Postcard from Palermo, Sicily: ‘Crazy enlightenment project’ bridges centuries

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Above: A contemporary overhead walkway sensuously links galleries in a recently renovated 18th-century palace, Palazzo Butera.

At first, I tried to resist, but Francesca insisted, saying, ‘You can fulfill all of your dreams here.’” 

Massimo Valsecchi, interviewed by Elaine Sciolino for an article published in The New York Times on September 26, 2024

We stayed in the Kalsa District, the old Arab quarter in Palermo, for a month in the spring of 2023. This meant we strolled upon a portion of an impressively long tiled veranda addressing the sea numerous times. However, we were clueless about the possibility of visiting the adjacent Palazzo Butera to discover the beauty contained within its walls.

Freshly renovated, the palace did not open its doors to the public as a museum until 2021 and, when we visited, still seemed the city’s best-kept secret. It certainly hadn’t made the guidebooks yet. The New York Times article quoted above nudged me to retrieve this postcard from the backlog of unmailed ones.

‘Everyone said we were mad,’ a serene Francesca Valsecchi admits with a smile as she recalls the decision she and her husband Massimo took in 2015, when they moved from an apartment in Cadogan Square in London to the colossal Palazzo Butera in Palermo…. what Massimo describes as his ‘crazy Enlightenment project.’”

Susan Moore, Apollo Magazine, August 30, 2022

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Postcard from Marseille, France: ‘Bad Guys’ transform the streets

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Above: Street art by Poasson on Rue de Mauvestis, or Bad Guys Street

Bad Guys Street? What were we doing there in a city with as tough a hangover reputation as Marseille?

Reason Number 1: Marseille has evolved. Yes, it still has plenty of gritty urban neighborhoods, but what major urban area does not?

Reason Number 2: We followed the street art. Artists tend to lead the way in transforming dodgy neighborhoods into trendy ones nurturing funky shops and welcoming creative chefs seeking fresh starts distant from tourist zones.

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Postcard from Bilbao, Spain: Pintxos to pasteles

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Above: Always crowded at pintxo-time in the iconic Cafe Iruna

Starting our ABC-listing of food experiences in Bilbao with Al Margen. Yes, a photograph should be worth well more than 1,000 words, but don’t let these photos mislead you. The kitchen at Al Margen turns out amazing dishes from amuse-bouche through dessert.

Even George H.W. Bush could not help but love the broccoli. Singed on the outside with spring onions and a sauce brightened with lime zest, this broccoli could star as a main course. Heirloom tomatoes were flamed before taking a cool bath in a pickled peach and tangerine sauce.

Pomegranate seeds added a colorful touch to eggplant, while leeks and crisped pork belly flavored pan-seared gnocchi. For dessert, Malta cake was topped with marscapone and pistachios, and Al Margen’s unexpected take on tres leches cake was crowned with grated Parmesan. Not inexpensive, yet all delicious. Although the menu changes seasonally, regulars insist the broccoli be ever-present.

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