See you at Fraschetta - Frascati, January 28, 2007

When a group of members is also a group of friends, you can tell by a few small things...

As has been a tradition for over five years, in January the Lazio Regional Center organizes its "little" start-of-the-year meeting... it's "the evening in Fraschetta in Frascati."

It's an idea that was given to me by Annarita Lupini (Member) and her husband Piero Sassu (Family Member...), former "major contributors" to the club as they then subsidized, in addition to their own, the membership fees of their children Riccardo and Federica who today, both with families (Seriana and Jacopo), have made them happy grandparents and standard contributors (the 10 euro Family Membership didn't yet exist...!).
Piero, who seems to have lived practically all over Italy, also has extensive knowledge of Frascati, and so, combining local traditions, his wife Annarita's culinary skills, and his acquaintance with the owner of a local fraschetta, he suggested: "Why don't we organize an evening at a fraschetta where everyone brings something to eat and Massimo (the owner) provides the place and the wine? Annarita could prepare tripe and some offal..."
And so it was, the first time. Everyone was happy, and we each brought a small contribution of food. Annarita's tripe and ossobuco were the defining characteristics of that first time...

The original "little" idea, which I immediately thought was excellent, has over time become a regular event, typically held after Christmas so as not to clash with the many and varied Christmas dinners we all have scheduled in December, and also an opportunity to start the new year with programs and the collection of membership fees.
Pina Rossi's salad, Stefania Nacca's sausages with broccoli rabe, Stefania Pittiglio's desserts, and Annarita's tripe and other delicacies, along with those of all those who participate year after year, are collected and distributed to everyone, almost as if they were guests of everyone else... in Massimo's 'little' restaurant, where he is, in fact, the one who truly hosts us.

One example: I once planned for the end of January, and there were around 25 reservations. Marco Bazzi decided to have his pastry chef make a cake for everyone, so he ordered it ahead of time. Unexpectedly, it snowed in Frascati that evening, and this prompted me, after a few phone calls with the owner, to postpone the event... but I didn't have time to call Marco... and he ate cake for the next week... :-)