Kat Cardinale
Wine has been a part of my life for more than twenty years, but food has always been the constant. Especially Italian food. It’s how I learned, how I connect, and how I make sense of the places I travel. My work in wine has taken me all over the world, but the most meaningful moments have almost always happened around a table, sharing a meal, a story, and a bottle that belonged in that moment.
This blog is where those experiences come together. I share what I’ve learned from a life in wine, the places and meals that stayed with me, and recipes that matter. Some come from my family, some from the road, and others from moments of inspiration that felt worth bringing home. All of them are meant to be cooked, poured, and enjoyed without pretense, the way good food and good wine always should be.
My Story
My story begins in the kitchen, where food was never just food. My northern Italian nonna didn’t speak much English, but she didn’t need to. Everything she wanted to say came through her hands, the way she cooked, the way she fed people, and the way the kitchen always felt like the center of the world. Italian food was my first language. It taught me about patience, generosity, and the quiet power of doing something well.
On the other side of my family was my Irish grandmother, a widowed schoolteacher with a deep curiosity about the world. She traveled whenever she could, returning home with stories, small treasures, and a sense that there was always more to see. From her, I learned that food and travel are both forms of education. You listen, you observe, and you come back changed.
By high school and college, I was working in restaurants, learning the rhythm of kitchens and the discipline behind hospitality. Wine entered my life later, in my late twenties, and once it did, it stayed. What started as curiosity quickly became a calling. Wine gave me another way to understand place, people, and history, and it tied naturally into everything I already loved about food.
At some point, it all came together. Food, wine, travel, and story. This blog grew out of that intersection. It’s shaped by meals eaten in Italy, bottles shared around crowded tables, family recipes carried forward, and new ones discovered along the way. Each post is rooted in experience, not fantasy, and meant to be enjoyed the same way I’ve always believed food and wine should be. With curiosity, intention, and good company.