Mamma Mia! No words. Our little documentary has been Nominated for TWO Taste Awards, one for “Best Filmed at Home Series” and the other for “Best Short Documentary”. We have no words other then thank you.

From The Taste Awards:

“The TASTE AWARDS are the highest awards for creators, producers, hosts, and directors of Lifestyle Programs, Series, Shows & Cinema.

Often called “The Oscars of Food, Fashion and Lifestyle Media,” they are the premier broadcast awards show celebrating the year’s best achievements in Food, Fashion, Health, Travel, and Lifestyle programs on Television, in Film, in Online and Streaming Video, on Radio and in Podcasts, and Photography.”

We shot this the night before NYC went into quarantine. In the following weeks Italy would be completely devastated by COVID-19 and the message of this little film became crystal clear; celebrate a country that has given us so much, and try to help it any way we could from across the sea.

None of us had any idea it would become such a fun and rewarding project as this, that has connected us with so many amazing people, and grew to help even more people in need. This has been a crazy time for all, but one thing is clear, we all are looking for connection in some form, and many of us have done so with food and good friends.

Just yesterday I had the most amazing interview with Antonio Rodo Santoro, the illustrator of these amazing books. He said one thing to me that I can’t stop thinking about:

“We knew that many Sicilians lived in the United States and so we had the idea of reminding our brothers of the flavors of Sicilian cuisine.”

The original reason for these books were to connect people with their homeland. To share the culture, the tastes and the joy. Now, they are doing the same thing, almost 50 years later, but in reverse, bringing Italy back home and connecting the world once again to these amazing recipes, stories and flavors.

One of my personal hero’s like many is Anthony Bourdain (yes, I met him, once, and yes, I now have a tattoo). For me he showed the world that travel meant looking inward, and most of all, listening to the stories of others to learn about yourself. To think that he was the very first Taste Person of the Year and that we are even remotely connected to that is … well amazing.

None of this was by design, which to me is the best part. There was no motivation other then to make an amazing dinner with some good friends and celebrate the time we had while we had it. So being nominated is truly a great and fantastic honor, one of which we will never, ever forget. So just a giant THANK YOU to everyone who shared their passion and time to be part of this project, we are simply in awe of how fantastic you all are.

Thank you.

-R&P