Hank Van Slyke, the lifelong Orange, Texas, resident who manages the neo-Confederate memorial erected by the Sons of Confederate Veterans goes to the same church as my in-laws. I just saw him and his wife at Easter like I do every year.

His wife always makes a point to smile and say hello. Church in Orange, Texas is generally a friendly and warm affair. But not for good ol’ Hank: he pretends like he doesn’t know who I am even though every red-blooded male over 40 at that service knows who both of us are. Tracie and I have been protesting at the site for nearly a decade. (See an archive of our efforts here.)

I wonder how he reconciles his outward display of spirituality with his racist activism. What would Jesus say about a neo-Confederate monument newly raised in a community that is half Black? I guess his “Jesus” is cool with that. Still scratching my head on that one, Hank.

I couldn’t have been more thrilled to learn that my friends at Southeast Texas Impact Initiative, Adriana Smoak and Jennifer Clarke, are organizing a Juneteenth 2025 protest at the site.

You can bet that I’ll be there. Please visit and join the group’s public-facing group on Facebook (Southeast Texas Impact Initiative Outreach) and please visit their site at SETXimpact.org.

Here’s the Facebook link for the event.

You can contact the group at info [at] SETXimpact [dot] org. And please feel free to reach out to me directly for carpooling/promotion/media inquiries etc.

This is going to be a big one! Hope to see you there! Thanks for your support and solidarity.

We are never giving up this fight. Stay tuned for more details.

And to all of you neo-Confederate sons of bitches out there, why don’t you act like men instead of cowards and talk to us about how your monument is bad for your community and bad for your city. Oh yeah, I forgot, ya’ll are just a bunch of yellow-belly losers. That goes for you too, Granvel Block. If there were a man among you, I’d be happy to meet him any time.

In a social media post Friday, Trump wrote that he was imposing 50 percent tariffs on products from the E.U. By the end of the holiday weekend, he had stepped back from that threat and offered a new deadline for negotiations before industry-killing taxes are put into effect.

Everyone in our industry drew a sigh of relief after he withdrew his threat. As the U.S. Wine Trade Alliance wrote in its newsletter flash:

A 50 percent tariff would essentially be a trade embargo on goods from the European Union, which would do irreparable harm to hundreds of thousands of businesses here in the United States… The United States imports roughly $15,000,000 in wine each day from the European Union, from which American businesses make $67,000,000.

Were those taxes to take effect in July when the deadline for ongoing negotiations expires, it would be devastating for wine trade members. As the USWTA points out, it would mean a virtual “embargo.”

But the bigger and more immediate problem we are facing is the uncertainty and the continued “kicking the can down the road.” Our industry is completely deadlocked at this point. Across the board, U.S. importers — large and small — have delayed their orders. And the E.U.’s investment in the U.S. wine trade is also on hold.

I guess no one needs 30 different types of Brunello for Christmas anyway, right?

In other news…

After reading the umpteenth misunderstanding of “la dolce vita” in one of our nation’s leading daily papers, I wanted to clarify that Italian director Federico Fellini always pointed out that the expression did not denote, for him, the “carefree life of the wealthy Roman bourgeoisie,” as the expression has come to mean in pop culture.

Instead, it was an echo of the “sweetness of life” that even the most depraved character can find, like Marcello watching the little girl play on the beach after a night of debauchery and meaningless personal interactions at a celebrity-driven party. Even when you touch rock bottom, as it were, there is still a “sweetness to life.”

Oh, and the image above? It’s from the 1952 Neorealist classic, Umberto D, the story of a man fatefully trapped by the absurdities of an uncaring government. Sound familiar? Thanks for being here.

Jews across the world mourn for the families of the two young Jews slain by an American in the U.S. capital last night. Our family is among those who are praying for the couple and their loved ones.

This tragedy will be remembered for many years to come.

There have been a number of killings attempted or carried out by anti-semites in the U.S. over the last decade. But this act of wanton racist violence — because of the site of the murders in the heart of the nation’s capital; because of the youth and promise of the victims — has even more deeply burned its memory into the soul and psyche of Jews everywhere.

I write that because I know what my sisters and brothers are feeling right now. As much as we thought it would never come to this, we are now fearful of broadcasting our identity in public spaces.

Would Tracie and I let our children attend an event like the one in Washington last night? Would we ourselves attend? The answer for an increasing number of Jewish-identifying families in the U.S. is no.

Americans of all stripes need to start speaking out more loudly and more clearly against anti-semitism. We need to let our communities know that anti-semitism — even the offhanded “joke” about Jews and associated stereotypes — are not acceptable in our society.

And when it comes to this sort of abject violence, Jews and gentiles alike need to stand together in solidarity, just as we have stood together against historic racist violence aimed at other peoples.

The murderer reportedly yelled a pro-Palestinian refrain before taking the lives of his young victims. I have strong feelings about the war in Gaza and I have much to say on this topic. But here and now is not the place. Right now, the only thing to do is pray.

G-d bless the victims and their families. G-d bless us all.

Image via Adobe Stock.

Above: that’s me, right, with my bestest of friends, Gabriele “Elvis” Inglesi. When I was in my early 20s, we were a touring duo in northern Italy. Today, Elvis is one of the best “chicken picking” guitar players I’ve ever performed with.

After my family, there are two great passions in my life: music and wine. When they come together, it’s magic for me.

