Buon Anno Nuovo!!

Every new year is a time for both reflection and looking forward. It doesn't seem too long ago that the world was in a tizzy worrying about the Y2K phenomena where computer glitches were predicted almost overturn the world order. I was working in a boring job reliant on at risk computers at the time and the only real excitement I had was to see what would happen from the dreaded Y2K. Instead it was a whimper not a bang and life quickly went back to normal. As the turn of the year 2000 came and went, I was working and living in the Bay Area at this lame job and had yet to travel to Italy. Getting to Italy was a top priority, little did I know how making this journey and connecting with my heritage would change my life. It lit the spark that propelled me for this quarter century.

Twenty years ago today at the stoke of midnight I proposed to my wife Stephy and luckily she said yes. This was the best day of my life and I've never had any regrets. We now work together every day with a shared vision of hospitality and a love of "la dolce vita" to divide and conquer in our little group of businesses. 

Nineteen years ago we started our little Italian inspired winery called Giornata that we still operate to this day from our location around the corner from Etto. This project took us to Italy frequently and laid the ground for our next steps as we became more engrossed into the Italian food and wine culture.

Photo: Boris Zharhov/Special to SFGATE

Seven years ago today we officially opened our little pasta factory and market. Little did we know then what Etto would become in a relatively short period of time. We took our inspiration from our travels to Italy and our work in the hospitality industry at Italian restaurants and markets. We feel so privileged the way the local community has embraced our business like so many of the venerable Italian markets of yore. These loved establishments led the way for us, trust us we feel the love and thank each and every one of you the support and encouragement you give us. We take your patronage and trust in us very seriously and look to continue to build upon our standing in the community.

A little more than two years ago with the help of our friend, Marc LeDuc, we opened Etto Pasta Bar with a shared vision to give our customers a way to enjoy our products served in a thoughtful way with a nod to the simplicity of the Italian osteria. We try to improve a little bit every day - Stephy and I are so proud of the team at the past bar and how far they've come in a short amount of time. Most restaurants don't last even two years, but I feel like we are just getting started.

Yesterday we celebrated 2025 with some of you at 3PM to usher in the new year Italian style. We live streamed the Italian New year celebration that was broadcast on RAI (Italy's public broadcast network) at Etto Pasta Bar by setting up a VPN on a computer connected to a TV with an Apple TV box - it worked! Thanks to those of you who showed up as we had a full house and were happy to clink glasses of prosecco with you. This half-baked idea worked out pretty well and since some of you said this will be your new tradition we look forward to a larger celebration next year. As we embark on the next twenty five years we are inspired by what's yet to come and are excited to have you join us on this journey. 

I'm not the biggest fan of New Year's resolutions, but this year I plan to study the Italian language more seriously. I love the way it sounds and wish I could communicate better with Italian visitors in their language and of course to everyone when I visit Italy. I also would like to become a better writer. For those of you who have read my newsletters for a while have hopefully seen some improvement, but I know I can get better, so I'll keep writing and also plan to read more books and less digital content. 

And lastly, we exist because of you - so please never hesitate to let us know if there's something we can do to improve. We take all suggestions and advice seriously and attribute much of our success to the suggestions and guidance from our many guests, vendors and other industry colleagues who have become our friends. You can email, call, or even just track me down in Tin City - ask for the Pasta King. 

Happy New Year from the bottom of our hearts!