Caleb Barber and Deirdre Heekin are the proprietors of osteria pane e salute, which has received acclaim for their food, wine list, and design from such publications as Bon Appetit, The Boston Globe, Boston Common, Food and Wine, Elle Decor, and Travel and Leisure. Hailed by Food and Wine in their 50 Most Amazing Wine Experiences in America, their restaurant and wine bar are defined by an Italian revitalist menu and wine list, offering traditional regional dishes paired with indigenous varietal wines. Members of SlowFood and the Vermont Fresh Network, Caleb and Deirdre have created a landscape-inspired kitchen and work with local farmers for ingredients, as well as growing their own produce. In 2007, they were awarded Restaurateurs of the Year by the Vermont Hospitality Council.
In preparation for his role as head chef of pane e salute, Caleb initially apprenticed with an artisanal baker and in a small trattoria in Tuscany. In addition to presiding over the kitchen at pane e salute, Caleb also works the kitchen gardens for the restaurant at their country property. Deirdre, also a freelance writer and essayist who has had work featured in Gastronomica: The Journal of Food and Culture, and included in the anthology Best Food Writing, has studied winegrowing in Italy and France. In 2010, she was awarded a grant from The Vermont Farm Women's Fund to study organic and biodynamic viticulture at L'Ecole du Vins et des Terroirs. She manages the wine program at the restaurant. Caleb and Deirdre tend an orchard and vineyard on their country property and will release their first wines from Vermont-grown grapes and apples in the autumn of 2011. Her collection of essays on wine and spirits--Libation: A Bitter Alchemy--was published by Chelsea Green in the spring of 2009 along with their joint project In Late Winter We Ate Pears: A Year of Hunger and Love in an Italian Seasonal Kitchen. Caleb and Deirdre return each year to Italy for taste, research, and inspiration.
