San Luis Obispo County Friends of Italy

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San Luis Obispo County Friends of Italy

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Welcome to San Luis Obispo County Friends of Italy!

We are dedicated to forging friendships, building bridges, and creating a vibrant community that embraces the rich heritage and beauty of Italy and its people!

👉 my.linkpod.site/slocfriendsofitaly

10/10/2026

October is Italian American Heritage Month. 🇮🇹❤️

This month feels like a beautiful invitation to do something personal.

If Italian American heritage is part of your story, share a person, place, tradition, or memory that shaped you.

And if you love all things Italian, ask an Italian American friend about their story.

Listen with curiosity. See what you discover.

Stories keep heritage alive — and I’d love to hear what lives in yours. ✨

10/09/2026

Five of us said YESS to a spontaneous lunch at Luca’s Deli & W**e. 🇮🇹❤️

Regina, Anita, Jeanne, Hae-Soo and I gathered around the table with no agenda beyond lunch, curiosity and time together.

And then Jerry, Luca’s owner, joined the story. 😄

He spent real time with us — talking through dishes, steering us toward favorites, pouring tastes and simply being part of the afternoon.

We started with Mamma’s wonderfully garlicky dipping oil and warm bread…and Anita ordered the caponata, which we nearly forgot to photograph because we were too busy EATING it. 😂

Three of us followed Jerry’s enthusiastic recommendation and ordered the Pasta al Forno — baked rings pasta, Bolognese ragù, prosciutto cotto, eggplant, tomato and toasted breadcrumbs.

Delicious.

Anita wanted the porchetta without the roll. Jerry said, “Let me take care of you.”

And LOOK what arrived: that gorgeous porchetta over polenta.

We all tasted it.

Oh. My. 😂

Hae-Soo loved the Pomodori & Burrata with Halcyon Farms heirloom tomatoes, EVOO, basil and aged balsamic.

And me? Jerry poured me a taste of CLESI Sagrantino from Templeton Gap.

One sip and: YES. That’s my w**e. 🍷

But the best part wasn’t only what was on the table.

We went around sharing what’s ALIVE for each of us right now — jewelry, a Halloween music project, a television series in the works, art…and wherever the conversation wanted to wander.

That’s why I love these spontaneous lunches.

And in a lovely bit of timing, during Italian American Heritage Month, I also got to tell Jerry that our new Sicilians in SLO County community was about to go live.

It has now. 🇮🇹✨

Delicious food.
A Sicilian table.
Friends knowing one another a little more.
And new possibilities quietly beginning.

Sometimes the invitation really is that simple:

I’m going. Who wants to come? ❤️

**e

10/05/2026

Two was enough. In fact, two was perfect. ❤️

Last Friday, Molly and I met for lunch at Nate’s on Marsh.

There had been a little “Should we postpone if more people don’t sign up?” conversation beforehand.

My answer: I’m going to lunch anyway. 😄

That’s one of my gathering philosophies. It doesn’t take six people for something meaningful to happen. Sometimes one other person is exactly who you were meant to sit across from. That’s one of the things I love most about these small SLOC Friends of Italy gatherings — there’s room for actual conversation.

And that’s what happened.

We didn’t know each other well, so lunch on the patio became real conversation — and I discovered that Molly is of French descent and has spent a lot of time in France.

Immediately I thought: “You need to meet Franco!” 😂
Another connection waiting to happen.

And yes…we ate beautifully too. 🇮🇹

I had a Limoncello Spritz with the Lemon Mafalde — made with Etto pasta from right here in SLO County — and Molly enjoyed the Butter Leaf Salad with salmon.

Our server Grace was wonderful.

Then I spotted a Michele Chiarlo Roero Arneis on Nate’s Thursday W**e Night list — the same w**ery whose Barbera we loved at our recent Italian red w**e blind tasting.

Well now… 👀🍷

Maybe our next Nate’s gathering wants to be dinner on a Thursday night.

Two people.
One table.
Delicious food.
A deeper friendship.
And already…another connection forming.

That’s why we gather. ❤️🇮🇹

10/04/2026

First Scopa. Then Briscola. And now…Tressette. 🇮🇹🃏

This week, eight of us gathered at Stacey’s home to begin learning another beloved Italian card game — and what an evening it became.

We came ready to learn, slowed the game down, played some hands face-up, talked strategy, laughed, experimented…and eventually had pairs playing Tressette together around the table.

Because for us, it isn’t simply about learning another card game.

It’s about discovering **how Italians play**, honoring the traditions carried through the games, and keeping a little piece of Italian culture alive right here in SLO County. 🇮🇹

And of course there was food. ❤️

Rita brought the delicious cake, which gave us the obvious conclusion:

Learning Tressette? A piece of cake. 😂🍰

A very special ‘grazie mille to Stacey’, whose enthusiasm helped move Tressette from “we really need to do this” to an actual evening — and who once again opened her home so generously to all of us.

Something else has been happening around these Wednesday card tables, too:

💐 friendships are growing 💐

People keep showing up.
They learn together.
They laugh together.
And little by little, a community forms around the table.

Scopa. Briscola. Now Tressette.

Italian games are alive in SLO County.

And we imagine more people, more tables and more opportunities to learn together as our community grows. ❤️

If you’ve ever thought, “I’d love to learn Italian card games,” send us a message.

