Meet & Eat: A Gianni’s North Beach Livestream Extravaganza
Turns out if you start to type “Gianni North Beach” into Google, it autocompletes with “Gianni North Beach Dead.”
Hey, wait a minute! Not true, last time I checked. Sure, we went away for about 3 and a half years. And yes, I’ve been laying low, occasionally hearing stories from my guy down at Little City Meats that folks have been stopping by and asking about me.
Recently they told me of a father and son who were on a Gianni pilgrimage visiting all of my favorite spots in the videos. They were headed to the Filbert Street steps next. That’s dedication — it’s a 5 block walk up a steep hill!
Then my producer, Jeff, went and re-posted an old video, “Porchetta War,” and all these comments started pouring in. First let me say that I think this is one of Jeff’s and Gwen‘s best episodes. It encapsulates a lot about “slow-cooking” my family recipes and looking for the true Italian roots of the immigrant kitchen.
But I also started watching all the other videos, and the memories flooded in. I have the absolute best fans on all of the internet. Everyone has nothing but love (except for the lovable Italians on the Porchetta video comments that inspired the “war”). It has meant so much to me, and I want to re-connect. We’re not ready to produce a full-on cooking video quite yet, but we thought of something almost as good in the meantime…
We’re gonna live stream a Meet & Eat!
What does that mean? Think of it as a virtual meal and Q&A. We all bring food to create our virtual table of good people, good conversation, and good food. I won’t be doing any cooking on camera (hey, my producers are all remote right now), but I will share a brand new recipe and I’ll taste it for you on camera to make sure it’s okay. And I want you to tell me what you’re eating in the comments so I can marvel at your creations, too! What more could you want on a Saturday afternoon? Relax and send me questions (you can even send me the questions now by leaving them in the comments).
It’s gonna happen on Saturday, February 6th, at 1pm Pacific on YouTube, so mark your calendars. We’ll share a link closer to the time of the event, but subscribe now on YouTube and click the bell to get an alert about when we’re live. We’ll also create an official Facebook event so you can join that and be reminded.
I can’t wait to see what happens!
Ciao Gianni. I’m sorry I couldn’t make the live feed, due to a family session that ran for a couple of hours. I had chili earlier so I wouldn’t have been able to eat again during your session. Later in the evening I opted for Hunan take-out. Tomorrow I’ll make my red sauce. I’ll complete your video tomorrow. I look forward to meeting you sometime soon, perhaps this coming autumn? Take care.
I finished the video just now. Good job! I like the Garofolo brand of noodles. A few organic varieties are available at Costco so I get large packages of spaghetti there. Rummo is my new favorite brand. It has a unique taste, a bit nutty? As for future videos, it would be nice to meet the staff at some of your favorite shops. – The last time I was in SF I stayed at the North Beach Hotel, which is a great place to stay (just bring your own pillow), right between Chinatown and North Beach, across the street from Zoetrope Studios. – Regarding evolving neighborhoods, it can be a drag but there’s not much to be done. In any given neighborhood, if it was important enough to residents to try and preserve it, they’d convince their kids not to leave the neighborhood. It doesn’t help that property owners keep raising prices too. It’s a shame that in the U.S. virtually everything is treated as a commodity, something to make a profit on, so concepts like tradition and preservation fall by the wayside, other than becoming a marketing gimmick. So, we get chains like Olive Garden or Buca di Beppo that use that image of large family gatherings, community, etc., just don’t enjoy yourself too much and occupy your table for too long. – Thanks again and I look forward to watching more, including live streams. – È una buona cosa che stai facendo. Ci vediamo in giro.
Thanks Julian. My producer wants me to do a tour of North Beach too. I’ll see if I can work that out soon.
–Gianni
Have kept you on my favorites all this time because my friends and I had so much admiration for you and your cooking. Hate to say this but some of us thought you passed.. I’m a little overwhelmed that I stumbled upon this by accident today, can’t wait to share.
