a house in Abruzzo. No great surprise to anyone who knows us or who, in the last...
1,790 views16 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Dec 15, 2021
- 13 min
In Praise of the Local, Hospitality's Unsung Hero
I was sitting at our bar, just weeks before the first COVID shutdown, eavesdropping while regulars got into it: issues of the day,...
460 views1 comment
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Nov 16, 2021
- 7 min
My Mom, 4 Scousers, South Philly: Why The Restaurant Sounds The Way It Does
(My mom, Joyce, with cig, and my sister Suzie) Sometime in October, while I meandered unawares in the hills around Penne, Abruzzo with...
787 views3 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Oct 1, 2021
- 14 min
The Elephant in the Kitchen
Pass at LV; photo by Kateri Likoudis Connolly (This was written in 2018 as a part of a larger work). There’s a moment during a Mexican...
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Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Sep 15, 2021
- 15 min
In Bocca al Lupo: In A Roman Hospital
(The following events happened in 1999 and early 2000. They're recounted to the best of my ability. The hospital San Giacomo in Augusta...
248 views0 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Sep 7, 2021
- 8 min
Back to the Source, VI: Reentry, Family
(Castiglione Messer Raimondo, Teramo Province, Abruzzo, my grandfather's birthplace) We’re back from Abruzzo. It was a 28-hour journey...
383 views4 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Aug 27, 2021
- 9 min
Back to the Source, Part V: Mea Culpa
(Barisano section of the Sassi) Mea culpa. I’ve sins to expiate. The trip has been a good one and it’s been a pleasure to share places we...
299 views4 comments
Leah Blewett
- Aug 16, 2021
- 6 min
Back to the Source, Part IV: What the Hell is Wrong with Us?
Brief observations from Abruzzo… One of our first nights, sitting in the main piazza of Lanciano, a small but vibrant city in Abruzzo’s...
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Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Jul 20, 2021
- 5 min
Back to the Source, Part III: Better in Abruzzo
A better version of me emerges in Abruzzo. That’s setting a low bar, but it’s true. He’s a kinder, more peaceful person, less absorbed by...
222 views2 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Jul 2, 2021
- 5 min
Back to the Source, Part II: This Is My Job!
(Santo Stefano di Sessanio) One of the questions I’m most often asked about Le Virtú is what (“the hell” is often inserted here) I...
342 views0 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Jun 20, 2021
- 4 min
Back to the Source: Taking Chef Poli to Abruzzo
Apolinar “Poli” Tlapaya Sanchez, for eleven years our co-worker and Le Virtú’s current Executive Chef, crossed a desert to get to the US....
397 views3 comments
Le Virtu Philadelphia
- Mar 23, 2021
- 20 min
Restaurants: Canaries in America's Coal Mine
To own an independent restaurant in the Mid-Atlantic during a global pandemic, in winter’s grip, and not reside in a state of panic...
320 views1 comment
Le Virtu
- Jan 26, 2021
- 1 min
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
We're hopeful on this Martin Luther King Jr. day. It might seem bleak these days, but change is now possible. If we put our shoulders to...
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