Why Lizzy Dent fell in love on her solo tour of Italy

Lizzy Dent was nervous about travelling to Italy alone for work. But the trip became a pilgrimage to food and romance – and produced a love story of its own.

“Italians are the best at everything!” my cab driver, Salvatore, declared as we sped from the airport in Palermo to my hotel.

“Football. We make the best clothes. Gucci. Valentino. Fast cars like Ferrari.”

“And the best food,” I added.

“You know how to make carbonara?”

I do know how to make a killer carbonara. After all, I’d been to Rome, the home of the classic but often-bastardised dish, seven times. And I’d eaten in one of the trattorias in Monti which is famous for their carbonara. But before I had a chance to say yes, Salvatore launched into an enthusiastic twenty-minute cooking lesson.

‘In that moment, I fell in love’ … Lizzy Dent. Picture: Kertsin Weidinger

I loved it. I loved Salvatore. I loved listening to his stories as we raced a little too fast and I was set to begin my first holiday alone in over twenty years.

Italy has been my favourite holiday destination since I’d backpacked around the country at 19. I’d climbed to the Piazzale Michelangelo and drank a local Chianti as the sun set down the valley. In that moment, gazing down at the Ponte Vecchio, the covered bridge with its little windowed arches, in the dusty late summer, I fell in love.

I was going to write a book set in Italy one day. It was inevitable. And when I started drafting Just One Taste, I cleverly set the book in Sicily, a place I’d never been. But, as I explained to my accountant, I would definitely need to visit if I was going to do a thorough job.

Uninterrupted exploring and eating were essential, even if it felt a little scary to take the trip on my own. Who would I eat with? Would I feel safe? Was it possible to capture all the magical moments in my heart … alone?

‘Classic but often-bastardised dish’ ... who doesn’t love a carbonara?

Still, I booked in for a week in Palermo, Catania, and Taormina, and by the time dear Salvatore had dropped me off at my hotel I already had the feeling I was going to be just fine. The warmth and hospitality of Italians – and especially Sicilians – is legendary.

Whether it was a spontaneous invitation to join a family dinner in Catania, or that waiter who took extra care to ensure I wasn’t overlooked for the free limoncello, I was always looked after. I was never stuck at the dingy seat by the toilet like I might expect in London. Instead, my hosts consistently went out of their way to make me feel like I wasn’t completely alone.

And when I was completely alone, I was in heaven. Total me time. I wandered through bustling markets filled with the scent of fresh fruits, or that salty scent of seafood, moving at my own speed, taking coffee while I took time to outline my new novel. People watching. Lazy afternoon naps. Double desserts. Too much wine. Crowds, couples, families moving busily in programmed strides, while I moved with my mood, slowly building out my characters and their own journey.

‘Lazy afternoon naps. Double desserts. Too much wine’ … life in the shadow of Mount Etna.

I’d never been one for package day-tours people go on, arriving on tour buses with a dozen other lost souls, being hustled through a destination with a surface glance. But I swallowed my snobbery and booked a small tour to visit Gambino Winery on Mount Etna, and it was a riot. Seven of us drank and giggled and got to know each other as our wonderful driver hosted us for a whole day of eating and drinking up the volcano.

After a few days, Just One Taste started to come alive. A love letter to Italian food; a chef and a food critic, travelling around Sicily, Tuscany and Liguria. A foodie’s dream; a feel-good rom com with Italian hospitality at its heart.

And my hot foodie tip? Years ago, the local Wallpaper guide for Rome, gave a friend and me invaluable advice for eating in Italy. She said consider not ordering direct from the menu. She said if the restaurant is decent, ask your waiter to just ‘bring what’s good.’ This tip nearly always works. Italians are generally too proud of their food to bring out the leftover chicken. We got fresh porcini sliced and fried, and not yet on the menu. A perfect plate of fried zucchini flower and honey. Prawn pasta with pistachio pesto.

‘My characters would have no choice but to fall in love too’ … Just One Taste.

Travelling solo in Sicily, my heart felt so full. I spent so many wonderful evenings in lively piazzas, sipping Aperol Spritz, watching handsome boys zip by on Vespas, old men in flat caps playing cards, and kids playing football under the spritz of a fountain. Swept up in the romance of every moment, I knew that my characters would have no choice but to fall in love too.

Just One Taste by Lizzy Dent is available now, published by HarperCollins.

Share your favourite stories about travel, food and/or romance at the Sunday Book Club group on Facebook. And if it’s Carbonara you want, check out Taste.com.au or Delicious.com.au — and share your own recipe at BestRecipes.com.au

Originally published as Why Lizzy Dent fell in love on her solo tour of Italy