You may belong at one of those tables. 🇮🇹🃏

09/24/2026

Four people trying to open Italian w**e while the one screw-cap bottle quietly waited to become the favorite. 😂🍷

That may be the perfect beginning to our first Sorsi alla Cieca — Italian Red W**e Blind Tasting.

Five of us gathered around Kathleen’s table with five bottles, each wrapped, numbered and anonymous.

We started simply: w**e, water, white crackers and tasting sheets. No labels. No prices. No one trying to be “right.”

We tasted. Went back. Compared. Changed our minds.

W**e #2 got an almost immediate NO. Then we let it breathe, tasted again, added cheese—and the conversation changed.

Was the w**e changing?
Were we?
Was it the air, the food, the time?

We discovered together.

And somehow, our five independent choices gave us two Barbera d’Asti w**es and three w**es from the Amarone/Valpolicella Ripasso world. Along the way, we got schooled in appassimento—the traditional process of drying grapes before fermentation.

Then came the biggest surprise:

W**e #3 — Le Orme Barbera d’Asti — was the favorite of three of five of us.

The screw cap. 😂

Another w**e became the most intriguing for three people. And w**es that didn’t grab us initially became more compelling as the evening unfolded.

Nobody declared that we had found “the best w**e.”

Something better happened.

We wondered aloud. We taught each other what we’d learned. We laughed. After the reveal, we ate pizza, poured another glass and kept talking.

And somewhere in all of that, five people around a table became a little more connected.

By the end, we were already asking:

What do we explore next?

Perhaps one Italian grape at a time. Perhaps Barbera from Piemonte—and then Barbera grown and made right here on California’s Central Coast.

There will be another Sorsi alla Cieca. 🍷🇮🇹

Curiosity has more places it wants to take us.

And yes…Scout and Izzy supervised from the other side of the door. ❤️

**e

09/21/2026

🇮🇹✨. Each week we now give you one easy glimpse of where life is happening across The Piazza — including both SLOC Friends of Italy activities and the wonderful things our members are inspired to create themselves, for all of us.

Think of it as a little doorway into the week: see what catches your eye, notice what you want to be part of, and say YES when something calls to you. ❤️

Message us if you’re wanting to know more, or know you want to play!

This community gets more interesting every time someone steps in. 💚🤍❤️

09/15/2026

We could have had our Cultura Viva conversation in lots of places. We chose Breda SLO. 🇮🇹✨

We already knew Breda through Florencia’s beautiful pastries, chocolates and Afternoon Tea experiences. This time, we wanted to discover another facet of this local gem — its savory side.

Rita, Stacey and Beverly explored the lunch menu, while I chose Amore Mio so I could experience Breda’s Afternoon Tea for myself.

But the real reason Breda felt right wasn’t simply what was on the table.

There’s something about how Breda is creating that resonates with me.

Italian-rooted. Creative. Unexpected. They’re experimenting, following their curiosity and discovering what wants to work here in SLO.

That feels familiar. ❤️

SLOC Friends of Italy is exploring in much the same way — staying curious, creating experiences, listening for what has energy, and letting what we become emerge along the way.

Sometimes the place where you gather reflects the very conversation you came there to have. 🇮🇹

09/14/2026

Cultura Viva is where curiosity starts becoming something we can experience together. 🇮🇹✨

Four of us gathered over lunch with ideas already bubbling.

We shared what was calling to each of us, listened, added possibilities, and then opened a curated idea bank to see what sparked even more.

No need to decide everything.

Just:

What are we drawn to?
What would be fun to explore together?
What wants to come alive?

And things did. ❤️

An Italian field trip to Santa Barbara became a YES.

An olive oil tasting moved back toward the front burner.

Other ideas — Italian regions, travel, heritage, culture and more — are still happily breathing.

This is one of the ways SLOC Friends of Italy grows:

people bring what excites them, their ideas are welcomed, and together we turn curiosity into experiences.

More Italian culture.
More discovery.
More things to enjoy together.

Come play with us. 🇮🇹

09/07/2026

What a joyful afternoon at Hotel SLO High Bar. ❤️🎯

Kay, Kathleen, Stacey, Hae-Soo and Regina gathered on the rooftop for bocce, iced lattes, cocktails, mocktails, conversation, laughter and plenty of cheering.

We played two games. Two different teams won.

And somehow… that really wasn’t what the afternoon was about.

It was about five people showing up and creating something together.

And there were TWO fabulous “OMG!” bocce moments. 😂

Stacey sent the pallino nearly the entire length of the court without hitting the back wall — already impressive. Then she rolled her very first red ball…

**right beside it.**

We cheered. We roared. We admired it. Seriously. If you play bocce, you know.

Then Kathleen stepped up for the green team, gave her ball some beautiful force and…

**look where green landed.** 😳🎯

Swipe through the photos and you’ll see exactly why there was so much excitement on that court.

And woven through all of it was simply the pleasure of being together.

We’re especially grateful to Hotel SLO High Bar for the experience they create for us. The rooftop gives us something much richer than simply a place to play bocce — it’s a place to linger, sip something wonderful, have a bite, laugh, talk, play and connect.

Yesterday felt like exactly what SLOC Friends of Italy is meant to be:

Italian inspiration. Friendship. Play. Connection. Joy.

Grazie, Kathleen, Stacey, Hae-Soo and Regina for saying YES and making the afternoon what it became. 🇮🇹❤️

Address

San Luis Obispo, CA

Website

http://www.slocfriendsofitaly.com/

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