Carne Diem….more Cecchini!
Carne Diem…more Cecchini!
Yes, you read that right, not Carpe Diem but Carne Diem, Dario Cecchini’s motto! So welcome to my Dario week! On Monday, I had my first sighting of the Big Man of Panzano and on Wednesday I actually met him!
As I headed to the post office which is smack in the middle of Dario’s strip on Via XX Luglio, all of which is swathed in a bright painted facade of broad red and white horizontal stripes, I walked past Dario chatting with other local merchants.
Having mailed my letter ( which I am proud to report included a brief question and answer in Italian with the postal clerk about the proper way to address the envelope) I headed back toward Dario’s butcher and dry good shops. Dario stood in the doorway of his butcher shop in conversation with local visitors.
Whether from lack of nerve or interest, I can’t honestly say, I’d never ventured over the threshold into either shop. I had just decided that today was the day when the visitors sauntered off down the street and Dario turned toward me. I walked up, offered me hand and introduced myself in English, saying I’d recently moved to Panzano and I looked forward to dining at Solociccia. “ Nice to meet you,’’ Dario replied and waved the way into his shop.
Inside the compact dry goods shop, shelves were lined with products bearing Dario’s brand. There was lardo, jams and pickled vegetables. Souvenirs with Dario’s Carne Diem were interspersed among the jars and bags and boxes. I especially like the selection of pins with clever sayings like, “To beef or not to beef”! I selected an E8 jar of Brucia Culo (chili peppers in olive oil). “Forte?” I asked the shopkeeper- that’s what my mom always says when something is spicy hot. “Si, picante,” she nodded. That should nicely spice up a bowl of pasta!
Dario’s reputation as a butcher has earned him fame. Looking around his shop I decided his skill as an entrepreneur capitalizing on his brand has certainly helped propel that fame!
Hospitality is intrinsic to his brand so I wasn’t surprised when the shopkeeper, in the Cecchini trademark red tee shirt and white apron, holding a raffia covered jug of chianti while she balanced a tall stack of short stubby glasses, offered to pour me a glass of wine. I laughingly declined, “No, grazie-e’ matina!” It was barely 11 AM!
I headed to the counter to pay. As I pulled out my wallet I saw the sign -Photo E2. “Why not?’ I thought and added that to my order just as Dario walked into the shop!.
Perfect timing for my very own selfie with the famous butcher of Panzano!
Dario Cecchini, The Butcher of Panzano and me- in a E2 selfie!
Dario chatting with visitors outside Bar La Curva