Food and Wine Travel
Two friends met in Greece over ten years ago and have since traveled together to Rome, Florence, Milan, the South of France, Paris, Sonoma County, Santa Barbara, Napa Valley, Puglia and Sicily, continually brainstorming how to create a business with the knowledge and synergies between them. Lila does food and wine, Layne does writing and language. And they both relate to the papillon, butterflies that live to discover and float between the most beautiful places on earth. They’ve harnessed their vast knowledge and experience to create food and wine guides and tours for those who want a deeper dive into the cultures of the places they visit. La Vie Papillion!
Lila Brown
Lila grew up among the vineyards of Sonoma County, California. She has traveled the world studying regional cooking from experts in Mexico, Peru, Turkey, Greece, Vietnam, India, Thailand, and Florence, Italy, where she graduated from Culinary School. Her passion for wine led her to experience first-hand the terroir of well-known wine regions around the world including Mendoza, New Zealand, the Cote du Rhone, Jerez, throughout all of Italy, and not least of all, the extensive wine-producing areas of California. She has received her Level I certification from the Guild of Sommeliers, completed Level I and II from the ISG, and is working on her Diploma Level WSET. In addition, she completed levels I and II of the Wine Making program at Allan Hancock College on California’s central coast and worked harvest for two seasons to expand her knowledge of the wine making process.
Layne Randolph
Layne lived in Italy for much of the last decade, where she achieved a Master’s degree from the Università di Torino. She worked as an in-house attorney for FENDI in Rome, Italy and gave presentations worldwide on the subject of Fashion Law. She also honed her journalistic skills as a freelance writer and reporter for such publications as Us Magazine, The American, International Travel News, Haute Living, and LA Splash. At last count, she’s traveled to 47 countries and published travel and lifestyle articles focusing on Buenos Aires, Florence, Carmel-by-the-Sea, Salento, Italy and more. As a freelance journalist, her work has focused mainly on Italy, food/wine, and travel (but mostly Italy). Layne now lives in Sonoma County and has supplemented her love of Italy with a newfound love for California. She now focuses her writing on travel and lifestyle from Roma to Sonoma.