Welcome to Sunday Reset, where we share how we're unwinding and what we have planned for the week ahead. This time, our editor, Julia, shares what she's making and watching for a European-inspired summer.
Good morning! If you haven't heard, Euro Summer is officially trending. But let's be honest—it kind of always is. Whether it's Ina Garten roasting chicken in her Paris apartment or the dream of a long lunch under olive trees in the Italian countryside, the idea of slowing down and eating well is always in style.
But this year? It seems that everyone's leaning in—and so are we in the Food52 Test Kitchen.
Since I'm not hopping on a plane anytime soon, I'm embracing a version of Euro Summer I can recreate at home.
That means long walks to the market (okay, grocery store), beach reads on the fire escape, and hosting aperitivo hour because it's 5 o'clock somewhere in Italy. I asked around our staff to see how everyone else is channeling the vibe:
I recently dove into the ultimate summer pairing: French rosé and dessert. (Spoiler: Lemon cake is a perfect match.) Read more about why Provence bottles are the move and what to serve with them here.
— Julia, Food52 Editor
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All offers are valid for a limited time, while supplies last, and on in stock items only. Cannot be redeemed for cash or applied to previous orders. Some promotions may not be combined, and exclusions may apply. Full promotion details can be found here.
This week, I’m making a case for renovating from afar and sharing a bunch of cool recent food/design/culture discoveries. Over the weekend, I’ll be starting a chat about how to set yourself up for a positive renovation experience—so start gathering up your tips and anecdotes. I want to hear them all!
Many people were skeptical about us renovating a house that’s so far away. Don’t you need to be on site, they’d ask? How will you know they’re on the job, and doing it well?
It’s good to know yourself. And I knew that it would be unwise for me to be on site all the time. I was the CEO of my company and I’m particular. What contractor wants to deal with that combo?
The full gang gathered for a site visit.
I headed up contractor-relations on an extensive renovation we did to a family house in Wainscott, New York. It was during Covid, so we made regular site visits and lived in the house for the final construction push. Frank, the project manager, had a good sense of humor and we bonded over a shared love of cooking, but you can always tell how someone really feels by their body language as you march across the lawn toward approach them. Frank’s shoulders would curl inward, bracing himself.
One of these men wields a hammer, the other a laptop. The guess is yours.
If you don’t trust your contractor, then you’re going to face a stressful renovation, no matter how close you live. If you have a solid contractor (you’ll meet ours soon; he’s super) and you budget for site-visit travel, being remote has advantages for all involved. You stay focused on the big picture and no one feels spied on: a good recipe for mutual trust. You make the most of your site visits (I’ve gone out 8 times in 2.5 years; Tad has gone 3 times). We usually do it in one day: people from Barbara’s team, Jenny’s team, our interior design firm (who you’ll meet soon!), and our contractor all come for their parts. We also set meetings on these days with key subcontractors, depending on the stage of the project (the window shade guy, the cabinet maker, etc.).
Because these trips are planned in advance, everyone has time to prep, so we get a lot done in a few hours, reviewing material samples, addressing any design challenges (venting, grading, water filtration), and talking through options best experienced on site (like the width of a patio).
Much of the rest can be done via Zoom, digital presentations, photos, and sending packages of wood, tile, and fabric samples. When I needed to see furniture, bathroom fixtures, and appliances, I went to showrooms in New York. Obviously, I have the advantage of living in New York, but if I didn’t, I could have done this on my way through L.A. to Ojai for a site visit.
Laundry room options: easily decided from Brooklyn.
Between site visits, I’d have to use my imagination to visually knit things together in my head, and the site visits themselves then felt like adventures, where I’d experience the “reveal” of each new feature or development. My site visits also gave me an opportunity to try out the local hotels and restaurants, and to explore the town, so I know what to recommend to family and friends in the future.
There were disadvantages, too. Like when we received a whopping water bill and had no idea what could be the cause, because we were 2,800 miles away. (A broken irrigation nozzle was the water-gushing culprit; see our gardener’s two-second video above for reference, which was just enough footage to know we should be worried…) Or when our pool technician reported that rats had nested on top of the pool heater and gnawed through the lines. Both were expenses that we might have been able to avoid had we lived closer.
But harmony in a project is hard to put a price on...
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