Growing up in the Valencia/Alicante region of Spain, food wasn't something that happened in the kitchen; it happened everywhere. In the salt air coming off the Mediterranean. In the smoke curling off a paella pan on a Sunday morning. In the rhythm of my mother's hands as she worked, never measuring, never rushing, never once doubting that what she was making would be exactly right.

She taught me everything. Not from a recipe, but from standing beside her, watching, tasting, learning what patience smells like and what love tastes like when it's been simmering for two hours.

That's what my wife Em and I brought with us to Arizona.

Tapeo isn't just the name of our catering company, it's a Spanish word that describes something we don't quite have in English: the unhurried pleasure of gathering around good food, good wine, and people you love. That spirit — what we call alegría, a joy for life that's almost impossible to translate — is what we cook into every event we do.

We're not just bringing you paella. We're bringing you Spain and building your special version of a tapeo.

- Ro Belmonte (Co-Founder of TAPEO)