When winter is long and the world feels heavy, there’s no balm quite like a home-cooked dinner in good company.
Ludovica Rubbini would know. Originally from Bologna, she’s now one half of Cortina d’Ampezzo’s culinary golden couple, alongside her husband, chef Riccardo Gaspari. He steers the kitchens of agriturismo El Brite de Larieto and its one-Michelin star offshoot, SanBrite. She works as general manager of both the restaurants and of Piccolo Brite, their dairy farm.
“I’m a donna di sala — a hostess,” Ludovica tells me over Zoom one chilly day, the Venetian Dolomites visible through the window behind her. “It’s my character. I’ve always loved putting people at ease.”
This spirit comes through in both of the couple’s restaurants, which feel like homey Alpine antidotes to more impersonal fine dining venues. I first got a taste at a past edition of Genesis, the annual retreat Ludovica and Riccardo host to celebrate connection — to food, to nature and to community. Riccardo’s regenerative cuisine — which has earned him a Michelin Green Star — brought everyone together. But it was Ludovica’s hosting savvy that kept us lingering at the table.
The couple will be especially busy this week, with the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics getting underway and their restaurants appearing in many of the glittery dining guides for out-of-towners. But they’ve never needed an Olympic-level occasion to throw a good party, and neither do you. Hosting a dinner is a gratifying way to beat the winter blues; Ludovica’s tips below can get you started.
1: Good lighting is more important than lavishness.
How relaxed your guests feel is always more important than how much you spend. Lighting, according to Ludovica, is the X-factor that can establish instant comfort — or immediately kill the mood.
“A little light goes a long way,” she says. “You don’t want to have the TV blasting and the lights turned up to 1000 kilowatts.” Especially not in winter, when coziness is king.
Experiment with moving your lamps around, and play with different light sources for different spaces and times of the evening. “When we host dinner at home, I like having different ‘zones’ for different parts of the meal,” Ludovica says. “So I’ll set up an aperitivo in one corner, and we might gather around a table that’s lower to the ground and nibble a bit, and then when it’s time for dinner we’ll move to another part of the house.” Tweaking the light sources from zone to zone can make each transition feel special — whether it’s from a kitchen to a dining room, or from a crowded hors d’oeuvres table to a cushion on the floor.
Even in a small apartment, lanterns, fairy lights or similar sources can draw attention to (or away from) certain corners or objects — Ludovica suggests directing extra light toward your coffee table books, which can double as icebreakers.
2: Embrace everything local — not just local ingredients.
No two parties in two towns anywhere in the world should look exactly alike, if Ludovica’s philosophy is followed.
It’s not just about serving local food, but creating a local feeling. “I’m really intent on using decorations that feel well matched to the setting I’m in,” Ludovica says. “Being where I am [just outside Cortina d’Ampezzo], I’ll go into the forest and pick up some pinecones or pine branches, stick them on the table, position them on the walls. I like it when people can experience a little bit of what’s outside, but indoors.”
Being in the Dolomites is not a prerequisite for this to work. If your surroundings are, ahem, slightly less idyllic, you’re still bound to have at least one hyper-local touch you can incorporate; maybe it’s flowers native to your area, arranged in a vase you picked up at your nearest crafts fair. Maybe it’s a colorfully packaged condiment from a beloved hometown brand, used as a party favor or a centerpiece. If all else fails, a tray of sweets from a local bakery never disappoints.
3: Family-style sharing makes everything livelier.
When in doubt, don’t pre-plate individual portions of food — just put the serving dish and utensils in the middle of the table, especially if your guests don’t know each other well. Everyone will instantly feel more connected.
“I like it when there’s a bit of sharing going on,” Ludovica says. “I like that element of exchange, of gesturality, of passing dishes around among friends — take this, taste this, try this.”
You don’t need to go overboard for the spread to feel bountiful, either. “Riccardo and I always aim for a healthy and balanced meal, so we don’t really do primi and secondi together,” Ludovica says. “We might do a richer appetizer, followed by a main course or a heavier primo, and then a dessert.”
4: Tailor your menu to the season and to your guest list.
Keep your menu simple, guided by the season. For winter, Ludovica recommends embracing soups.
“In winter, our menu is really different than in summer, even at home,” Ludovica says. “We buy way fewer fresh vegetables in winter; they pretty much aren’t around. We instead use a lot more dairy and protein, and make a lot of soups, which always go down well.”
When ironing out the details of your menu, think about who’s going to be around your table; Ludovica says what she’d prepare for her in-laws is wildly different than what she’d prepare for friends. Realistically, guests’ dietary quirks and restrictions are sometimes enough to put people off of hosting altogether; to this, Ludovica responds that it’s “good to be flexible about your preferences [as host], and to have respect for who’s coming.” Thoughtful guests should know to extend that same courtesy to you.
5: Give people a window into your (real) home life.
If people have enthusiastically accepted an invitation to dine in your home, that means they’re interested in you, your life and, if applicable, your family. Don’t be afraid to show them a glimpse of what your day-to-day is like.
Ludovica and Riccardo have two daughters — Cecilia, 14, and Clementina, 10. Even when their girls were little, the couple never believed in a rigid church/state division of children/adults when entertaining.
“When we’re inviting people to our house, that means we’re also inviting them to live a little of our life as a family,” Ludovica says. “It’s never happened, for example, that I’ve hosted a dinner and then sent my daughters over to the in-laws’ to sleep.”
6: Lay the groundwork for a signature dish.
For years, SanBrite has been known for one dish above all others: Riccardo’s aromatic spaghetti with mountain pine oil. Diners’ reactions tend to be just as strong as the flavors.
“One guy cried because he told us the smell reminded him of when he was a kid and his grandfather would hug him after returning from chopping wood in the forest,” Ludovica recalls. “Of course, there are other people who don’t like the dish, but it definitely sticks with you either way.”
Before it became a menu staple, spaghetti with pine oil was a personal experiment; Riccardo wanted to create a dish that tasted like the mountains — literally. To translate his approach for your home kitchen, focus on perfecting a dish that you’re naturally curious about or already love to eat, rather than cooking purely to impress. That’s how even the simplest dish can become a signature.
7: Stress has no seat at the table.
Not every dish will turn out exactly as planned, and if the party is any good, someone will probably break a wine glass. Take it in stride; aiming for perfection only creates stress.
If you’re daunted by the idea of inviting a group, start small with just a trusted friend or two. This will keep perfectionism at bay, and can help you build confidence for hosting larger gatherings in the future. When I spoke to Ludovica for this piece, she and her family had just returned from a vacation, and the night they got back, they invited a friend over for dinner despite being “extremely tired,” she admits. But togetherness was their only goal.
“We just want people to feel at ease and be well when they’re with us,” Ludovica says. “We want them to detach from routine and everyday confusion and chaos.”
If you go
San Brite
Località Alverà, 200/e
Cortina d’Ampezzo (BL)
Website
El Brite de Larieto
Località Larieto, 32043
Cortina d’Ampezzo (BL)
Website
Editor's note: The writer was a guest at a past edition of Genesis. Italy Magazine writers accept hosted experiences only when they are likely to help bring our readers an interesting story. Writers do not accept compensation or gifts in exchange for positive or guaranteed coverage.
