our old, familiar place.: the store.

I thought I would give you all a little more info on my hunky, man-snack of a boyfriend (you're welcome, dear) since he has been a bit of a ghost on the blog, lately. Reason, of course, being that he is a very successful business owner here in St. Louis and, unlike me, does not have oodles of time on his hands! But, he does love the blog as much as I do and can't wait until he gets some free time to post some thoughts and ideas of his own : ) Anyway, back to the man. Tony is a third generation co-owner of J. Viviano & Sons, Inc., a specialty grocer specializing in fine, Italian goods (holla if you love wine!), located in the Italian heart of St. Louis, otherwise known as The Hill. This neighborhood is where Tony's family, as well as my father and his family, grew up, and also the place where Tony and I met and fell in love (on church grounds, by the way). But that's a story for another day : ) This past Sunday Tony and his brother, Johnny, put on a wine dinner (Tony's also a certified sommelier) at their store for about 10 people affiliated with Saint Louis University who had won the dinner at an auction. This night can be summed up in a few words: vino, cheeses, the smell of garlic, rat pack radio, ravioli and laughter. But since I am a firm believer that a picture is worth a thousand words, I thought I'd share some of my favorites from the evening.