Crashing a big Italian party at a local restaurant

We had been looking into this really nice restaurant up on the hill near our house, and when we mentioned it to Chef Carmen, she told us that she knew the owner very well and that she would arrange a reservation for us. When we stopped by the next day to confirm, the owner, Giacomo Guarrancino, asked us if we could come a bit earlier than initially planned and if we would not mind sitting inside instead of out on the terrace because there would be a big party that evening. It was not a problem with us as we were glad to try this nice restaurant.

When we arrived, there was already quite a few people there and musicians were starting to set up. Luigi, the father who initially started the restaurant, took us out in his garden to show us all the wonderful food they were growing. It also became clear that this was no ordinary party, but rather a very large family gathering to celebrate the fiftieth birthday of the owner's cousin. There must have been over a hundred guests. Giacomo would normally have refused our reservation on such a busy evening, but had accepted because of Chef Carmen. Wow! What a night!

The restaurant is perched high up on the hill and the terrace offers a spectacular view of the Gulf of Salerno.

Giacomo even raised a Canadian flag that he had in reserve, just for us!

Luigi Guarrancino proudly showing Vicki his beautiful garden.

We were comfortably set in a more quiet part of the restaurant.

And once the food started arriving, it was just wonderful.

Fresh tuna and marlin carpaccio.

Vicki with the beautiful fish of the day, a tuna steak.

Tristan getting ready to enjoy what he claims was the best steak he's ever had!

I had lots of delicious seafood in the Amalfi region. Yum!

They even came up with a fabulous tiramisu cake once they heard that we were also there to celebrate Vicki's birthday.

The large family celebration on the terrace of the restaurant.

Luigi and Vicki got along very well.

Thank you so much to Giacomo for allowing us to crash his big family party. It made for a very, very special evening.

Mario