A frequenter of L’Espalier’s Wine Mondays program, Tranquillo’s immense love of food and wine prompted him to join the team at L’Espalier. A self-taught wine enthusiast Tranquillo works on the floor as sommelier, assisting and guiding our guests through the extensive wine list. Along side Wine Director Erik Johnson, he continually tastes new and interesting wines in order to bring about a constant evolution of the wine list.
A fellow lifelong New Englander, Tranquillo shares Chef McClelland’s philosophy on the importance of a connectivity to the land and local farmers. As L’Espalier’s in-house researcher for local producers, Tranquillo routinely travels across the region visiting cheese makers, farmers, and meat purveyors. A farmer at heart himself, Tranquillo routinely supplies the kitchen with a selection of wild mushrooms, such as boletes, chanterelles, black trumpets and corals collected on his frequent foraging trips, as well as many types of heirloom vegetables and herbs from his garden in New Hampshire.
Tranquillo has been particularly instrumental in forming relationships with Vermont based cheese producers such as Lazy Lady Farm and Hope Farm. Both of which provide their artisanal cheeses to L’Espalier exclusively. Lazy Lady Farm has even named a goat “Nikki” in honor of their relationship with Tranquillo.
Tranquillo’s fascinating journeys to farms throughout New England help emphasize to the L’Espalier team the excitement and value of knowing where the food comes from. He is also the catalyst for L’Espalier’s camping trips, a now famous annual event that combines L’Espalier’s cuisine and wine with the great outdoors.
Tranquillo is from Salem, New Hampshire. Fluent in Italian and French, he joined L’Espalier in 2002.