This week carried a familiar rhythm — Super Bowl leftovers easing into travel, Charlotte revisited through a new professional lens, quiet nights back home in Easton, and a Sunday filled with nieces, nephews, and hot oil pizza boxes stacked high. It was a week of movement and return, of restaurant tables and home kitchens. From wood-fired salmon at Sixty Vines to an Italian combo from Sapore in Trumbull and a Paw Patrol birthday powered by Colony Grill, this is how the week unfolded.
Super Bowl Leftovers & a Soft Start
The week began the way good football weekends should end — with leftovers.
Chili reheated slowly, its flavor somehow deeper and rounder the second time around. Nachos assembled with intention instead of urgency. A little guacamole revived with fresh lime. There’s something deeply satisfying about letting food carry over into Monday. It feels resourceful. It feels grounded.
It also gave me space to shift mentally.
Because by Tuesday, I was heading back to Charlotte.
Back to Charlotte — A Familiar Professional Home
Charlotte is a city that feels both past and present for me. In a previous role, I traveled there often enough that moving almost seemed inevitable. Restaurants became familiar. Streets felt recognizable. Hotel lobbies stopped feeling anonymous.
Now, in this new chapter, I’m finding myself back there again — still calibrating how often that will be — but comforted by the familiarity.
This trip centered around team meetings and dinner at Sixty Vines, located at 1415 Vantage Park.
Sixty Vines strikes that perfect balance for a business dinner — energetic but not overwhelming, polished but not formal. We started with shared appetizers, plates landing in the center of the table as conversation shifted from strategy to storytelling.
I ordered the wood-fired salmon.
It was excellent — crisp at the edges, tender inside, bright and clean without being overworked. A thoughtful dish, executed confidently. The kind of meal that reminds you that travel food doesn’t have to feel transactional.
Charlotte, in that moment, felt comfortable again.
📍 Sixty Vines | 1415 Vantage Park, Charlotte NC ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Slice That Proved a Point
The next day was dense with meetings. I found a small window and slipped out to Hawthorne’s New York Pizza Bar for a quick slice.
It was fine. Respectable. Serviceable.
But here’s the truth: New York pizza only truly exists in New York. The water, the ovens, the decades of repetition — they matter. The slice fueled the afternoon, but it also reinforced something simple.
Place shapes flavor.
📍 Hawthornes Pizza Bar | 1515 S Tryon St Charlotte NC ⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Surprise Stop — Tiramisu Iced Coffee
On the way back to the office, I stopped at Babaloo Coffee on Winnifred Street.
I ordered a Tiramisu Iced Coffee.
It stopped me mid-sip.
Creamy but balanced. Cocoa notes layered with espresso in a way that genuinely felt inspired by the dessert itself. It wasn’t just sweet — it was thoughtful. Easily the standout of the Charlotte leg of the week.
Airport food later that night did what airport food always does — it served a purpose. But that coffee lingered.
📍 Babaloo Coffee | 1425 Winnifred St Charlotte, NC ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Home Again — Wine Sauce, Cutlets & Reset
Thursday and Friday were about recalibration.
One night, chicken with penne in a white wine sauce — garlic blooming gently in olive oil, wine reducing properly before pasta entered the pan. The sauce clung rather than pooled. Simple. Honest.
The next night, classic chicken cutlets. Thin, evenly pounded, dredged carefully, crisped to that golden edge where texture matters most.
After travel, cooking feels like reclaiming rhythm. It brings everything back into proportion.
Paint, Wallpaper & an Italian Combo at Sapore Italian Deli
Saturday was a house day.
Rollers. Drop cloths. Wallpaper aligning carefully at the seams. There’s something deeply satisfying about making a house feel permanent — each painted wall erasing a bit of the “new” and replacing it with “ours.”
Midday, I stepped out and grabbed an Italian combo from Sapore Italian Deli in Trumbull.
Prosciutto. Salami. Sharp provolone. Shredded lettuce. Oil and vinegar cutting through it all. That perfect balance of salt and acidity that only a proper Italian deli sandwich delivers.
It hit the spot.
Fuel for wallpaper precision.
📍 Sapore Italian Deli | Trumbull CT ⭐️⭐️⭐️
A Paw Patrol Birthday & Colony Grill
Sunday brought the entire family together.
Nieces. Nephews. Noise. A two-year-old birthday star and a full Paw Patrol takeover of the house.
This time, I didn’t cook.
And that was deliberate.
We ordered a dozen pizzas from Colony Grill — thin crust, hot oil, stacked boxes lining the counter. When you’re feeding a full Fairfield family crowd, Colony is the right call. Slices disappeared quickly. Kids ran in loops. Adults stood around the island catching up.
It was simple. It was local. It was perfect.
Closing Reflection
This week stretched between cities and then pulled back inward.
Charlotte reminded me of professional chapters past and present. Home cooking reminded me why I prefer my own kitchen after travel. An Italian combo mid-paint project felt like a small but meaningful indulgence. And a dozen Colony pizzas proved that sometimes the best hosting move is knowing when not to cook.
That’s the rhythm right now.
Movement. Return. Family. Familiar flavors.
That’s The Amore Life.