10/20/2020
So long, Farewell, Ciao for now...
End of a Ciao Thyme Era
Thank you for 20 years of memories!
A letter from the owners...
It has been our greatest honor to be part of your weddings, birthdays, retirements, and other momentous occasions these past twenty years and have you as our guests for cooking classes, dinners and events.
While our catering company and kitchen are closing, we will be taking on a partner to focus on the Commons venue, and hope that you will continue to celebrate in the beautiful space created at Unity & Flora for years to come.
Thank you for the memories. Please, share your favorite Ciao Thyme memories or dishes with us at [email protected]
Our final project is in the works, the Ciao Thyme Cookbook. We hope to have it printed and in-hand by December of 2022. Please help us make it a reality and preorder yours today.
We are forever grateful,
Jessica and Mataio
OUR STORY...
Have you ever read a book that you loved so much, it was hard to finish it? Or written a story but dreaded writing the final chapter? This is how I’ve been feeling lately. I’ve decided when it’s time to wrap-up the final chapter and close the book on twenty years of your life and business, you have to revisit the prologue and reread the story.
Some people said we built a life-style brand. It was meant to be a critique, but that’s exactly what we hoped to do, so we took it as the highest compliment. When we began, Ciao Thyme was a dream designed in our studio apartment in Florence, Italy. It was modeled after the lifestyle of the Italian people that we observed all around us. We saw a culture that valued real food and conviviality; folks that shopped each day at their neighborhood shops and honored their relationships with the small business owners there; people that celebrated tradition and had pride in their communities; a society that valued family and made time to build connections; individuals who had a sense of place, found beauty in their surroundings and still made time to travel and discover the world around them. It was all this magic, through the eyes of two young lovers, that determined the outline for the Ciao Thyme story.
We returned to America ready to build a life together that held all of these values at the core and we opened the book on Ciao Thyme. In twenty years, we wrote many chapters according to the plan, but like any good story, Ciao Thyme had a life of its own too. It pushed and pulled us in directions we never imagined. We started as a catering company, a restaurant without walls. We cultivated relationships with local farmers and helped people celebrate with real food, that honored tradition while pushing the boundaries of what was possible. We co-founded the local Slow Food chapter and hosted many Harvest Dinners—building community. At the five year mark, we moved to the next step of our plans, building our own kitchen and dining room at 207 Unity Street. In the Kitchen brought all of you to us for cooking classes, fundraisers, small events and the first of many Incognito dinners that fostered joy and connection. Then, we figured out how to share our love of travel by leading culinary tours in Italy. We showed you the origin of our story and let you inside our secret world. In 2012, as the local economy plummeted, we got pulled toward a traditional restaurant model, one that never played into our original outline, and On the Side, the Ciao Thyme lunch cafe was born. For six years, we offered seasonal menus that highlighted the best of this place we call home. In keeping with our promises to value family, we avoided daily dinner service, instead we added CT2GO meals to keep us home with our kids and offer you meals to enjoy at home with your families. Through all of this, we held hope that we might get back to our grand dream of an event space for larger gatherings upstairs. Grit and determination paid off in late 2016, when we held our first events in the Ciao Thyme Commons and felt the energy of one-hundred people buzzing around us in our modern, urban venue.
We did it—all the things we set out to do and a few we didn’t count on! The “we” includes all the characters in this tale—incredible, creative staff members, dedicated farmers and artisans, community partners, devoted customers that became friends, and two young lovers that grew older together. We are forever grateful to all of the loyal fans of Ciao Thyme. You championed us, supported us, got excited with us, traveled with us, pushed your personal food boundaries with us and made our lives so rich. We hope you will stick with us, as we will need your support one more time to complete the dream. While we are turning the page on this story, the next book may be a tangible one!
Ciao Thyme Cookbook 2022
Until then, we will be back with three final CT2GO offerings November 6th, 13th, and for Thanksgiving on November 24th/25th—newsletters to follow with more details. (Thanksgiving ordering starts tomorrow). Please remain on our mailing list, so we can contact you in the future, to keep you in the loop on our cookbook, venue information and any other creative endeavors that may follow.
https://mailchi.mp/825793b7b837/thanksgiving-menu-preview-4805742
