It had been quite awhile since we'd seen Claudio. For those of you who have forgotten, Claudio is the charming and handsome Italian gentleman who runs a restaurant called Aqua in Bermuda.

Claudio is well and sends his best. Claudio is doing his best too. Not only has the Aqua restaurant been repaired since being hit by Hurricane Fabio, but Claudio is also running two other restaurants and building a third scheduled to open soon. He's one busy guy.

In keeping with Claudio's on-going effort to BE the BEST, he not only chatted us up while we were at Aqua one balmy evening, but he also met up with us two other times at his other restaurants during our two-week stay. He's such a nice guy.

Let me step back in time a bit and fill you in more thoroughly on my first encounter with Claudio. My husband and I were dining at Aqua. Of course, I couldn't just mind my own business and eat my food. When Claudio came by to ask us how our meal was (like every good restaurant owner does), I didn't say "fine" and let him go. Nooooo. I had to comment on the decor and how I thought the place should be repainted. You see, the restaurant is painted aqua to go along with the name. Nice theme, but have you ever seen people in a restaurant painted aqua? Think "Six Feet Under." The light bouncing off the blue walls makes diners look more like cadavers! It's not pretty. Believe me. Zola knows.

"Pretty" is a restaurant painted a salmon or coral color. The coral color makes the food look better and gives the complexions of all the women a healthy glow. (Notice that the next time you're in a coral-colored restaurant, and keep it in mind when you think about painting your dining room.) By the way, Claudio's other restaurant called Fresco's is painted a beautiful peachy coral and it's just gorgeous!

But I digress from my story.

In the original encounter with Claudio, after I talked about re-painting the restaurant, my husband announced, "My wife is a food writer." (I cringe when he does that, but he's trying to be the proud husband so I can't get mad at him.) Claudio's reaction to my husband's telling him I was a food writer was a stiff one. You see, Claudio runs an expensive restaurant so there are plenty of "food writer imposters" who come into the restaurant looking for -- you guessed it -- free dinner. Later in our conversation, when Claudio realized we were not looking for free food, we all got a good laugh out of it.

Fast forward to our recent trip when our conversation with Claudio was cut short because he had to leave to cover at one of the other restaurants. He was gone when our dinner check came. As it was delivered, the waiter announced that Claudio had picked up our tab! I was dumbfounded!

Two days later I caught up with Claudio to thank him. I could hardly think of the words to say, because I certainly was not expecting him to pay for our dinner! I told him it made me feel a little awkward that he bought us dinner, and we laughed about it.

Then Claudio said something I'll never forget. He said our dinner was a gift, and that it was given from the heart. And that gifts from the heart are the best kind.

Then I was speechless.

Grazie, Claudio.

With summer here, how about we do a real simple grill recipe? Burgers -- only these have an international influence. Five ingredients or less and gourmet at the same time.

Enjoy! Zola

P.S. It's here! I finally got a chance to invent the Lemon Curd Ice Cream recipe, so march on over to the Zola web site (http://www.apexperformancesystems.com/recipes/) and check it out! Thanks for your patience in waiting for it. I promise it's worth the wait.

Burgers with an Indian Influence

2 pounds of ground round or sirloin
4 buns (hamburger size or even sub buns will work)
4 quarter-inch onion slices
1/2 tsp of cumin
Sprinkle of cayenne to taste
Sprinkle of black pepper to taste
3 Tbl of Major Grey chutney

Form four patties from your beef. Thick or thin is up to you. Make them the shape of the bun you choose. Sprinkle on the cumin, cayenne, and black pepper. Grill the hamburgers and the onion slices on a grill sprayed with oil; alternatively, spray the burgers and onions before you put them on the grill. Toast the buns to a golden brown. You can do this on the grill too.

Spread the chutney on the bottom half of the burger buns. Stack on your hamburger and top with the onions and the bun top.