Take Me Back

When international travel opens up again, make Italy your dream destination, says Michelle Coburn, who stockpiled enough incredible food experiences when in Rome, Florence and Venice to keep her spirit satisfied for over a year

-  Michelle Coburn

September 2020. I have been working from home in Cape Town for almost six months and the cabin fever is real when those Facebook memories start appearing. It is exactly a year since my Italian holiday. It feels like a lifetime ago.

Through my old posts, I relive what feels like every step, bite, drink and sight of that amazing trip. A favourite shot of my Plus One, a.k.a. The Carb Hunter, gazing fondly at the cone of crunchy, cheesy suppli classico he has bought from a market stall in Rome; the night we shared bistecca alla Fiorentina and a bottle of Chianti in Florence; our daily caffe and cornetti at Torrefazione Cannaregio in Venice. No social distancing. No masks. No COVID-19. No way could we have imagined how different all this would be just five months later. Deserted piazzas, shuttered osterias, hospitals overwhelmed.

I wonder if the places where we ate our hearts out still exist. Whether mamma Giovanna and babbo Rolando’s trattoria in Florence, and the Mori brothers’ osteria in Rome, have survived Italy’s hard, hard lockdown. It’s a heartbreaking thought. But an online search reveals that many of these family-run eateries are once again serving their signature dishes. Like restaurants in SA and all over the world, they are offering home deliveries, opening their outdoor dining areas and selling house-made pantry items. I start sharing their hope-filled posts with The Carb Hunter. Because we have our own pandemic challenges to deal with, and escaping to another time, if only for a moment every day, is what we need right now.