Welcome to La Cucina Innamorata! That’s the Italian phrase we invented for The Smittin Kitchen.

“If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with them …
the people who give you their food give you their hearts.” ~ Cesar Chavez

Separately, we’re Victor Smith and LaRue Martin.

(But we’re rarely separate. To the eye-rolls of our friends, we’re usually inseparable. That’s what happens when you wait so long to find each other; you don’t want to waste a moment!)

Together, we’re the Smittins (or in Italian, Smittini!). And when you come to our potluck and share food with us, we do share our hearts. You become part of our family.

Our immediate family includes 8 adorable kids (yes, kids, even though we didn’t give birth!): Moksha (1993 – 2007). Bobka (1996 – 2013), Cooper (b. 2008), Zoara (b. 2009), Luce (b. 2013), and Isabella (b. 2014); and now the latest additions, Giorgio and Madalena (b. 2015).

We’re passionate about each other, our great fur kids, our friends and family, good food and wine, and traveling in Italy. The openness and inclusiveness of the people there is an inspiration to us, and partly why we started the potluck, to create that same sense of community for ourselves here in Atlanta.

If you’re reading this page, you already are a part of it, whether you’ve joined us for potluck or not! Welcome to the family!