Francesca - Le Gramole, Genova

Each product, be it pasta, olive oil, pesto, cheese, sauces or wine, has been tasted by us. This is the only way we be sure of truly advising you. We travel around Italy searching for the local products that bring excellence to your table. This is our passion !!!!

Francesca, writing about the shop, Le Gramole.

I interviewed Francesca and Norma about their shop, located deep in the historical heart of old Genova, back in 2011. 

It's a special shop, in a special area of the city.  As for Francesca and Norma, they're really special too but I imagine you knew that was coming.

They welcome everyone into their shop.  They're happy to take the time to talk, to advise, to suggest.  I have heard them speak Italian, French, and English, and there are always smiles.

I really recommend you take the time to visit them when in Genova.  You won't regret it. 

Francesca was preparing for a one-on-one food tasting while I was there at the weekend ...

Sapori al Ducale, Genova

I happened to be in Genova on a weekend when the food market, known as Sapori al Ducale, was open and trading.

Researching it, I discovered that the food on display came from farms and food artisans located all over Italy.  You can imagine the quality ... it was mouthwatering. 

There were oil producers, all kinds of wines and spirits, cheese, cold meats, sausages, honey, preserves, handmade pasta, desserts and organic produce, just to mention a little of what I saw there. 

It is surely a place where' passion, professionalism, tradition and history' come together.


Main Street, Genova.

And now I am in a beautiful city, in a truly beautiful city, Genoa.  I walk on marble, everything is marble: the stairways, the balconies, and palaces.  The palaces are so close they almost touch and from the street, one can see noble ceilings, all richly painted and gilded... 

Here I open my eyes wide on everything, innocently, simply ...'

Gustave Flaubert.

There are streets like this in Genova ...

Via XX Settembre is a street that always makes me want to stop and attempt to capture something of the light. 

It's still beautiful even when it rains.

GENOVA!

I flew over to Genova last Friday and immediately, upon arriving ... stories began to unfold.

It was a madly-busy, exquisitely-joyfilled 5-days.  And I couldn't reach the back-end of my website for some reason but honestly, I had no spare time. 

I stayed with the kindest friends out at Arenzano.  And I met their friend, the talented artist Giorgio Bormida.  Actually, I wanted to cook dinner for Francesca and Beppe before I left, and ended up cooking for Giorgio too.  It was only as I began dinner prep that I thought ... 'What have I done??!  Cooking isn't really my best thing'.  But they were all very kind.

I caught up with some of my favourite people there in the city but completely missed out on catching up with others.  It was lovely to catch up with Stefano, the owner/operator of Righicam, over lunch.  And with Francesca and Norma, from Le Gramole.

And then there was that 24 hours spent working with Diana, staying at B&B Baur with her and Micha.  It was sublime ... photographs and words to follow in the days to come.  I heard my first cuckoo as I sat by the open window in the morning.  And the views  ...

The kindness of Genovese strangers stunned me and ... well, it made me smile.  A lot really.  I met a lovely guy at a concert in Palazzo Ducale, who kindly explained all that was happening, to Outi and I.  But Outi and I is another whole story.

Meanwhile, here I am, just in from an 11-hour day of traveling.  It was a day that involved a train, a taxi, a plane from Genova to Rome, a bus to and from the plane, another plane to Brussels, then a bus and a tram home.

I shall return with photographs downloaded, with a mind rested and ready to tell you some stories.