Carrots, basil, lemon juice, olive oil. It seems too simple to be the stuff of a truly great recipe, and yet Amber Guinness’s salad is both winning and foolproof. The cookbook author was born in London, grew up in Tuscany, and now lives in Florence; her food skews Italian, and her techniques are user-friendly. Her debut, A House Party in Tuscany, was an homage to Arniano, the farmhouse overlooking Montalcino, where her parents host painting courses. It’s gold for those who love to entertain but refuse to let meal prep take over their lives. Now, just in time for the lunch-alfresco season, Italian Coastal has arrived. Guinness has applied her commitment to simplicity to the fruits of the Tyrrhenian Sea, and even those who refuse to boil water will enjoy this blend of memoir and travelogue. Herewith, she reveals her key components to the good life. —Ashley Baker
Airline: British Airways.
Airport: Florence Airport, Peretola.
Alibi: “The baby hid my phone.”
App: Audible, to listen to Timothy West narrating Anthony Trollope.
Bag: A red cross-body leather Lulu Guinness bag that fits my phone, wallet, lipstick, and a paperback.
Bedtime: I have a one-year-old, so it’s much earlier than it used to be.
Bike: I’d much rather walk.
Birthday: An outdoor dinner with friends in Tuscany, followed by dancing on the terrace.
Boyfriend: I married him.
Breakfast, weekday: Coffee, a boiled egg, and buttered toast.
Breakfast, weekend: Coffee, fried eggs, pancetta and avocado on toast with lots of chili flakes.
Car: I wouldn’t mind an Aston Martin, but I have a BMW.
Child: I have one called Milo. I like him.
Cocktail: A spicy margarita.
Cocktail appetizer: The mini pizzas with lemon, mozzarella, and thyme from Italian Coastal.
Couple: Alain Delon and Claudia Cardinale in The Leopard—a cynical but very attractive pairing.
Date: A dirty martini over a game of backgammon, followed by dinner at Cibrèo Caffè, in Florence.
Diet: Omnivore.
Dinner, weekday: Linguine with tomatoes and capers.
Dinner, weekend: Whole sea bream roasted with olives, chili, and thyme, along with crispy new potatoes with capers and garlicky grilled tomatoes.
Disguise: Gym kit.
Dress: My silk Cerere Folky Hearts dress from La DoubleJ.
Drive: Down the Tuscan coast along the Via Aurelia. I know that a plate of spaghetti alle vongole on the beach isn’t far off.
Enemy: The mystical thief of the single AirPod.
Escape: Salina, in the Aeolian Islands.
Excuse: “Sorry I’m late, I didn’t want to come.”
Flaw: A caffeine addiction.
Foil: Caffeine deprivation.
Friends: “The One Where Rachel Smokes.”
Good-bye: By the Spice Girls.
Hideaway: The island of Giglio.
Hotel: Grand Hotel a Villa Feltrinelli, on Lake Garda.
Indulgence: The mini truffle sandwiches from Procacci, in Florence.
Insult: When British people put the word “quite” into a sentence, it’s an insult. For example, “That’s quite interesting” really means “I’m bored to death.” “That’s quite a nice dress” really means “That’s hideous.”
Jacket: A jumbo cord coat from Cefinn.
Kiss-off: “Excuse me, I need a top-up.”
Last Meal:
Spaghetti alle vongole followed by steak tartare with very good fries, plus lots of champagne with an île flottante to finish.
Lunch, weekday: Buffalo mozzarella and caponata.
Lunch, weekend: A veal Milanese with arugula and cherry tomatoes.
Match: Matthew.
Neighbor: Wild boar in the Tuscan countryside.
Nonfiction book: War in Val d’Orcia, by Iris Origo.
Novel: Recently, In Memoriam, by Alice Winn, but an old favorite is The Way We Live Now, by Anthony Trollope.
Piece of advice: “Time the cooking of the rest of the meal to the potatoes.”
Podcast: Desert Island Dishes.
President: Obama.
Restaurant: Ristorante Carmen Bay, on Macchiatonda beach on the Tuscan coast.
Ride: A black cab.
Saying: “L’appetito viene mangiando.” (Appetite comes with eating.)
SHOES: A killer pair of Marion Parke red heels. They’re sexy and inexplicably comfy, given how high they are.
Singer: Stevie Nicks.
Street: Via di Santo Spirito, in Florence.
Storm: Cozy as long as you don’t have to go anywhere.
Television series: I’ve recently discovered this little-known show called Peaky Blinders.
Theme song to your life: “Silver Springs,” by Fleetwood Mac.
Time of day: Sunset on the west coast of Italy.
Toast: With butter and Marmite.
Vacation: Four days at the Hotel Santa Caterina, in Amalfi.
Victim: Anyone I engage with before coffee in the mornings.
View: From my father’s garden in Tuscany out towards Montalcino.
Wake-up time: About 7:30 a.m. Milo is a very efficient alarm clock.
Weekend bag: A big Paravel canvas bag that I can chuck everything into.
Work of art: Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne, in the Villa Borghese, in Rome.
WRITING IMPLEMENT: A fountain pen with brown ink.
Amber’s Essentials
Italian Coastal: Recipes and Stories From Where the Land Meets the Sea is out now from Thames & Hudson
