Tardi, Alan 1956-

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Tardi, Alan 1956-

PERSONAL:

Born 1956, in Chicago, IL. Education: Attended San Francisco Conservatory of Music; earned B.A.

ADDRESSES:

Home—New York, NY, and Castiglione Falletto, Italy. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Freelance writer and restaurant consultant. Chef at restaurants, including Chantrelle and Lafayette, both New York, NY; owner and chef, Follonico, New York, NY, 1992-2001.

WRITINGS:

Romancing the Vine: Life, Love and Transformation in the Vineyards of Barolo (memoir), St. Martin's Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

After a long and varied career as a restaurateur, Alan Tardi closed his successful Follonico restaurant in New York City and traveled to the Piedmont region of Italy, where he fell in love with the slower pace of a life centered around local foods and wines. He describes his experiences in his new Italian home in his memoir, Romancing the Vine: Life, Love and Transformation in the Vineyards of Barolo. The book recounts Tardi's growing affection for the village of Castiglione Falletto, in Italy's famed Barolo wine region, and his love for Ivana, the woman who inspired his move and whose family vineyards he helps to restore. It also contains twenty-five recipes from the region. According to a contributor to Publishers Weekly, Romancing the Vine offers many of the pleasures that are expected in the genre of food and wine writing, but noted that Tardi's "take on the healing powers of old-fashioned hard work and his guidance into his lifestyle is comforting and satisfying." June Sawyers, writing in the Chicago Tribune, observed that the book is "more complicated and sophisticated" than typical memoirs of disaffected Americans finding their bliss in charming Old World locales. In Sawyers's view, Tardi's emphasis on the history and process of Italian wine making gives his book particular appeal.

Tardi told CA: "I have always enjoyed telling stories and relating experiences. My professional writing is an outgrowth of that. The process is fairly straightforward: In the natural course of my life I have certain experiences which I think might be of interest and/or value to others. I then try to relate them in the most articulate way possible, using words as a vehicle for trying to recapture and relay these experiences.

"I hope that my experiences—and my writing about them—will provide insight and enjoyment."