sant' eustachio

No sleep 'til Hampton.

En route to the phish reunion shows, many things flashed through my brain. One, while passing the cool grafitti on West Farms Road in the Bronx, was the remembrance that it was Olive Oil Day, and I made a quick u-turn off the Bronx River Parkway to sample the new harvests at Gustiamo.

Since they hadn't opened any yet, and I was in a rush, I snacked on a crostini topped with Beatrice's bright mix of bottarga, olive oil, capers, garlic, and olives, which she also uses on pasta.

As I tasted and kibbutzed with the ladies, I had an idea. Their prized Sant' Eustachio only makes it out of Italy for Gustiamo to distribute, and so I would give it a tour of the Mid-Atlantic states. We'd go to Hampton together, and see a show. This could make the band appreciate the need to taste it -- travelling 600 miles to visit them, by car, after a long flight from Rome.

Just like Obama appreciates their pasta.

I picked up Sebastian in New York. He didn't ask about the extra passenger, but he knows that coffee and I have a special relationship.

The three of us paused for a moment beside the highway in New Jersey.

And pulled over for kick-ass barbecue in Delaware. Not one to break tradition, I had the brisket.

Nine hours into the drive, I was ready to stop for the night. We made our way to Potomac, Maryland, to the home of Ethan Robbins.

We had high hopes after this cush stay. It was on to Hampton, to slightly divier digs, but a room with a view.

Sant' longed to go in to the Mothership. He stayed by the window and waited.

My roommate Narric and I took him to Chili's. He was horrified.

And horrified again, when he saw the trappings of the kitchen -- he hid in the corner -- he'd never been brewed in a situation like this before.

Things were looking grim. We were running out of ideas on how to get him inside.

Ethan had an idea -- A pot of coffee for your extra?

In an atypical move, I just shoved him into my bag and walked into the venue.

We were safe inside. No one noticed the bulge in my belly bag.

Sant' wanted to dive onto the stage into Trey's arms, but I kept him rocking in mine.

Seeing my stash, the woman next to me was stunned. "How did you get that coffee?" she asked. "It's from my friends at Gustiamo, I told her. "We had it when we were in Rome!" she elbowed her husband "Look at what she has!" she said.

"How did you get that?" He asked.

"I just got an e-mail about how they're a woman-owned business," Jen smiled. "This is too cool." She and Dan yelled over the music to tell me of their trip to Rome, and how obsessed they were with the caffe. She'd found Gustiamo, the only mail-order source, through the net.

Sant' and I sat back and enjoyed the poularity, and the rest of the show. We didn't make it into Trey's hands, but there's always Wantagh.