"But people still buy paper planners" - it was hearing encouraging phrases like this that I created the Trent Planner in 2017.

The desire was to make 500 units, after all, if I wanted that planner that inhabited my imagination, other people should feel the same. Hesitant, I printed 50. They sold out in a week. As a result, until Christmas, my routine was to order shipments of 50 to see them sell out immediately.

And, since then, little has changed: every year we increase the quantity produced and every year it sells out. But why not make more? First: we don't work with infinite stock and, second, our work is handmade. 

This year, we worked hard to have a significant increase in production, but still firm in our values.

In 2019, I decided that every year the Trent Planner would have a theme, something that would inspire MH, both as a person and a company. We've already had the theme of architects, visual artists, and Brazilian artists. 

At the end of January 2022, a time when people are still saying "Happy New Year" to each other, at MH Studios, we're already working on the following year: what would be the theme of the Trent Planner 2023? I already knew very well what I wanted: food. 

Most of you know about this love/obsession of mine. For eating, of course. Since in the kitchen I'm only good for burning eggs, literally. 

Theme defined, but what exactly would we do? Would we honour chefs? Would we talk about restaurants around the world? Recipes? I didn't know. But one thing I was sure of: if the theme for 2022 was art week and we created the MH Studios art gallery for one day; having chosen the theme of food, we would create my dream restaurant! 

But where? With what chef? As it is customary at MH Studios, it had to make sense, have synergy. It couldn't be just any place, it couldn't be just anyone. It could only be her. That wife, mother of 2 (until then), doer, talented chef and so on... 

We didn't know each other, but I sent a message saying I wanted to present a project and we scheduled a meeting. Renata arrives breathless and says "I just found out I'm pregnant". Guys, how does this woman do it? And, in the sequence, I started counting the fingers under the table: she will be about to have a child exactly when I plan to give life to the restaurant? And there I was to suggest a madness. I told her the idea. She widened her eyes, "that would be crazy, we would have to do this, that..." 

But she replies: I must be very crazy but I like that. Let's go and we'll figure it out. The restaurant would be called MHANZETTO.

If we already thought that the work of creating the experience of a completely new restaurant for 3 days would be complex and insane, little did we know what awaited us. And it's a good thing we didn't know. 

Behold, the month of June arrives, and with it, my deadline for sending the text of my introductory letter to the Trent Planner. And I only knew how to miss these deadlines. There's a lot I could write about my relationship and passion for food and I even started, but nothing was exactly what I felt like saying. The problem is that I didn't even know what was in my heart to put into words next. And if it wasn't going to come from the heart... I'd rather say nothing. And so I did. 

We printed the Trent Planner without the letter. 

In the work In Search of Lost Time, Marcel Proust describes in detail the moment when he dips a madeleine into a cup of tea, triggering a process of memories that brings his past to life. About 110 years later, without tea and without a madeleine, but with a photo album in hand and although this was not my intention, it was I who was triggering a process of memories. Or would it be a process of self-knowledge? Very much so. 

And suddenly, everything unfolded in front of me: through her photos, her mannerisms, passions, habits, and quirks, I recognized my own “How did you only realize this now, Maria Helena?”.

Weeks later reflecting on all that and putting my emotions and thoughts in order: I called Vanzetto and, a little embarrassed, I began: feel free to say no but, I'm going to open my heart to you: I wanted to change the name of the restaurant.

In the same way that Proust was transported to his past through a simple madeleine and cup of tea, those photos transported me to the memories of my childhood and upbringing and triggered a process of vision about myself. And about her. 

I spent my childhood, adolescence, and adult life listening to compliments about her. Whether it was for her beauty, her personality, her intelligence, her humor, and I always recognized all these things in her, as a woman. But it took 34 years for me to suddenly realize very clearly the influence and weight - in the best sense of the word - of her personality on me.

My quirks, my passions, my way of seeing life... so much I thought had come from nowhere, but nothing comes from nowhere. And sometimes it takes time for us to realize certain things.

The restaurant of my dreams and that bears the name of the woman who opened my appetite and curiosity for food, who insisted that I try all foods, in their most varied textures, flavors, colors, who insisted on showing me films, music, exhibitions, artists "I don't care if you think it's boring, you need to know and have an opinion". The woman who opened my appetite for much more than food, but for creative life and, above all, for life. And who is my greatest example of courage and appetite to be who you are. 

The appetite that was not passed on only by blood, but by choice, insistence, and dedication. 

Welcome to Osteria Maria Cristina. Mamuska, this tribute is for you. 

Thank you Renata Vanzetto and team for diving headfirst into this project. 

To the MH Studios team: thank you for all your dedication. Again, no one gets anywhere alone and none of this would be possible without the help of each one of you. 

Bon apetit!

With affection, 
Maria Helena.