CERALDI is pierside, an intimate dining room warm with candles and wildflowers twisting in ceramic and glass. It radiates the driftwood grace of the Outer Cape. In different times we like to go at sunset, when the waves roll slowly against Wellfleet’s Harbor and shellfish bubble the silt at low tide. We still long for a starter of oysters in sea bean mignonette from an anniversary celebration years ago. While romance over a two-top is currently impossible, chef Michael Ceraldi now holds cooking classes online. We tuned in for a lesson on pasta primavera and chamomile panna cotta.

Co-owners Michael and his wife Jesse believe in pursuing an authentic life and business, integrated with community. It shows in the endearing shout-outs he gives to farmers and purveyors during his two-hour session. The pace is level enough that you can cook along if you like. We watched, first, over a bottle of Italian white from August wine bar, then revisited a recording for the next night’s dinner. Techniques were learned: scrubbing carrots skin-on instead of peeling, adding Greek yogurt to panna cotta to balance sweetness with tang, blanching vegetables in drained pasta water “salted like the ocean.”

Beyond our delicious results, the most fun came through spontaneity—as Michael said while slicing tagliatelle, “the imperfections are where the magic happens.” A participant worried about the texture of cream. “Bring her up,” said Michael, and soon we’re all beamed into a new kitchen, joining another family considering results in a bowl. Chef de cuisine peers through a webcam and declares the lumps fine. Later, someone confesses over chat that when others hoarded toilet paper, he stocked parmesan wheels (we did too).

While CERALDI is still closed for service, don’t miss the chance to take a class. Michael plans to host them often. In honor of his cooking and heritage, we’ve paired this experience with a Spotify playlist of Italian Sounds to guide you through a springtime meal. Start with Afrofuturist beats and jazz-electronica from artists on Rome’s Hyperjazz Records label. The golden chimes and drums of Machweo and DJ Khalab will have you chopping in rhythm. Dinner is set to delicate improvisations by Tommaso Cappellato and the bounce of Populous, his beats elastic like hand-cut noodles. A smooth dessert deserves the honeyed gloss of Chet Baker. Singing in Italian, Chet’s tenor relays no hint of his turbulent Mediterranean years, although his trumpet playing might.

“Let’s be where we are,” says Michael of mindful cooking, the words given an extra heft as we continue to stay in place. Fifty home cooks, learning together where we are, united through our passion for good food and a desire to make it the best we can.

5/28/2020