Stefano Riboli

Especially aimed to all lovers of wine and good food, today’s first post takes you to Los Angeles’ only working winery. With a welcome as warm as the sun-baked hills of Tuscany, San Antonio Winery offers the atmosphere of a European wine estate and quality wines made from grapes grown on the owners’ vineyards in Monterey, Santa Barbara and Napa Counties.

San Antonio Winery was founded by Santo Cambianica who in 1917 left his home in Italy’s Northern Province of Lombardy and settled in Los Angeles’ Italian-American community. The winery named after Santo’s patron saint still remains in its initial location on Lamar Street, now Downtown L.A.’s up-and-coming River District.

In 1938, Santo’s nephew, Stefano Riboli, expanded his uncle’s company with the same spirit of dedication and originality San Antonio Winery operates today. Under the guidance of Anthony Riboli, the first member of the fourth generation to join this family’s business, San Antonio Winery has won more than 1,000 awards in international and national competitions.

Recently, Travel Blissful had the opportunity to talk with Stefano Riboli about the company that continues to represent the Riboli family’s history of passion and excellence.

E.J: What is the best part with running a family business?

S.R: The best part is seeing my family every day. Working hard and working together as families do in my native Bergamo, Italy.

E.J: What changes have you made with San Antonio Winery since your uncle Santo Cambianica founded the company?

S.R: Many changes were made since I began working at the Winery 70 years ago. We grew along with the industry. We always strived to make top notch wine and learned through trial and error. My wife and I made fantastic changes to our company starting in the late 1940’s. She was instrumental in creating the first wine tasting room and Winery restaurant in the State. She had and still has incredible visions for our company and is always striving for excellence.

E.J: Who are your customers? Mostly people from California or many tourists as well?

We have so many loyal customers. Many of them are multi generational customers whose grandparents and parents were raised in North East Los Angeles. We have many tourists as well that come from Europe and Asia.

E.J: I read about your Wine Seminars. Could you tell us a bit about them?

S.R: Fantastic wine seminars are offered monthly. They are paired with 3-4 course amazing lunches and 8-10 wines. They are wonderful for the novice or even wine snobs.

Maddalena Restauarant

E.J: Your Maddalena Restaurant seems wonderful. Are you serving vegetarian or vegan dishes as well?

S.R: Since my wife is from Piemonte , Italy we feature natural, wholesome dishes similar to those that we prepare at home. Lot’s of fresh garden vegetables, pasta’s and great seafood. Each day we feature a flavorful vegetarian dish.

Editor’s Note: For more information about San Antonio Winery, visit www.sanantoniowinery.com.

St Christopher’s Place is a charming shopping area near Bond Street tube station in central London. Here you will find stylish fashion shops like Noa Noa, Jigsaw and Marimekko, bars, restaurants and cafés. The best way to get here is from Bond Street: cross Oxford Street and turn into Gees Court, on the right side of James Street.

St Christopher’s Place consists of Gees Court, James Street, St Christopher’s Place, Barrett Street and parts of Oxford Street and Wigmore Street. The best parts are, in my opinion, the pedestrian streets Gees Court, Barrett Street and St Christopher’s Place.

The narrow alley Gees Court is a good start. On the left side on 9 Gees Court is the chocolate boutique Godiva, a heaven for chocolate lovers like myself. L´Occitane at 7 Gees Court is also worth a visit because of their terrific fragrances and skincare products from Provence. Next to L´Occitane, at 23 Barett Street, is the modern French patisserie Apostrophe with tempting cakes, tarts, pastries and croissants. Some of the best coffee in the city is made at the Italian deli and café Carluccio’s Café, opposite Apostrophe.

You will not find any other place in London with this many pavement eateries in the same area. One hotspot is Sofra, a Turkish restaurant at 1 St Christopher’s Place. And don’t miss Bean Juice at 10 St Christophers Place. This funky café with cool colourful interior makes delicious smoothies.  

Gamla Väster

Gamla Väster near the Lilla Torget square is a charming and rather quiet neighbourhood with pedestrian streets lined with boutiques, galleries and cafés. The best cafés here are CoffeeManiac and Café Siesta. CoffeeManiac is a trendy café located in an old cellar at Långgårdsgatan 8. Their open-air café is definitely one of the best in the city, the location is terrrific. Don’t miss CoffeeManiac’s special sandwiches - served warm with generous fillings and cut in two pieces to make it easier to eat. CoffeeManiac is open Monday to Friday 11am-18pm and Saturday to Sunday 11am-4pm.

Café Siesta is a modern and sophisticated café, bar and restaurant at Hjorttakegatan 1. Their open-air café tends to be crowded during warm summer days. The prices are rather high and the guests are generally older than the twenty to thirty something crowd hanging out at CoffeeManiac. Starters cost 40-100 SEK and count on 95-140 SEK for the mains. Café Siesta is open Tuesday to Thursday 10am-12noon. Friday 10am-1am, Saturday 10am-6pm and Sunday 11am-6pm. Don’t miss their tasty brunch on weekends!

Halmstad on the Swedish west coast has a lot of great places for eating out, whether you like Italian, Chinese, Thai, Japanese, Mediterranean or traditional Swedish food. We went to Restaurant Tre Hjärtan on the city’s main square. I’ve passed by a lot of times and always thought it looks like a great place.

The staff was very friendly and told me about their vegetarian choices - Vegetariana, a vegetarian pizza, and Pasta Vegan, a vegan pasta with vegetables in a spicy tomato sauce. When looking at the menu I also saw they had Greek Salad and remembered all the tasty Greek salads I’ve eaten in Greece.

The Greek salad was nothing like the one we ate in Greece though. The salad was drenched in too much olive oil, the feta cheese was chopped in way too small pieces and there were too much pepper.

I do recommend Tre Hjärtan, it has a great location with a nice view over the square. But opt for something else than the Greek Salad.

Don’t miss the fruit stand on the main square, on the right side of the restaurant. We bought lots of apples, nectarins, blueberries, apricots, mango, bananas, peaches and clementines and only paid 38 Swedish crones. I doubt you can find any cheaper or better fruit in Halmstad.

One great thing with traveling is all the restaurants you discover and all the new food dishes you can try. Even in a city where you’ve been many times before you will find new places you didn’t know existed. A few days ago I found this great sushi bar in Halmstad, Takenaka Sushi Bar. I’ve been in Halmstad a lot but never noticed Takenaka.   

Their vegetarian sushi with egg, salad, cucumber and avocado was really tasty, and the miso soup wasn’t bad either. Takenaka is not a big place, but they have a cozy patio where you can lunch if there’s no space inside. The place has a Japanese-style hip furnishing and a friendly and relaxed atmosphere.  

Takenaka Sushi Bar has a central location on Brogatan 26 near the city’s main square. They are open Tuesday- Friday 11.30a.m. - 8p.m., Saturdays 1p.m. - 8p.m. and Sundays 5p.m. - 8 p.m. Mondays and bank holidays are closed.

Takenaka’s Entrance

Eating in Takenaka

Vegetarian Sushi

Den Grønne Kælder (The Green Cellar) is situated a few minutes walk from Copenhagen’s main pedestrian street Stroget. Mexican risotto, hummus, spinach lasagne, herb beef with rice, and been salad are some of the dishes included in their menu, about 80% is vegan. The savory food, the cosy and relaxed atmosphere, and its central location makes it to the best eatery in the Danish capital. Not to be missed.

Open times: Monday-Saturday 11am-10pm Lunch (Frokost): 11am-5pm  

Address: Pilestræde 48, 1112 Copenhagen, Denmark