Thanks to all who helped make the International Food Sample Festival a success. Special thanks to Danny Leung for getting us a wonderful caterer! Here’s some information about him and his business.

Nicholas J. Coletto of Wine and Dine 1-2-3

Nick is the primary writer for the Wine and Dine 1-2-3 team. He was born into an immigrant Italian family where home cooking was the only way. Everything was homemade: the pasta, the sauce, the sausage, etc. Each September, he and his family would turn bushels of tomatoes into jarred whole tomatoes, sauce and paste.

His early years, combined with his time living in an ethnically diverse neighborhood in New York City, lead Nick to become a life-long foodie. Within walking distance of his home, he could find authentic foods of the world. Spanish, German, Indian, Argentine, Thai, Vietnamese, Tibetan, Malaysian and Ethiopian were just some of the styles represented.

Nick spent 30 years in the New York school system, as a teacher and then as a principal. After retiring, Nick combined his experience with education and his passion for food and wine, and began to offer seminars on food and wine pairings.

Nick prides himself in his ability to select wines that compliment various foods, never being confined by the white with this dish and the red with that dish mentality. He has always experimented with wines, and choses wines that bring out the different flavors of the meal – both, during both their preparation and served with them. During the past 3 years he has had the opportunity to taste over 2,500 wines.

Constant encouragement of people attending his seminars, lead him to write Wine and Dine 1-2-3, a guide to interesting and unique food and wine pairings.