Katie Parla, an expert in Italian regional food and wines, will host a series of thematic dinners and wine tastings in Kingston and New Brunswick. Parla, who became fascinated with Rome 10 years ago, has been living and working there since 2003. A graduate of West Windsor-Plainsboro High School, Class of 1998, her first trip to Italy was with the Latin Club in 1996 to do research in Rome, Naples, and Sicily.
Now a certified food expert and sommelier who has studied food and wine in Italy over the past six years, Parla specializes in regional cuisine and food origins. She will be hosting several unique dining events at Eno Terra in Kingston and Clydz in New Brunswick throughout the months of January and February.
Later this month, Parla will inaugurate the “20 Regions, 12 Dinners, 1 Neighborhood Restaurant” dinner series at Eno Terra in Kingston. One four-course meal each month will be dedicated to one or two regions in Italy. Typical regional recipes will be prepared (from local, organic New Jersey products) and paired with local wines. As diners savor their food and drink, Parla will detail the origins of each dish, placing ingredients and culinary traditions in their cultural and regional contexts. All of the events will feature local, organic New Jersey products, making them even more relevant to their central Jersey setting.
“Food and wine are a useful lens through which to view the rich and varied history of Italy. There are recipes and ingredients that we can trace back more than 2000 years to Greek settlers, or 1000 years ago to the age of Arab domination,” says Parla. “This dinner series will decode Italy’s complex past by studying the very food and wine that nourish it today.”
The first dinner, scheduled for Wednesday, January 28, will focus on Piedmont, Italy’s premier enogastronomic region. The second dinner, slated for February 11, will be a case study in regional cuisine, contrasting the food and wine of Lazio and Campania, focusing heavily on traditional recipes from Rome and Naples, the capitals of those regions.
On Saturday, January 31, Parla will host a wine tasting focusing on four wines from Piedmont-Roero Arneis, Dolcetto d’Alba, Barbera d’Asti, and Barolo at Clydz in New Brunswick. On Saturday, February 21, there will be a second tasting at Clydz, focusing on some remarkable, lesser-known wines of southern Italy.
Born and raised in West Windsor, her mother, Jo Ann Parla, is a real estate agent for Coldwell Banker; her father, Mike Parla, owns the restaurant Clydz in New Brunswick; and her sister, Lauren, WW-PHS, Class of 2000, is working on a master’s degree in art therapy.
During her high school years, Parla was president of the student council, an officer in the Junior Statesmen of America, worked for the yearbook, was involved in Model United Nations, and played soccer.
In 2002 Parla graduated from Yale, where she majored in art history with a specialization in classical art and archaeology and recently completed her master’s degree in food and wine history at the Universita’ degli Studi di Roma. Since college she has worked for the American Academy in Rome and taught Roman Topography to freshmen at a private school. Since January, 2004, she has been giving scholarly tours of Rome, Naples, Pompeii, Sicily, and Apulia. Her specialties include southern Italy, archaeology, architecture, food, and wine.
She recently appeared in and produced two more episodes of the History Channel series “Cities of the Underworld.” “We spent two weeks in Sicily shooting underground locations related to mafia history (and legend), and two weeks between Rome and Naples shooting underground sites related to gladiators,” says Parla. “It as a lot of fun and got really great reception.”
Parla also worked on and/or wrote several guidebooks this year. She is based in Rome where she leads private walks of Rome and Naples for Context Travel as well as her own clients. “I have also expanded my guiding services, providing private custom tours in Campania, Apulia (Puglia) and Sicily,” says Parla on her website.
“Central New Jersey has become a serious destination for fine dining and wine appreciation. The sophisticated diners in the area want to know what they are eating and why,” says Parla. “These events give them the unique opportunity to do so in a convivial atmosphere under the guidance of an Italian food expert and sommelier.” — Lynn Miller
Italian Region of Piedmont, Eno Terra Restaurant, 4484 Route 27, Kingston, 609-497-1777, www.enoterra.com. Wednesday, January 28, 6 p.m.
Wine Tasting, Clydz, 55 Paterson Street, New Brunswick, 732-846-6521, www.clydz.com. Saturday, January 31, 6 p.m.
Lazio and Campania Dinner, Eno Terra Restaurant, 4484 Route 27, Kingston, 609-497-1777. Wednesday, February 11, 6 p.m.
Wine Tasting, Clydz, 55 Paterson Street, New Brunswick, 732-846-6521. Saturday, February 21, 6 p.m.
