Michelle Damiani
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Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
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    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
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    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
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aperol spritz, spello, umbria, italy
Michelle Damiani

writing with Italy at heart

Food and Drink

Michelle Damiani
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Explore the best of Italian food and drink—classic recipes, regional specialties, and culinary travel stories from across Italy. Get even more tips and inspiration delivered straight to your inbox by signing up for the Grapevine.

November 18, 2018

Vin Brulé (Italian mulled wine)

November 18, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Vin Brulé (Italian mulled wine)

Vin brulé is Italy’s answer to mulled wine. Warm, and flush with intriguing spices it’ll be your new cold-weather go-to.

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November 18, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ Comment
food, recipe
drink, Spello, celebration
August 01, 2018

Giovanni's Limoncello

August 01, 2018/ Michelle Damiani
Giovanni's Limoncello

A master recipe that you can use to also make liquors of fennel, bay, orange, or rosemary. As well as the always popular lemon.

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August 01, 2018/ Michelle Damiani/ 4 Comments
food, recipe
amaro, liquor, drink, food
  • Buy my books/
  • Blog/
  • Travel/
    • Spello
    • Visiting Umbria
    • Travel in Italy
    • Around the World
  • What I Love/
    • Books and Movies
    • Food and Drink
    • Gabe's Blog
    • Italian Cats and Hidden Madonnas
  • Coaching/
  • About/

Michelle Damiani

Website for Michelle Damiani, author of Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center, the funny and heartfelt memoir of an American family living in Spello, as well as Santa Lucia, a page-turner set on the Umbria border. 

Rumors. Romance. And more than a little espresso.

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What nobody tells you about Japan is even when you’re too early for cherry blossom, there are plum blossoms. Plus, Japanese gardens are glorious with no blossoms at all.
As a person who grooves on food and connection, the Omicho Market Tour and Cooking Class offered by In Kanazawa House was one of the most satisfying and delicious experiences I had in Japan. Our guides Naoko and Kazuko (tagged in stories) introduced
Remember yesterday when I mentioned the Japanese alpine town that taught me how fall in love with sake? That town is Takayama. Known for sake, Edo era architecture, and a kind of beef so excellent that my husband, after an entire meal of steak and su
I wasn’t sure how I’d take to Japanese sake culture considering I, you know, wasn’t a fan of sake. For those who need a refresher, sake is one of the many ingenious ways the Japanese make use of their most abundant crop—rice.
The most important word in a foreign language… “Thank you” is polite. “Hello” is excellent. But to my mind, if you want to connect, learn the word for delicious. In Japanese, it’s oishi. When I said “o
Cat cafés: come for the cats, stay for…everything else. The good ones feel like a living room you wish you had—soft corners to curl up in, a drink in hand (ours had free tea and coffee), WiFi if you need it, stacks of manga if yo
As a citizen of two countries, I take my civic duty seriously x two. Voted early in Virginia (VA voter? You can vote early until April 18th! I did it well before the deadline because I thrill to have my voice counted) and am sending off my Italian ba
The thing no one tells you about Japan is that it is an island so overflowing with marvels, it can be overwhelming to plan a trip there. My advice? Lean into YOU. What YOU care about. Let that be your guide. For me, it’s always food, so food
Yesterday’s post about the trendiest coffee of my life got me thinking about memorable cups of coffee. I offer for your consideration: 1. Cappuccino in Turin, where a cup brought atmosphere to a foggy morning 2. A “Snow Monkey Marshmallow
And then there was Tokyo. Being the caffeine-addled family that we are, first order of business was seeking out a trendy coffee establishment. Hence, Glitch. A place that takes its coffee so seriously, you pick a single-origin bean from the canisters

A trip to Italy is better with language basics! Here’s my recommended course to learn Italian and make your trip fantastico!
Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Festival participant, speaking about “Il Bel Centro: A Year in the Beautiful Center”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”

Featured speaker on panel discussing Romance for “Santa Lucia”