Ciao Joe. Thank you and glad you caught the livestream. Yes I’m alive and well in North Beach. I’ll meet with my producers and talk about next steps. Hopefully you’ll see me in my kitchen soon. I’m overwhelmed by all those who stuck with me during those dark days and so grateful too.
A presto (see you soon).
–Gianni
You nervous Gianni?
Ciao Linda. How did you know? It’s been awhile so I’m rusty. But my producers have been bringing me along as we prepared for today. We’re hooking up soon to make sure we’re ready to go.
Grazie for checking up on me. It really helps.
–Gianni
Gianni we got your back! Just keep being you ..All is good see you in an hour
What items do always have stocked in your pantry?
Ciao Jessica. I can share some of what’s in my kitchen pantry on Saturday. Send me a comment during the livestream Saturday in case I forget.
Grazie, Gianni
Thank you, I just finished watching the recording of the livestream, and your answer was super helpful. Regrettably, I wasn’t able to catch it live!
Gianni! Ciao bambino! Well …I made gnocchi the other day….didn’t use enough flour….you guessed it ….they fell apart….time for me to go back to school and view your fabulous gnocchi episode. I did make your blue cheese sauce though, and that was outstanding.
Glad you’re back. We need you! How about a nice stuffed zucchini or squash recipe? Or beach picnic episode? Or something with hydroxychloroquine and zinc?.. ha ha. Can you get your own channel on Rumble? Grazzi
Ciao Jeannie. Sorry to hear about your gnocchi. It’s happened to me too. Check out this post about gnocchi troubles. There are hints at the bottom of the post that may help make good gnocchi every time. https://gianni.tv/gnocchi-not-so-good-its-ok/
I like your stuffed squash suggestion.In the meantime have you seen this stuffed mushroom and friends post? https://gianni.tv/baked-stuffed-mushrooms-friends/
Hope you join our Meet & Eat livestream next Saturday.
Grazie,
–Gianni
Hey where you been? Doin’ time in Alcatraz?
Nah, there’s nothing there!
–Gianni
Hi John,
Wow! Am I happy to hear you’re alive and well. Looking forward to the live stream. All my best wishes. Kathy
Ciao Kathy. Love your FB posts. We’ve come a long way since Bloomfield High. I have fond memories of our time together. Thanks for joining the lifestream next Saturday.
–Gianni (a/k/a John)
Hey good to see you’re back pison! Your buddy from NJ
Hey Frank. It’s good to back with the lifestream event. Remind where you are in Jersey. As you know I grew up in Bloomfield near the Newark border.
Great to see you’re doing well. Would love to join the livestream. Not sure I’ll have a good meal prepared but we’ll see. Was wondering if you’ve experimented with any plant based meals that you can offer tips on. Thanks!
Ciao Cindy. I’m just making a simple new dish to have something to nibble on. Anything particular in mind about plant-based dishes? As you know I have many vegetable dishes on the website. Look forward to being together on 2/6.
–Gianni
Hi, Gianni. Thank you for coming back! I really like your cooking techniques and home-cooking style. Something about your videos is so true, authentic, and heart-warming. My question is why you left Youtube? I hope you’re doing well. Welcome Back!
Ciao Rose. That was my maternal grandmother and my sister’s name too. I’m happy to be back with this livestream event.
That’s a great question and I’ll get into it on the livestream. I hope you’ll join us.
–Gianni
Gianni … So happy to see your back , have missed you & your great food , delicious !!!
Will be watching , can’t wait , like cooking in my Dear Mother’s kitchen !!!
Thank you ~
Ciao Barb. Glad you’ll join us. Want to share some of your Mom’s favorite dishes?
–Gianni
+6glad to hear from you
Ciao Dominic. I hope you can join the lifestream on 2/6.
–Gianni
Gianni – we are so happy to see the new website and to hear about the live stream. We will definitely be joining tomorrow, looking forward to it!
– Nina and Matt
Ciao Nina & Matt. Just got off a Zoom with my producers. We were making sure everything was ready for tomorrow. We’re set. So glad you’re joining. Send me comments. We’re gonna mention that fateful phone call you made to Jeff. That started all of this.
–Gianni