Guests enjoyed wine and Marion Scotto’s famous breadsticks before the first course.

A few weeks ago, my sister, Elaina, and I had a great idea to start the summer: gather 100 of our closest friends and family members, get on a plane to Rome, have a seven-course meal in a restaurant at the Spanish Steps, get back on the plane and come home. An unforgettable 24 hours. The last time we checked, this fantasy would cost about $200,000. We thought about it for a solid 30 seconds—then moved on to Plan B.

We live to eat and we love to entertain, so we set out to bring Italy to our backyard in Southampton. Up went the tent and in came the troops from our family restaurant, Fresco by Scotto on 52nd Street in Manhattan. The staff brought the food and wine and filled the tent with sunflowers, and soon the air was filled with the incredible mouthwatering smells that could come only from an Italian kitchen run by pros.