Love on the Menu at The Watermark

A few months back, The Watermark at Marco Island began hosting a cooking class for its residents, led by in-house executive chef Salvatore Pezzella. On the 30, a unique class took place where Chef Salvatore shared original recipes straight from his family and home country of Italy!

“Today is a really special day because I remember my grandmother,” Chef Salvatore shared before the class started. “This is my goal for today: that the people understand the food is more of a story. The food is from love, from family. Everything is homemade, and homemade is a story.” He remembered how his grandmother made gnocchi, lobster, and more. “The goal is to make everyone come together.”

Another treat for the residents as they settled in, finding a seat amongst friends, was a glass of Limoncello, also homemade by Chef Salvatore from an original family recipe passed down with love.

Chef Salvatore smiled as he took in the room, “Look at the energy. Look, everybody's happy. Everybody's coming together like love.”

Taking pride in the quality of his kitchen, Chef Salvatore describes his culinary team as his family. Family coming together to create stories within the kitchen and onto the plate, “Gaetano, Camilla, Natalia, Rosana, Ana, Sergio, and Jesus – I think the team is very important. It's my family. Like them, my family.” He gestured to the room filled with residents and Watermark staff.

As the class began, the Watermark staff thanked the residents for coming to the monthly session and prepared everyone to see Chef Salvatore in his true glory with an authentic Italian Experience.

And an experience it was, as Italian themed music began to play, and the kitchen nearly transported the attendees directly to Italy itself!

“Today we're going to make gnocchi with fresh lobster, and tagliatelle fettuccine with alfredo sauce. We're going to cook everything right here and we're going to demonstrate how we make the gnocchi together,” Chef Salvatore said.

A wheel of Parmesan cheese straight from Italy was an eye-grabber, its fresh Parmesan a delight to taste and later on the made-from-scratch fettuccine was tossed within the wheel.

While the chefs demonstrated the process of making gnocchi, “Gnocchi is potato, flour, eggs, salt, pepper, Parmesan cheese, and tomato sauce,” residents swayed to the music, toasted their Limoncello, and watched with enjoyment.

Fresh Canadian lobster was shown next. “With the lobster, we put marinade like cilantro, garlic, wine, butter, salt, pepper, and love. It's very important, love!”

Chef Salvatore’s passion for not only the meal, but for the art of cooking in general shone brightly as he described each step. “It’s quality, but not just for nothing – quality because of honesty, love, and respect. Respect for life and respect for a good time.” He touched on how important the quality of food is at the Watermark, stressing the homemade process, “I don’t think we have a restaurant that makes food like this. The Watermark makes a story. It makes something special; it’s called family and that is important.”

Plates were prepared of each dish and brought to the tables individually for residents to eagerly indulge. Chef Salvatore would step away momentarily and walk the room, checking to see if everyone enjoyed them. He also ensured everyone was enjoying his Limoncello, “There you go, after two, you go to sleep!” he joked.

As the last plates were delivered, Chef Salvatore thanked his team, the residents who came, and a special thank you to the Watermark’s Executive Director Robyn Johnson, “The Big Boss, she supports everybody. She works around the clock and is available anytime; she loves everybody.”

Johnson took the mic, in turn thanking Chef and the attendees, “What an amazing demonstration of incredible talent and incredible ingredients. The word I heard Salvatore use more than any other was ‘love’, and you can see it in everything he is teaching today. You can taste it in the Limoncello, right?” She laughed, “I am so grateful that we have such a talented team to provide such an amazing experience for us here.”

A story was made and sure to be remembered, one filled with love alongside the aromas of the Italian experience filling the air, laughter and smiles adorning the residents’ faces, and a good time had by all.