Ep. 2280 Mike Madaio | Book Club with Richard Hough

As I've come along in my career as a food and wine writer, I think that so many of the most compelling stories are are human stories. Right? So when I, you know, interview a Italian winemaker to talk about his or her wine, it's I wanna understand who that person is, what motivates them, what what struggles they've had. You know, all those things, I think, make the story more compelling than just saying, oh, here's a wine that tastes like this or here's a sandwich that tastes like this. So that was an important thing to convey too, and I'm I'm glad that came across. Yeah. Absolutely. Hello, and welcome to book club with the Italian wine podcast. I'm your host, Richard Hoff, and I'm delighted that you're joining us as we get between the vines with some of the best wine writing out there. So sit back, pour yourself a glass, and enjoy the show with the Italian wine podcast. This month, our guest is Mike Mateo. Mike is a writer based in or near Philadelphia, covering mostly the local and Italian food and wine scene in that city. He's also a certified Italian wine ambassador. Today, we're going to be discussing his latest book, A History of Philadelphia Samajee. Now that might seem like quite a niche subject, but, actually, it raises a number of universal themes that are of great interest to me, like migration, integration, and the often painful transition to post industrialism. So if you thought it was just a book about the humble sandwich, then we've got a few surprises in store for you. Mike, congratulations on your new book. How are you? Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Happy to be here. Good. Before we we talk about the book itself, Mike, I I wanted just to explore a bit about your background and your interest in food and wine. So could you tell us a bit about your upbringing? Am I right in thinking that you're not actually from Philadelphia? Yeah. Well, I spent early years in the Boston area. Moved to Philadelphia when I was maybe 14 or 15 years old, so been there a long time now. But that was something I do talk a little bit about that I loved sandwiches growing up. And when I moved to Philadelphia and saw the sandwich culture of the city, it was it was something that was immediately interesting to me. Yeah. So you have that kind of outsider's perspective, but you're also as you say, you've been there a long time, so you know the city intimately. Could you tell us a bit how you first got into food and wine writing? What drew you to that world? Yeah. It was it was kind of an accident, to be honest with you. I I liked eating food, and and it was going out to restaurants and and so forth. But this was maybe a little over twenty years ago. I was interested in in restaurants in my area, and I noticed that nobody was really talking about them online. In the the actual city of Philadelphia, I live outside the city as you said, there was some coverage, but online, there wasn't a lot in the suburbs. So I just, one day, decided to start writing about it myself, and it kinda took off to make a long story short. And and that that was the the lead in to my career. And once I got more interested in that, I it it kinda took off from there. I, eventually got the wine bug as well and started started writing about wine and getting into Italian wine. And did do you have Italian origins, Mike? Is that what you're interested in Italian wine lines? I mean, I think so that's the origin of it for sure. My my father's side of the family is is from Italy. My grandmother's family is from Sicily, and my grandfather's family is from Campania. Okay. So that that was kind of the lead into being interested in Italian wine. I, you know, cook a lot of Italian food and and and that sort of thing. So, but then I think once I start to learn more about it, just the diversity and and all the complexity of Italian wine is is something that has really kept me interested. Yeah. And you didn't miss about. In 2017, you became a certified Italian wine ambassador with the Vini Tilly International Academy. Could you tell us a bit about that program? What what drew you to that program? And for those of our listeners who aren't familiar with it, what does that involve? Sure. Yeah. I had gone to a tasting that was put on, by Stevie Kim at, in New York City at one point. And, this is back when Ian DeGato was was also a part of the program, and it was just a fascinating tasting. As I mentioned, I have such an interest in Italian wine and just the depth and complexity of of what that is. And for me, this program being so focused on Italian wine was a real draw as opposed to some other programs out there that are great but focus, you know, across the entire world of wine. I really wanted to focus specifically on Italy because that was what I liked drinking and what I liked writing about. It was a rigorous program. There's no doubt about that. Close to a week in New York City, and we, you know, basically were in class and then studying, and that was about it. Not the most glamorous week, but but, just learned so much and and got to try a number of different wines. You know, really opened my eyes metaphorically, but also literally to Italian wine because being, you know, certified as an ambassador, you get into the community and there's all these, opportunities to to learn more and and connect with with more people about Italian wine, all things Italian wine. Yeah. I I wanted to ask you about that, about your ongoing involvement with the community because the the program doesn't end with the course itself. There's a a kind of ongoing series of events and opportunities. Could you give us a couple of specific examples? Anything that you've been involved with? Sure. Yeah. I mean, it's interesting because, you know, unfortunately, well so before COVID, it was amazing. I got to go on a number of trips over to Italy and some tastings, you know, some industry tastings and things that I I wouldn't have had access to earlier. In particular, there was one in Marche where we did a deep dive on on verdicchio, which was was a great program. You know, then COVID came, and that kinda limited it a little bit more. And then I dove into this project. So you know, we'll get to the the history of Philadelphia sandwiches project. But part of the reason I took it on when I did was I was, you know, sort of home in COVID. I didn't really wanna travel for a few years there, and so I I was focused a little closer to home. But now that this book is out, I'm looking to get back to a little bit more focus on Italian wine and hopefully, get back into the program a little bit more. Yeah. Great. Okay. Let's switch back then to to Philadelphia itself. And, I mean, speaking personally, my knowledge of Philadelphia is probably limited to those famous steps that Rocky runs up, some vague notions about it being the birthplace of American democracy. But beyond that, I I mean, I don't know a great deal about the the city, I have to confess. So can you can you give us a quick skinny introduction to the city and perhaps in particular its Italian community? Oh, yeah. I mean, it is a large American city. It's maybe the fifth largest. I'm not sure. You know, sometimes changes slightly. But so it is a a relatively large city on the East Coast, a little little way south of New York City. So that shares, you know, a fair amount of similar characteristics, although obviously not as big, as New York. Some people's sometimes joke that it's the sixth borough of New York because it is relatively close via train. And then, you know, from an Italian perspective, you know, the the big influx of Italian immigrants that came in the late eighteen hundreds and early nineteen hundreds hit Philadelphia just like everywhere else, but, you know, the Northeast being an important destination for those folks. There was a very small Italian community before that, but that's really when the Italian community took shape there. It was mostly southern Italians. There's b