Le Virtu PhiladelphiaJun 199 minOur Imperfectly Perfect Corner of AmericaBomb-Bomb Italian Restaurant, 1026 Wolf Street (photo from vrconsierge.com) Our restaurant’s on East Passyunk Avenue, the old business...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaJan 314 minThe House in Penne, Abruzzo: Completing the CircleVia 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaDec 15, 202113 minIn Praise of the Local, Hospitality's Unsung HeroI was sitting at our bar, just weeks before the first COVID shutdown, eavesdropping while regulars got into it: issues of the day,...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaNov 16, 20217 minMy 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaOct 1, 202114 minThe Elephant in the KitchenPass 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaSep 16, 202115 minIn 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaSep 7, 20218 minBack 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaAug 27, 20219 minBack 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...
Leah BlewettAug 16, 20216 minBack 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaJul 20, 20215 minBack to the Source, Part III: Better in AbruzzoA 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaJul 2, 20215 minBack 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...
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaJun 20, 20214 minBack to the Source: Taking Chef Poli to AbruzzoApolinar “Poli” Tlapaya Sanchez, for eleven years our co-worker and Le Virtú’s current Executive Chef, crossed a desert to get to the US....
Le Virtu PhiladelphiaMar 24, 202120 minRestaurants: Canaries in America's Coal MineTo own an independent restaurant in the Mid-Atlantic during a global pandemic, in winter’s grip, and not reside in a state of panic...
Le VirtuJan 26, 20211 minMartin Luther King Jr. DayWe'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...