The Fourth Episode of "Amici di Gusto" introduces the life of Sonia, an Italian foodie in London.
Sonia, Ligurian by birth, Londoner by choice.
She jumps from sushi dinners, to Neapolitan pizza to Thai take-away.
Sonia has launched her blog “Nel Paese delle Stoviglie”in 2009, is a content creator and focuses on lifestyle, travel and food content for her favourite brands.
She is a big promoter of the Italian lifestyle.
👋 Instagram @SoniaFigone
I moved to London by choice.
I left the Italian region of Liguria because I wanted to learn English and to dive into a new job market. Advertising was, in fact, quite different from the field I was then familiar with.
I wanted to work with people from a different culture, with interests and backgrounds other than my own. I wanted to learn from their experiences and to grow alongside them. I wanted to know if I was up to the challenge of starting from anew and building something. I wanted to learn from the city that I had just chosen to live in.
Eight years ago, I departed from Genoa with only a one-way, low-cost ticket to the UK, and met with my partner Giuliano, who had arrived there a few months prior.
We left our homes, our friends, our families, the sea… and Ligurian focaccia behind!
I love London: it's so diverse and fast-paced. London is beautiful in every way. It's all her villages that make her so unique.
What I mostly miss about Italy is the people. Then the sun. And then the ingredients.
Whenever I feel homesick, I look for some good pasta or for the cookies that I bring with me whenever I travel back from Italy.
I stuff my “immigrant’s suitcase” with delicious foods that my mom, grandma and aunts make or get for me, including olive oil, cheese and lots of buttery cookies.
Speaking of ingredients, today I’m taking you to this beautiful farmer's market that not too many visitors know about. It's the Spa Terminus in Bermondsey, located under the railway arches that date back to the 1800s. Sold here are organic fruits and vegetables, craft cheeses, bio-dynamic wine and the delicious Monmouth coffee.
Speaking of coffee, in the last few years we’ve transitioned from using the traditional Italian coffee pot to using a machine that brews coffee and grinds beans as needed.
Switching from espresso coffee has been one of the most culturally challenging things for me, but also one of the funnest. I remember staring curiously at my coworkers, as they took their time grinding their coffee beans, and wondered: “Why bother?”
Now I do it too, and I spend hours selecting the right coffee beans.
Another cultural shock came on a day in August, the first summer I spent in London. It was my coworker Sharon’s birthday and she had brought a cake to celebrate. I still remember her coming over to me and saying: “Sonia, I got an Italian dessert. It’s my favorite!” I went to the kitchen and saw that she had bought a Panettone! In August! I was eating a traditional winter holidays sweet bread in August, with my colleagues in London, drinking beer with it!
It felt completely wrong, but there lied the beauty in it.
