Lessons in Good Food and Hospitality From a Life of Eating Between Italy and the South

Susan Gravely, founder of Italian artisan-made homeware brand VIETRI, on food, hospitality, and the power of human connection

An al fresco table set with plates from VIETRI's Solimene Campagna di Vietri sul Mare collection. The dishes are handmade and painted in the town of Vietri sul Mare on Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Infraordinario Photo

Susan Gravely, like so many others, fell in love with Italy at first visit.

“I was enamored by the colors and the smells. I loved the gardens and fruit trees. I loved the gentleness of people and their enjoyment for life and living,” she said of her first trip to the Amalfi coast, with her mother and sister, in 1983.