Guido and Valentina “Vale” Nistri
Guido and Valentina Nistri, owners of Bencotto Italian Kitchen and Monello, Little Italy San Diego
How did your love story begin? Vale: We are both from Milan, but we met in San Diego in 2001. While pursuing my PhD, I applied for a server job at Guido’s first restaurant in Pacific Beach.
Favorite thing about one another: Guido: My favorite thing about Vale is her positive attitude. She can make a visit to the dentist for a root canal as joyous as going to the spa. Vale: My favorite thing about Guido is his wicked sense of humor. He makes me laugh even when he’s getting on my nerves.
Favorite date night: Guido: When our son is at water polo practice, we have two straight, uninterrupted hours where we like to make ourselves “aperitivo” happy hour bites, pop a reserve bottle of wine and gossip like two old spinsters.
Favorite tradition you have as a couple: Vale: We love to exchange books that we read monthly and then we review them together. We like to sound clever to each other, because, in times like these, brainy is the new sexy!
What does your happily ever after look like? We believe that happily ever after does not exist, and luckily so. We like crazy, unpredictable, risky, suspenseful. We are more afraid of boredom than unhappiness.