I was born and raised in the beautiful Gulf of Naples, Italy. My parents had moved to the south from Friuli, so I was raised with both northern and southern cultural influences. I was fortunate to live in a country house in Castellammare di Stabia (Naples) surrounded by the agricultural splendour of the area and in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius. (My childhood home is now a popular agri-tourism inn: Home – Agriturismo Quisisana)
I came to Canada in 1970 at the age of 19 and embarked on a 30-year career as a cabinet maker, designer and manufacturer. I relaxed in my spare time by studying, collecting, making and tasting wine, and cooking.
Regional Italian wine and food is an imbedded passion, so I frequently travelled back to my beloved Italy to explore the original wines and foods of the different regions. Eventually I chose to follow my heart and make my passion a profession. This became one of the best times of my life. I landed a position as a Wine Consultant for the LCBO at the Summerhill store in Rosedale. It was quite an experience dealing with a sophisticated clientele and fulfilling the many responsibilities of a Wine Consultant: serving on various panels for product selection, tasting, and quality assessment, e.g Ontario VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) submissions panel; teaching, and even radio and TV appearances.
During this time, I was fortunate to meet and connect with many world renowned wine and food personalities, and enjoyed the latest and trendiest food and wine in the vibrant city of Toronto.
I fulfilled many aspirations as a passionate wine person; however, one wish that I was not able to fulfill was to spend time in the Piemonte region of Italy, the home of the “king of wine”, Barolo, I was known as a Barolo expert by my LCBO colleagues and customers. I have always wanted to study in depth the region to further hone my knowledge. Unfortunately, because of my position, I had to put this dream on hold.
Cooking Gets Closer
Realizing the gift of having had full immersion in the true Italian regional fare, in my spare time from my wine career I started to create and lead cooking events specializing in authentic Italian regional recipes. It was easy; it came naturally using my mother’s example and childhood memories. I was able to recreate her recipes by remembering the aromas in the kitchen. The most successful classes were always my hands-on pasta making and sausage making team-building workshops using the freshest local ingredients to create a “sense of place” in my recipes.
And so…”ONTALIA”
I put a name to a philosophy that expressed my passion for creating Italian dishes using ingredients grown and produced locally: ONTALIA “Italian Roots in Local Soil” — a union of Ontario and Italia. My recipes are authentic Italian, the ingredients are the freshest Ontario has to offer when available and in season.
A New Adventure:Prince Edward County
Woodworker, wine lover, wine professional, artisan sausage maker and aspiring cook, in April 2013, due to very positive changes in my life (Karen my wife), I moved on from my LCBO job and landed in Prince Edward County (PEC) to be an artisan sausage maker. I worked on our County home to transform it into a cooking studio while Karen was still working for the LCBO in Toronto. In 2018, the studio became fully operational. Karen retired and joined me full-time in the County in 2020.
Coming Full Circle
Over the past two years, Karen and I have spent a lot of time travelling back and forth between Canada and Italy while I navigated the process of re-acquiring my Italian citizenship. So, now we can have a place, car, and all required documentation to be free to travel throughout the EU as locals.
Lately I’ve had that familiar feeling that it’s time for the next big change. And, as if by fate I got a call out of the blue from Billy Munnelly and his wife Kato Wake (Billy’s Best Bottles), close friends and former County residents now residing in Portugal. They asked me if I would be interested in leading with Karen one of their food and wine tours. (I’d had similar offers in the past but always declined as I had already many other commitments.) My first reaction was to again decline as Karen and I are enjoying our lifestyle in the County and Italy.
But…the next day I woke up and thought, “My unfulfilled bucket list dream — Piemonte!” We called back say to we are in! This is not work; it’s a wonderful reason to travel, eat, drink, discover and have fun…with people we enjoy!
Retracing my steps. ONTALIA in reverse. Guiding locals to my Italian roots; the full circle.
