hathor

I had the same problem with mine, but I was able to move the sensor (or sensor construction, that is) 2-3 milimeters closer to the flame. Shut down threshold came down to an acceptable 2-3 seconds, and I have still all the safety of the "no flame, no gas" thermocoupled valves. ← I'll have to give that a try. Thanks!

Ciao!! It's been a long, hard week!! We moved all the stuff (tables, chairs, the complete kitchen, a huge bar and the etc.etc.etc you can think of) from the old Erba to the new Erba. Docsconz, you asked about kitchen eqiupment? Well, here is our oven. Flying over the streets of Montone. Most of the big gear was moved out thru the window of the old Erba. Which I thought was pretty damn impressive, that was until we got to the new Erba and the stuff was lifted about 200 feet into the air. You can't really get a feeling for the height in this shot...but hopefully you'll get the idea. This part was truly funny. No one thought to bring or use a dolly to move the equipment once it was set down on the front patio. Instead, these Umbrians tapped into their medieval roots and used some large wooden stakes as rollers. They were much happier lugging around big logs that using some new fangled contraption like a dolly. Another cool thing....see that guy in the white shirt on the left? He's just a friend that stopped to help. All week long people have just been dropping in and giving us a hand for a few hours. Oh, and no union issues here. When we need to move that massive banconi (bar) the plumbers and electricians et al, just dropped their tools and pitched in. Can you picture that happening in NYC?? We're making progress...and planning on opening next week. I have to run now...the dishwasher is working so we are about to wash every single thing and put it away!!! You have no idea how good that will feel. All we've done is move piles of 'stuff' from one place to the other to make room. Ciao!!

Ah-ha! Maybe you've solved one of my problems...the sensor heating up/ignition thing. I kept thinking it was me not doing something right....but maybe I just need to wait. Grrr... I don't want to wait. If the hot wire thing works, let me know.

Sampaguita, it's nice to see you back...your posts are always so full of fun and food. One day I will get back up to Piedmonte and visit some of these wonderful restaurants.

Ciao Saluistagolosa! I work with a Roman, and for 'sport' we have this same arguement!

what region is Ustica in?

mmmmm.....that's something that I would like to eat with a big spoon!

Better with the sundried tomatoes. I'm a hard core anchovy lover, but that would be a boatload of anchovies!!

Today's lunch on the roof was a grilled chicken, a simple cold potato salad and a tomato salad. The chicken was marinated in a thick paste of garlic, sweet red onion, oregano, fennel seed powder and hot chili oil. It's so hot here....I'm thinking of opening an Indian restaurant....maybe if we all eat chilis we'll feel cooler??

Kevin, did you use vin cotto on that chicken? It looks so fragrant, you can almost smell it from here. I bet vin cotto would be good on duck.

Hey, scotto ditto is Umbrian!! Our son was here last week (Umbria) and we started calling him the Principessa because he would trim all the fat and gristle away, while us 'locals' would gnaw around on the bones! It's all good! Did you have sun dried tomatoes on that mozzarella or is that all anchovies?

Welcome back!! Those ribs look delish... I have to make a run to the store and that just might be tomorrow's dinner. I'd forgotten about those ribs. I'm in love with fennel seed at the moment...ground fennel seed to be precise. I just used it for lunch on some roast chicken, and it's amazing on duck (that I roasted with an orange stuck inside it.) There is wild fennel everywhere, or there was....no rain in a very long time is making everything prematurely .... dead or crisped. Wild fennel has such a beautiful, strong, but nuanced flavor. And I was just given yet another load of zucchini and told to roast it with fennel and potatoes. Where did we do that before? I remember Elie made it.... Nice looking meals, Kevin!!

Hi Judith, If you decide to offer a few wines from Piemonte let me know. I have been importing our local wines to Switzerland and have some good connections here. ← We're working on wines now, so I may take you up on the offer. Thanks. We've got some local wines, and some Sicilian, but I really want some of the smaller, can't find it in the COOP vintners. Oh my....sometimes looking at the "to do" list can you make you depressed......

