This Editor’s Note originally appeared in the Fall 2025 issue of Dream of Italy. Members receive access to more than 190 back issues—if you’re not a member, join here.
I always know an article is right for Dream of Italy when I’m a little bit jealous of the writer to whom I’ve given the assignment. My mouth was watering about this issue’s delicious cover story, a round-up of restaurants across Italy that are truly worth a detour.
Our contributing writer Kevin Raub has eaten all over the boot during his years living and working here, and this time he shares some extraordinary tables. From Venissa, on the small Venetian lagoon island of Mazzorbo, to Il Genovese in Genoa, where I guarantee you’ll taste the soul of Liguria in every spoonful of pesto.
I have to admit that I was especially envious when I sent Kevin on a special trip to Southern Italy for this story. Not only to try what many call Italy’s very best pizzeria (although I’ll always stay loyal to my friend Franco Pepe and his pizzeria Pepe in Grani), but also to dine at the legendary Michelin-starred Don Alfonso on the Amalfi Coast. Now that’s what I call an assignment!
I’m so grateful to have so many friends and colleagues in the know, Laura Morelli among them. Laura made a recent trip to Milan and did something many of us would find dreamy: hiring a stylist to guide her through the city’s best vintage shopping. I got her to spill the beans!
Where you stay on an Italian vacation is a make-or-break experience. I’ve profiled three very different but equally exceptional properties in this issue. All are places I would return to again and again. I’ve actually been to Mastrojanni Relais three times this year, two visits and a day trip with lunch. Casa Via Costa is such an authentic Italian experience and a beautiful one at that. And I have already checked my calendar to go back to Bianca Relais on this little-known Italian lake.
I always welcome your feedback, questions, and comments, so feel free to reach out to me at kathy@dreamofitaly.com
—Kathy McCabe
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