Cucina Rustica

Benevuti a Cucina Rustica. Sono il vostro conduttore, Tom Cappy

Welcome. Thanks for joining.

I'm often asked what's in it for me, why I do what I do. You see, its central to my culture as an Italian-American. Italian at my roots. We're nuturing; we love taking care of people. But more so, cooking represents family, identity, and la dolce vita with cooking seen as an act of love, not a chore, using fresh, simple, regional ingredients to create social moments such as within this group, and with traditions passed down generations, making meals a core part of daily life and connection.

My family's heritage, Sicilian on my father's side, and Napolitano on my mother's side. I will explain the story behind the name change and more as part of the introductions come dinnertime.

I presently organize three Meetup groups, the longest tenure one, the Adventures in Beer Food and Wine (social) group, 16 years next May. The other group is an outdoor adventure group (my other love).

There are NO DUES associated with this group. Merely post a current picture or selfie of yourself, answer a few profile questions, and you're in. From there, take a peek at a dinner, and rsvp. DO add a +1 if you are bringing a guest. Oh, and please download the Meetup app to your phones. By doing so, it allows push notifications from me should I need to reach out to all of the attendess. Also, an awesome perk is that you may "rsvp on the fly." It is that reason why many dinners fill so quickly. There, too, you may "remove" your guest should they not be able to attend. When you do that, or even cancel on your own behalf, that person or persons on the waitlist automatically get bumped up and in.

Dinners are always for 8 sitting guests. The size affords unstrained (to be heard) conversation with everyone. And yes, I will be playing Italian music in the background.

From time to time, you'll notice dinners occurring a various members' homes. It's an option should you too wish to host a dinner. It's also one of the reasons why I ask for a current picture of yourself--if you were hosting a dinner in your home, wouldn't you like to see who's coming?

Dinners may include wine, or be listed as BYOB with suggested wines listed. A few dinners will feature the services of a sommelier (these of course will include a selection of paired wines as well as dessert wines).

To the best of my abilities, when feasible, all the Italian dishes will be made from scratch; they are either family recipes or traditional/authentic/regional recipes I've acquired via my varied regional trips to Italy.

*If you have a dietary restriction, please let me know as early on as possible. I "may" be able to accomodate you.

I've also hosted dinners for small family gatherings, book clubs, and girls night out.

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For those new to the Meetup platform this is how it works:

1. Read the entire post, note the payment methods (PayPal and Venmo)
2. RSVP, add a guest if applicable
3. Hold your cursor over your profile picture in the top right of the screen, and click on Notifications, then (at the left) do it again, and scroll down and select "notify me when the organizer 'opens his mouth.' By doing that, I can reach out to all the attendees at one time should there be a change, or I need to send out a reminder.
4. As I'm out the monies for the ingredients 5-7 days out, I ask you all to submit your monies within that time period.
5. Should something come up, please "un-rsvp". When you do that, if someone were to be on the waitlist, they in turn would get to go.
6. Here's the Refund Policy: If you have a confirmed seat and cancel at least 5 days before the event, I will give you a full refund. If you cancel within 5 days of the event, your reservation is not refundable. HOWEVER, I will attempt to sell your spot on the Bend Foodies page or on our Meetup site, and if I’m able to do so, I will issue you a full refund. Of course, you may want to try to sell or gift your spot to someone else, and if you do so, please let me know immediately so I don’t continue offering your spot. The exception is if there is a waitlist containing the number of seats that offset yours. If this happens, and your spots are filled and paid for, I will give you a full refund.
7. No shows. :( No show 2 times and I'll remove you from the group. With that any RSVP's will be lost as well.
8. NO TIPPING ALLOWED.