Limited Edition Artist Collaboration Pillows - Alexandra D. Foster

I am very excited to introduce my summer collection!

These limited-edition silk pillows, featuring a linen back, have been hand-painted by renown artist      Rosa Linda Acampora from Sorrento, Italy.

They are inspired by the unparalleled palette and traditions of 

Italy's sea-loving Amalfi Coast.

 To pre-order, please contact us at: alexandra@alexandradfoster.com

You can view our entire collection here: www.alexandradfoster.com

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Today I'm Dreaming of the Amalfi Coast ..

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Amalfi Coast, Italy - Christmas on the Amalfi Coast

Christmas around Europe brings us to one of the most magnificent trees I have seen in a long time right in the town center of Sorrento on the Amalfi Coast. Even the surrounding palm trees are decorated with beautiful white lights and residents drive from all over the coast to view this tree each year.

One of the quaint side streets in the town of Sorrento

Even palm trees receive the holiday touch!

Sorrento's main street, Corso Italia, halts car traffic and becomes a pedestrian way each evening;
perfect for a Christmas stroll under the lights!

An enormous Christmas tree by day in the coastal town of Amalfi

Italy has some of the most stunningly decorated shop windows.
Here are gift wrapped panettone and other sweets in the pasticceria in Amalfi's main square

The main piazzetta in Capri is a serene and tranquil place in December, as compared to the chaos of the summer months. I loved this simply decorated tree.

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Amalfi Coast, Italy - Paolo Sandulli

My mother maintains that the interior of your home should be a true reflection of yourself; when a guest walks in they should immediately understand who you are and what you love. I am enamored of all things to do with the sea: cooling turquoise colors, pearlized seashells, coral branches, starfish, and my home mirrors this. Understandingly then, you can imagine my delight upon being introduced to Paolo Sandulli, an Italian artist, whose work incorporates real sea sponge into each handmade masterpiece.

Paolo Sandulli is a fabulous painter and sculptor whose studio is housed in a beautiful stone tower on the Amalfi Coast in Italy. He is an Italian artist who was born in Avellino (the hometown of my great grandparents) and studied in Naples, Rome and Paris before finally settling in the small seacoast town of Praiano. If you have ever spent time in some of the most exclusive luxury hotels in Capri, Sorrento or the Amalfi Coast, you will have surely seen some of Paolo's work.  What I am currently lusting over for my own private collection are Paolo's terra-cotta busts with sea sponge hair shown here:

                                         (All photos © Paolo Sandulli)

While Paolo has many of his pieces already available for purchase in his studio, you may also request a custom order. One of my dear friends, who is a renown interior designer in London, visited Paolo last summer and had him create a bust for her, similar to the ones above, that incorporated a replica of her favorite pair of turquoise earrings. Pin It

Amalfi Coast, Italy - Ristorante San Giovanni

Happy New Year!

After all the festivities last night on New Year's Eve 2011, I'm in recovery mode today and absolutely craving the most delicious handmade gnocchi I ate a few weeks ago at Ristorante San Giovanni. Talk about fresh, these gnocchi were made just minutes before I sat down at my table overlooking the Mediterranean on the gorgeous Amalfi coast.

About a 5 minute drive from Ravello, Ristorante San Giovanni is in the small town of Pontone di Scala. You reach the restaurant by a little path leading up from the main road. The restaurant sits on two sides of the street. The kitchen and indoor room are on the left side, and then the huge terrace overlooking the sea (which is where you want to be seated no matter what), is on the right side of the tiny street.

The restaurant is run by a gregarious husband and wife team: she cooks and he waits the tables. The homemade gnocchi were the best gnocchi I have ever eaten hands down. I actually walked right into the kitchen and hugged the cook ... and she was more than happy to have me there!! Here she is smiling for my camera:

I spoke to a local couple seated beside us who live in Pontone, and they confirmed that this restaurant is one of the best on the Amalfi Coast. As a surprise, and because we were two weeks away from Christmas, the chef made for us, literally on the spot, traditional Italian "zeppole." Some were with granulated sugar and some were with honey .... hot and fresher than fresh, they were a gift of the chef along with some cold and refreshing limoncello as a "digestivo."

Of course they also serve wonderfully fresh seafood from the region as well as pizza too. There is sure to be something here everyone will love. You just can't go wrong with this husband and wife team! Pin It