This photograph inspired me, Nishla. The price on chanterelles was reduced at the farmer's market this weekend, so I tossed some zucchini blossoms in.Delicious and pretty. Would be perfect over ricotta gnocchi flecked w basil (vs. gnudi's spinach). I have to say, though, that the flowers served purely an aesthetic purpose as far as I'm concerned. Maybe textural contrast, too. I've just borrowed one of Rick Bayless's cookbooks from the library and will try to see if I can change my mind about integrating this summertime delicacy into recipes. Thus far, I have to say, the ones I've had here or in Italy never have had enough flavor for me to appreciate them when they're not coated in a light batter and fried, as is or stuffed. I felt the same way about their inclusion in a risotto in a favorite place in Piazza Santo Spirito even when the fresh, light taste of mozzarella was the only competing factor in the dish. ← In my next life, I'm going to write a zucchini blossom cookbook. I've had more blossoms than a florist on Mother's Day!! Risotto....add the blossoms into the risotto at the last moment...diving. Fried like chips and seasoned with smoked chili powder Stuffed with a little bit of mozzarella, or anchovie And that was just last week.

Pontormo, the hills around here are so bloody steep....I'm not going out harvesting at night!! But, come wild erbe season, I know just where to go! We've got a massive field that grows this huge variety of wild herbs. About the same time as when porcini season is in full bloom. Or whatever it is that porchini's do. that recipe sounds excellent, by the way...!

Ciao! Thanks for the support!! Still working on coffee. Still working on wine. Still working on the menu (the physical, what you hold in your hand menu) Still working on table cloths, light fixtures, kitchen wiring. Still working on ..... just about everything! But the gas line is in! That was a big deal. 72 numbered paving stones had to be taken out and replaced on the street, and it looks great. Except for where one lady drove directly thru about 17 layers of the red/white barrier tape....

Ciao! I have the weirdest e-mail notification....it only works sometimes. I thought that no one was drinking coffee in Italy! I'm just learning about the coffee distributors, and to my knowledge, there are no local coffee roasters. The system seems to be that you choose a coffee brand, and they come with the machines, the cups, the grinders etc. It's a whole package. Most of these systems, you grind the beans as you need them, the grinder is part of the package. I personally like Illy, but they are proving difficult for small fry like us. I also have a thing for the coffee at the AutoGrills (sort of like the rest stops on NJ Turnpike..but you get REAL cafe!). I'm not sure if it's because you are in a state of desperation when you stop there, or if they just have good coffee!

Secret places are more of a myth that a reality. The reality is you just have to go out every morning and see if your dog gets a scent... this takes hours and hours and usually they don't come up with a thing... it is a pain in the ass and boring but this is how it works. Usually you don't get to keep the truffles you find but you can buy them at a favorable rate. If there was actually an easy way to hunt truffles they would be plentiful and cheap. There are several restaurants that Paolo uses, all of them are good but probably not in many guide books. ← Swiss-Chef is exactly right...these organized truffle hunts are difficult for the dogs, they get distracted by the additional people, and it frequently winds up as a very nice walk in the woods. Truffle hunting is a serious source of income for these guys, and once you are out in the muddy woods, it's not so romantic. I'm not trying to discourage anyone, just trying to explain a bit.

Gorgeous work. Your shot between the plates is fantastic, perfect composition.

I paid around 1700 euros..which is a hell of a lot of money!! But, they came, delivered it, installed it, drove into the next town to get a longer gas line, didn't charge me for it, and carried out the old beast, so I'm not really complaining.

