L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano M ark the 25th of March on your calen- dar, and get r e a d y t o e n j o y a n a m a z i n g evening. The Nexxt Foun- dation Inc. is organizing its first Annual Gala Event at the Ovation Center in Long Beach and we are all invited. The Gala will offer delicious Italian food by the winner of two Michelin stars, Chef Erik De Marchi, executive chef and owner at Oliver's Osteria in Laguna Beach This will be followed by an evening of music and creativity that will involve not only the artists on s t a g e , M e m p h i s B l u e s Maestro Doug MacLeod and talented Italian guitarist (and L'Italo-Americano very own!) Patrick Abbate, but also the public, who'll have t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t o g e t o n stage and perform with them. An evening-long jam session to enjoy the freeing, cathartic power of music, but also – and especially – to communi- cate through it a universal message of union and beauty that transcends languages and cultures. The emcee of the event is Ruth McCart- ney, expert of all that is digi- tal communication, social m e d i a , w e b d e v e l o p m e n t , NFTs and, of course, music and the arts. All this, to help a well-worth charitable cause, the Somerset Homes of Orange County, indepen- dent living structures that support young adults and adults with additional needs through their journey towards an independent life. T h e N e x x t F o u n d a t i o n (NXFT) is a 501(c)(3) not-for- profit organization that aims a t s u p p o r t i n g e v e n t s a n d business relations between C a l i f o r n i a a n d I t a l y , through the endorsement and promotion of the Belpaese's "prosperous and beloved" Made in Italy. We know the connection between California and Italy is strong, and that the Italian- American community in the State is large and cohesive: in the end, our very presence, every two weeks, at your local newsstand for the past 114 years must mean something! So it shouldn't surprise that the Nexxt Foundation wanted to become a hub to enable f u r t h e r d e v e l o p m e n t o f a union that is certainly com- mercial and economic, but also cultural and human. Its management team speaks I t a l i a n , w i t h T o n y Podesta as Chairman of the Board, Renato Giordano – the key link between the foun- dation and the charity sup- ported by the Gala – as CTO and Secretary of the Board, and Lorenzo Lisi, CEO and acting CFO, but also a central figure in the organization of Nexxt Expo, the first edi- tion of the "largest Italian Fair in Los Angeles," that will take place from the 24th to the 27th of March 2022, in San Pedro, the "new" Little Italy of LA. Lisi highlighted the importance for a city like Los Angeles, where the Italian community has been histori- cally important for well over a century, to have finally its own Italian quarter, an area where the community can gather and converge for cul- tural exchange, initiatives and maintain their heritage alive. W e o f L ' I t a l o - Americano had the pleasure to chat about the Gala and its m i s s i o n w i t h N e x x t Foundation's Lorenzo Lisi and Renato Giordano, as well as the event's emcee Ruth McCartney, during a pleasant face-to-face call that brought together a bright LA morning and the sunset hours of the Italian North-West. R e n a t o G i o r d a n o explained in clear terms the importance of the event, and the real-life connection he has with the Somerset Homes, where his young daughter Tamara lives. Here, each resi- dent can experience indepen- dence, can connect with oth- ers, can work, while having all necessary medical support close by. Tamara has a lot to do with the Gala, even if she isn't directly involved in its organization, because it's through her life-long love and passion for music – she is an accomplished drummer her- self – that her father and one of the Gala's guests, Doug McLeod got to know each other. And it is during an i m p r o m p t u v i s i t M c L e o d m a d e t o T a m a r a a t t h e Somerset home where she lives with five others - Renato continues - that he under- stood how incredibly benefi- cial music can be. That jam s e s s i o n b e t w e e n M c L e o d , Tamara, and her housemates h i g h l i g h t e d t h e i m m e n s e c o m m u n i c a t i v e p o w e r o f music, as well as its beneficial effects on our psyche, our mood, our wellbeing. When asked if, as a music and con- temporary media expert, she a l s o b e l i e v e d i n m u s i c ' s i m m e n s e c o m m u n i c a t i v e power, Ruth McCartney agreed, bringing back to our memory the way we Italians, during the first days of the pandemic, while locked into o u r h o m e s a n d u n a b l e t o socialize, took to our bal- conies en masse to sing and p l a y m u s i c , a n a t i o n w i d e effort to exorcise fear and to communicate with others, despite physical distance. It benefited a whole country, just like he had benefited Tamara and her housemates t h e d a y D o u g M c L e o d stopped by with his guitar. And indeed, the idea of j a m m i n g o n s t a g e o n t h e night of the Gala was inspired by the good it did to Tamara and her housemates, and it is an ideal fil rouge between the people who will participate and those who will be helped. Lorenzo Lisi clarified the connection between the gala and the Expo, which he has been organizing and that, as mentioned, will take place from the 24th to the 27th of March in San Pedro. The idea, Lisi stresses, is to give the o p p o r t u n i t y , w i t h t h e Foundation and the Expo, to b o t h u p - a n d - c o m i n g a n d established Italian companies to carve a space to operate in t h e C a l i f o r n i a n m a r k e t , cementing a relationship that is already fruitful, but that still has space for growth. The Expo, Lorenzo continues, also wants to be a way to intro- duce more of the "real" Made i n I t a l y t o t h e a r e a . I t i s , indeed, this idea of "real Italy" that will be presented also during the gala, not only with the presence on stage of an Italian musician but also, of course, with the Italian dinner preceding the event. Chef De Marchi will propose a tradi- t i o n a l I t a l i a n m e n u , served alla vecchia maniera, the old-fashioned way, as it is still done in Italy, with small- er portions of several dishes being offered to guests to sample a variety of foods. De Marchi is also a great example o f w h a t I t a l i a n c u i s i n e i s today: he is a formally trained chef, but he often says his real school was the family kitchen: he makes fresh pasta for his restaurant every day, just the way his father taught him. It doesn't get more Italian than that! One of my last questions was for Ruth, who has begun a new venture in the world of N F T s a n d h a u t e c u i s i n e , offering to chefs the possibili- ty to transform their recipes into non-fungible tokens to be sold online as unique pieces of art. NFTs are quite a revo- lutionary idea, and I won- dered if there were already some Italian chefs involved in the project, as we Italians are notoriously slow to embrace new technologies. Ruth con- firms that there are, indeed, chefs from Italy – and from other 30 countries. "It's like I- Tunes for chefs," she says, and that makes the whole concept, which is, I admit, quite new to me, immediately much clearer. A new subject to explore, and something you may learn more about during the Gala. So, if you're around on the 25th of March, get your tick- e t s a n d t h e p o s s i b i l i t y t o enjoy a great evening of fun, music, good food, all in name of a great cause to support. A n d i f y o u a r e n o t i n California, but you'd like to give a hand anyway, remem- ber you can donate at the F o u n d a t i o n o f f i c i a l w e b s i t e : h t t p s : / / w w w . nexxtfoundation.org/. FRANCESCA BEZZONE Support a great cause while enjoying good music and Italian cuisine at NEXXT Dinner Gala Left: Ruth McCartney, the emcee of the evening (Photo courtesy of McCartney Multimedia). Right: Tony Podesta, Nexxt Foundation's chairman (Photo courtesy of McCartney Multimedia/Nexxt Foundation) LIFE PEOPLE PLACES EVENTS

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