This Sunday, May 25, my 80s cover band, The Bio Dynamic Band featuring Katie White, will be performing at my monthly open mic at Emmit’s Place, my favorite local dive bar.

This will be the fourth music event I’ve done at Emmit’s. But now there’s an added twist: a few weeks ago I launched a wine program at Emmit’s.

Currently, we have just three wines on offer but they are all winners: a Friulian OG Pinot Grigio, a Sangiovese/Merlot Super Tuscan blend, and a wine I’m extra super stoked about, a killer Barbera d’Alba. All three wines will be available this Sunday. And Emmit’s just installed a new pizza oven!

This is a family-friendly event and the Open Mic is geared especially for kids, including classical musicians. And all the kids love the mocktail list that owner Susan Davis created just for us.

Please join me, my family, and some of the best musicians in Houston (no joke) for a great way to pass a Sunday afternoon. Last time, this amazing brass band showed up and took the house down. Word is getting out about our gig and you never know who is going to show up and play!

Open Mic at Emmit’s Place!
featuring The Bio Dynamic
featuring Katie White

Where: Emmit’s Place
4852 Benning Dr.
Houston TX 77035

When: Sunday, May 25
2-6pm (our band goes on at 4:30)

$5 cover (optional, not required)

Thank you for supporting local music, local musicians, and independently owned local businesses. Mention this blog post and I’ll buy you a glass of the Barbera myself!

The Meyerland Middle School community came together this morning to mourn the loss of an eighth grader, James.

The teachers released doves and the students released balloons to honor his memory.

Our school’s guitar group played “Stand by Me” and the mariachi band played “Cien Años.”

Students offered heartfelt memories of James.

It’s the unimaginable. Like James, my oldest brother died at around the same age, and like James, it was a car accident that took his precious life. I know what their family is going through right now. My deepest condolences go out to them.

G-d bless their family and G-d bless James.

Please DM me if you’d like the family’s Zelle to help support them in this unimaginable time.

Yesterday’s post was a dive into the differences between the osteria and trattoria (hint: the answer lies in the wine).

That discussion raises the question: what’s the difference between an osteria, a trattoria, and a ristorante.

In his 1953 novel Roma, Futurist poet and novelist Aldo Palazzeschi writes of the emerging “restaurant” (à la française) category in Italy’s capital (remember this is during post-war rebuilding but before the economic miracle of the 1960s): “they are osterias in name and look but not in fact. And thanks to their love of profit, each one of them is aspiring to transform itself into a restaurant, little by little.”

The word restaurant is widely believed to have first appeared in or around 1765 (in an early form) on the shop sign of a Parisian bouillon monger who offered “restoratives fit for the gods.” The term comes from the Latin restaurare meaning to restore, in the sense of restoring your vitality.

By the early decades of the 19th century, restaurant began to be used broadly in Paris and beyond (just take a look at English guide books to Paris from those years and you’ll see evidence of this).

The term first begins appearing as ristorante in Italy in the last decades of the 19th century. But its popularity would grow in the post-war era as economic recovery began to come into focus.

I think it’s safe to say that Italians would agree that the ristorante is the highest tier in the eatery category, a step up from osteria and trattoria (see my post from yesterday).

It’s also widely accepted that the ristorante is found generally in cities, although there are exceptions to that rule as well (ambitious wine country chefs sometimes call their venues ristoranti). Whether in the city or in the country, the designation has a ring of urbanity and sophistication.

The word is also often used for hotel and train station eateries, even though those venues may not achieve the level of refinement that you would expect from a stand-alone restaurant in a big city.

Thanks for being here. I hope that people find this interesting and useful!

One that people who don’t live in the U.S. south don’t realize is that southerners appreciate and expect great cooking more than in any other part of the U.S.

When I flew into Charleston week before last to speak at an event (for the Abruzzo consortium and the Charming Taste of Europe campaign), I went straight to my hotel, one of those corporate affairs where you’re lucky to find a bag of Doritos in the “shoppe.” Super clean and professionally managed lodging but equally anonymous and depressing.

It was around 9:30 but the hotel restaurant was still open. So, I thought, maybe maybe maybe I can get something decent to eat and a beer.

Not wanting to take any chances, I aimed low: a grilled cheese sandwich would do the trick, I thought.

To my surprise, it was probably the best grilled cheese I’ve ever had. The quality of the bread and cheese and the apple peperoncino spread were in a perfect balance of sweet and savory. What a simple but wonderful sandwich! Even the fries: no Sysco here (no offense, Sysco).

I later met the chef and his wife and found that they are proudly running an entirely independent restaurant at the otherwise anodyne hotel.

The next morning, following our seminar, I was blown away by the porchetta (above) prepared by Costa, the restaurant where we held our event.

The crust was crunchy and the pork was melt-in-your-mouth tender.

I was also impressed by the caliber of service and wine professionalism. What a great and wonderful team. Even the servers that day listened intently to my talk and had a ton of comments and questions afterward.

Costa seemed in synchronicity with the overarching quality of food and food service in Charleston. I enjoyed everywhere I ate and drank.

Shout-out and warm thanks also to the amazing Kellie Holmes who put together a wonderful group of pros for our tasting.

People on the coasts disdain us southerners. But they sure love our food when they’re here. Maybe they should take a closer look at where that food culture comes from and they should take the time out to meet and know the people that make it.