When Paul was first planting the olive trees on his property in Sebastopol, he planted a variety of olives called Taggiasca.
Paul and Suzie Bellomo are living a love story straight out of Hollywood, though it’s not your typical boy-meets-girl rom-com—it’s more like Green Acres. Paul fondly compares Suzie to Eva Gabor’s character, Lisa Douglas, on the 1960s sitcom, which followed a husband and wife who leave their lavish Manhattan life behind to buy a farm in the fictional rural town of Hooterville.
The couple met at an anniversary party of one of Suzie’s cousins—and before she knew it Suzie was trading in her strappy high heels for some farm boots. Exactly a year after they shared their first magical moments, they were married and Suzie and her children found themselves packing up their things and moving from L.A. to Paul’s olive orchard in Sebastopol. Suzie quickly fell in love with farm life and the two decided to follow their dreams of making and selling their very own olive oil. Today, the Bellomos offer their Il Fusti premium olive oils and vinegars both online at il-fusti.com and at their shop in the Barlow at 6751 McKinley St. in Sebastopol.
What’s your olive oil origin story?
Paul: I bought my house some thirty years ago. My first wife and I, we had animals. But when she and I broke up, she took all the animals. And I thought—what can I do with the land? My stepdad sent me a magazine article out of Sunset magazine where somebody had planted olive trees and I thought, “You know, that’s a good idea.”
Why did you think that?
Paul: After reading [Sunset] the article I thought, “there’s a plant that can take care of itself.” Once the trees get established, they don’t need irrigation and they are not susceptible to a lot of diseases or parasites. I did some research [and it was recommended] I grow this variety of olive called Taggiasca and they originate from Northern Italy which has a similar climate to what we have here. I bought 150 olive trees, and my daughter and I planted them.
What do people misunderstand about the olive oil business?
Paul: There are a lot of people that don’t know where olive oil comes from. You’ve heard terms like “original press” or “first press,” a lot of those terms are archaic—they don’t press the olives anymore. They don’t use donkeys and stones. The olives get macerated into a paste, put into a centrifuge, spun at high speed and then the oil is extracted like that.
What do you do when you’re not growing olives?
Suzie: Oh, I love to bake, and I do like to experiment in the kitchen. Even though [Paul’s] going to look at me like I’m crazy, I make a pumpkin hot sauce and it’s going to go back into the store. Fingers crossed for the Sonoma County Harvest Fair for my hot sauce.
Paul: For me, cooking and gardening. And I like to go fishing. I have a fishing boat and I have two sons that I go fishing with when we can all get together.
Of what non-olive achievement are you most proud?
Suzie: Raising successful children. We are so insanely proud of them; we have five that range from the ages of 25 to 40. That is something that if you mess that up nothing else counts.
What motivates you?
Suzie: I love people. I don’t want to be sitting at home by myself. I get to meet people from all walks of life all day long here in the store.
How do you measure success?
Paul: I think our success is what we have done here. It’s not about the money. I think we have had lot of successes in just following out hearts.
Suzie: I feel successful when I have reached or helped somebody along the way. I had a young man come in who was really down on his luck— he had no money and no place to live. I gave him a little bottle of olive oil and my card and said, “Well, if you ever want to talk just reach out.” He came back just the other day to thank me and tell me that my words were very inspirational to him. He told me he has a place to live now and he’s moving to Washington where he has a motorcycle waiting for him. And I was just like, that is being successful. You can’t have success without having gratitude.
What do you do when you’re having a bad day?
Suzie: It sounds lame, but I pray and ask for guidance. And I’m not a religious person, but I am a spiritual person and I have to realize that I have a higher power in charge and it’s not me. By me not being in charge, it takes all of the pressure off of me.
Paul: I think back to my family when they immigrated from Italy to find a better life. They did the most menial labor-type jobs just to make money and to make a better life. I look back on that and go, “Well, if they can do that, you’re already ahead of that.” So, then it makes me feel better about what I’m doing.
What is the best compliment you have received?
Suzie: I don’t take compliments well, I really don’t. People have said, “You’re the funniest person I know.” And I’m not the funniest person I know. I’ve known people that were the funniest people in the world.
What is the secret to a good marriage?
Paul: We enjoy each other, and we actually joke with one another. We both have really good senses of humor. I think that’s one of the recipes to why we stay together. It’s because we enjoy each other’s company and she’s actually my friend. We don’t have to have other people around. If it’s just she and I, we really just enjoy each other’s company.
