The Shared Table

A slower, more intimate way to experience a place. Shaped by food, wine, and the passionate people who live there.

For years, my work has taken me far beyond the expected…. Down endless unpaved roads where the sat-nav gives up entirely and where the best meals and most memorable adventures often begin. Behind hidden cellar doors and into private family kitchens, into vineyards to harvest grapes, into restaurants where the menu is never written down, through olive groves and to places not found on Google Maps. Into forests in search of buried truffles, private palazzos and museums opened after hours, quirky artisan workshops, cheesemakers’ garages where ricotta is still made by hand, and late-night hotel site inspections where conversations with the GM continue past midnight. Along the way, there has been plenty of laughter too, often when my ever-improving Italian is mistaken for something far more entertaining than I intended.

Along the way, I have realized the moments that stay with us are rarely the overly curated ones. They are the unexpected visit to your host’s neighbour, who just happens to make the best pecorino in the area. The handwritten family recipes generously shared by my favorite chefs. The meals shaped by what’s picked in the kitchen garden, foraged in the nearby wood or spotted the local market. The restaurant sommelier kindly introducing you to her favorite local winemakers the following morning. The beautiful feeling of being welcomed rather than hosted.

The Shared Table was created to share those experiences.

Created by Purple Truffle, The Shared Table is a series of hosted culinary journeys for women, created alongside exceptional local women in my favorite places across Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, England and beyond. 

These are not tours or retreats. They are carefully curated gatherings designed to connect guests more deeply to a place through food, wine, culture, landscape, and the people who shape them.

Each Shared Table experience brings together a small group of women for several days.  Places are intentionally limited, allowing every gathering to feel personal, relaxed, and deeply connected to the rhythms and people of a place.

We travel slowly. We uncover hidden gems. We spend time with artisans, cooks, winemakers, farmers, and locals whose lives are deeply connected to their land and traditions.

Follow the link below to find out about the first ever Shared Table journey, set in the stunning vineyards and kitchen -gardens of Baglio Occhipinti, Sicily during the October harvest. I hope you can join us.