Hi guys! Glad to see you are all chatting amongst yourselves! If I could, I'd hand around some freezing cold Proceco! It's been hot, hot, hot, hot, hot here. And when it's hot, the internet only works sometimes. Don't ask me why....I have no idea, but the town 'technico', who is in charge of keeping our town online, says this with a straight face. The fire door drama was solved rather elegantly by Ovidio, the construction boss. He was even able to maintain the arch. We now have a narrower opening, but it's built to code. We passed a legal milestone the other day with the signing of some papers. This is the second time that we've been to the notiao (notary) and it is ....uhm.....remarkable. She has a legal set of documents and her job is to read them to you out loud. Over the years, she has apparently perfected the art of speed speaking without breathing. Lovely lady, but I would never challenge her to underwater swimming contest, the woman doesn't even need to breathe! We celebrated by popping our first cork on the terrace. Not Proseco, but in honor of our Madame Presidente Martina, who is half French, we drank real champagne. It's also a family tradition to make sure the cork flies as high as possible, and you get extra points if you catch it. Jeff caught the cork and we all thought that was a good sign. The interior work is mostly complete. You can see the fan in the back drying the paint on the bathroom wall. I can't take any 'pretty' photos of the dining room right now because its full of kitchen stuff waiting to be installed. We're hoping to get the kitchen installed later this week. We are taking the equipment from the old Erba Luna kitchen, and once we make some $$ or euros, I've got a short list of things I want. Like an abbattatore (sp??), it's a super fast chiller-freezer and very common in Italian restaurant kitchens. It really comes in handy for batch pasta making, and for desserts...and for lots of things. Right about now, I'd like to put my head in one. I've got to get me a Bimby! It's the Thermomix blender, but for some reason, in Italy, it's sold as a Bimby. I don't care if it has a silly name, I still want one. The guys built a small retaining wall on Friday, and on Saturday (after we women made comments that their wall looked like a pet cemetary) they went out and planted some herbs. It won't look like much this year, but the way that things grown around here, by next year, it should look pretty nice. Today's excitement was all about getting the gas line hooked up. We have to run it from the church across the street (why...I don't know....there is a full set of apartment buildings on our side of the street, but the gas technico wants us to run it from the church's hook up.) When I left this afternoon, the stone cutter machine was giving them headaches. And to answer a few questions: Umbria is dead center in the middle of Italy. We are one of the few regions that has no coastlne. But, we make up for it with ruggedly beautiful hills, clean air, and lots of porcini, and truffles! We are a sort of step sister to Tuscany, and that's just fine. The menu is under development. Obviously that's an understatement. It's a delicate balancing act cooking for Italians. They have such strong roots in their traditions that you must tread lightly on innovation. Sergio, one of our friends and neighbors, is well traveled and sophisticated; he lives in Rome, but spends weekends in Montone. Actually, we have a lot of Roman friends who do that, and a few Milanese; but the Romans have been stopping in the area for many, many centuries as they would head north and away from the southern Italian summer heat. But, I digress...I must be going more native than I realize. But here is Sergio's list of things he would like to see at the restaurant: a) none of that nouvelle stuff b) local foods, simply prepared c) nothing too expensive d) nothing that takes too long to prepare Now, I have to nod my head and listen carefully, but I'm thinking....he wants a trattoria. We haven't worked this hard to be the local trattoria. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but I think we can expand our horizons! That's a local perspective. We also have a sizeable expat population: lots of British, fair number of Scotts, surprising number of Australians, and enough Americans to keep us supplied with back issues of the New Yorker magazine, but not enough that you feel as if you still live in NY. Now, they have a more 'international' palate and will expect more creativity in the food. Oh, and Sergio was complimenting us bringing an international atmosphere to the restaurant, at the same time he was expecting a trattoria. 'tis a fine line. Summer time is the busiest season, and then we have mostly southern Italian tourists, and from what Martina says, they are straight up looking for the trattoria experience, and she feels its not worth catering to that market. Not to be too caught up in stereotypes, but I see her point. Our impression of the "old" Erba Luna was that they were creative with their dishes, but fully respected tradition, so I think we will continue that for now. So there will be taglietelle with porcini, but also a 5 nut pesto that is fantastic. I can give more menu updates later on, as we get the kitchen installed and test out some of the ideas that have been floating around. We do have a logo, and although this is not the final version (the work ristorante has been added) we are all pretty happy with it. And one other observation: as I was going thru the photos just now, I noticed how many there were with people smiling. The workers, us, family, friends....even though each day brings a new level of stress, we're still smiling. And surely that's a good sign!

The ILVE has arrived! Woo-hoo!!!! It's beautiful, the oven actually works, and the burners actually light....but, we are still in the getting to know each other stage. One strange design flaw is that the oven vents directly onto the knobs, so after some long baking, those knobs are damn hot. I can't say that I'm totally head over heels in love, like I was with my Bluestar, but I think the ILVE will last me a long time and prove to be a reliable friend.

No matter how many times I rehearse in my head the word for figs, it immediately gets confused with another word. Me: "Vorrei un kilo di figa" Grocery man or lady keels over laughing because I've just asked, in a very vulgar manner, for a kilo of vaginas. I'm getting better, I don't think my husband is even trying any more. By the way, the word for figs is 'fichi' and they are just coming into season.

Ciao Live It Up!! Your blog was delightful! I second everything that Docsconz and Pontormo said. "Studying' the regions of Italy was great fun, but it also took a lot of time and dedication. It is certainly my intention to revisit the regional threads whenever I make something from that region. Between my internet problems, and getting our new restaurant Erba Luna up and running, I'm just happy if we get fed at all! Anyway, it's nice to have you around!!

When in Italy, what's your favorite brand of Italian coffee? I'm asking because we are in the throes of deciding what brand to use in our new restaurant, and would love to hear some biased opinions! Grazie mille!