Plan a Leisurely Lunch Featuring This Spring-Inspired Menu

Andiamo al Pranzo. "Let's go to lunch." For longtime friends Phoebe von Reis and Jora Vess, those might be some of the most beautiful words in the Italian language. Both women are Americans who have lived off and on in Italy with their husbands and kids over the past several years—von Reis in Siena and Padua, Vess in Florence. While abroad, the two families often met up on weekends to hike, ski, or simply share a good meal together. "I loved the lifestyle," says Vess. "In Italy family, food, and the enjoyment of small things are priorities for everyone." Adds von Reis, "Those long, leisurely midday meals...we don't really have that tradition in the States."

When both moms returned to San Diego in 2016, they were determined to keep that bella vita alive. Passionate cooks with a flair for entertaining, they developed a lunch series they dubbed "Pranzo." The idea was simple: They'd cook and host intimate three-course meals, charging $50 per guest, on the first Thursday and Friday of every month while their children were at school. The luncheons would be open to all, and hopefully feel "indulgent and special, like a little escape," says Vess. They spread the word through friends and social media, and before they knew it Pranzo, which they cap at just eight people, was the hottest reservation in town, selling out time and time again.

Today's gathering at Vess's home is a little different—it's for good friends, and the hosts are eating the meal with them. The table is on the patio, an oasis of native plants with sweeping views of the El Cajon Valley. "We don't stick strictly to Italian cuisine," says von Reis, as she serves bowls of ring-vegetable soup. Vess also lives just down the road from a friend's organic farm, known as Two Forks, where she and von Reis often pluck their own produce. "Yesterday we walked there to pick salad greens and fennel," she says.

"In Italy, they call this approach to eating 'km0': kilometer zero." As the group moves on to a main course of Provençal-inspired leek-and-goat-cheese tart and roasted salmon topped with fennel pesto and breadcrumbs, the conversation and wine flow more freely. Afterward, semifreddo is served; espresso is poured. And nobody is in any rush to hurry back to real life—which is exactly what the two women had hoped for when they dreamed up this venture. "In Italy, I learned that taking the time to share a delicious meal with others isn't something to save just for holidays," says Vess. Wherever you live, pranzo can be just around the corner.

Against a backdrop of towering euphorbia plants, Vess serves the salad of red-leaf and Little Gem lettuces with crisp watermelon radishes shown here, on the back patio of her San Diego home.

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The day before the luncheon, the hosts harvest ingredients at nearby Two Forks Farm.

Their picks include greens, blue borage, and pansies.

Vess (left) and von Reis prepping the meal.

When friends arrive around noon, they're greeted by one of von Reis's specialties, a fizzy non-alcoholic berry shrub, made from a syrup of white-wine vinegar and strawberries picked down the street. The drinks are served alongside thyme-flecked parmesan-almond crackers.

Guests chat poolside before lunch.

Vess, von Reis, and their crew share some laughs.