All posts in Pino’s Blog

Announcing the arrival of a new season, many young spring vegetables are at long last becoming available. In spite of the extreme weather still being experienced in many parts of the country, these much anticipated seasonal delights are finding their way to market. My favorite heralds of spring are the small, sweet fava beans. They made their 2014 Morso debut this …

Christmas is an introspective time of year, where memories from our childhood, our children’s childhoods or Christmases of our more recent past all combine to shape our feelings about the holiday.  At least that is how it is for me. From my childhood, I remember the Tuscan tradition of the Lettera a Eabbo Natale. The lettera, which children write to their fathers …

When November arrives, I often think to myself, if it weren’t for Thanksgiving I would erase November from the calendar! Thanksgiving is an American holiday which I love because it is a chance to say “thank you” to nature for everything we have. This is actually a very Tuscan concept – so when November arrives, I apply my Tuscan sense …

Fall is the time to experience Tuscany, especially if you have a true sense of romance, an appreciation of history, tradition, and a soul that is attracted to the poetic. When I think of Tuscany at this time of year, I envision an early morning fog in late September, rolling in over the hills, providing a dramatic backdrop for the …

There is always a day in September when you go to sleep in the summer and you wake up in the fall. If you are lucky, Mother Nature has given you a beautiful fall starting out very warm and slowing down, like spring backwards. Your spirit is moving towards autumn and you begin to think about what the new season …

“In some seasons, like fall and winter, the foods we eat are almost an antidote to the weather, but in the summer the foods are a reflection of the weather; the two exist in perfect harmony. Summer is the time for eating seafood, fruits and vegetables.” Executive Chef Pino Luongo from Simply Tuscan   One of my favorite summer traditions is …

Manhattan is a conglomerate of small neighborhoods, with Sutton Place arguably one of the best known. It is an area recognized for its quiet-tree lined streets, parks overlooking the East River and the omnipresent Queensboro Bridge, but never for its restaurants. I would like to change that with the addition of a dynamic element to the current dining scene that …

“Tuscans like wine as much as they do food, so in every town and city in the region there is a vineria – a local neighborhood place where people met, but instead of offering food they have wine.  When I was a kid I used to go with my Grandfather in the morning to his favorite vineria, where he would …

The Tuscan approach to food is joyous and totally free of rigid rules. Our food has never become an institution – in fact, the inspiration for a good Tuscan restaurant is home cooking. I have said many times, the real flavors of the region are from the many family-run trattorias in our small towns and villages. These places are really …