little ms foodie

We had a beautiful drive from Florence to Bologna but there were A LOT of motorcycles on the narrow roads which made it a bit white knuckle also. we could not have had better weather!! The beginning of Sept was a perfect time to go. Our first night we stayed just outside of Modena in Castelfranco Emilia. The farmhouse we had rented ended up being not to our tastes and the area wasn't as close to things as we wanted to we moved on the next day to Parma.

I'm not sure of the name of the place we were at in Sienna, I don't have it written down! on our way out of Florence we drove up to Fiesole for really beautiful views of the city. We had a casual lunch right in the main plaza I just remember this cute older french couple sitting next to us and they had no idea what to order or if it was ok to share. I like to eavesdrop in languages that I'm pretty bad at! so using my best bad french I discussed my pizza with them. Then we were off to Modena, Bologna and Parma!!!

LOL!!

Chufi and Franci that is fabulous info!!! and I agree Judith that it would be great to get Rancho Gordo's take!!!

Kevin, the crust was like a pizza crust in a way. And I think they were surprised that I whipped out the camera!!

Kevin, great eye- it is Vernazza!! I just picked my favorite picture of the villages, we did stay in Monterosso but hiked all 5 villages. ok, that isn't exactly the truth- Dayne and 3 of our friends hiked all 5. My girlfriend and I stopped after we hit Corniglia and the 330 something steps to get up to it. We took the bus and had lunch with everyone on the top- then took the train back to Montorosso! Shaya, Megan and Ling those are very kind words - thank you! Shaya I was just thinking what an injustice the photos are to the actualy senery of Tuscany so I'm glad you can see how gorgeous the views are. We wanted to pull over every 5 minutes and take a picture it was just lush and beautiful!

Is it this one one, right? If it is the place I have in mind, close by to Piazza Vetra, I have been there some years ago...times I used to go to aperitivo very often ← Yes that is the place!!

Made it to Sienna for an afternoon snack- Campari and gelato! we tried lots of flavors but I think I am just a sucker for pistacio and Dayne liked the chocolate chip stuff (Stracciatella???) but my second favorite was crema! drive back to Florence Dinner that night at Buca Lapi which is one of the oldest restaurants in Florence. After all that driving we needed cocktails! Cocktails were always a bit of a surprise , you never knew for sure what you would get and Dayne taught many hotel staff how to make martini cocktails (if you just ask for martini you will just vermouth) Our view of the kitchen from our table- now that is some serious steak! they would chop off large T's and throw them right on the grill. That beef never saw the refrigerator! we were a little nervous about this place as there were americans sitting all around us but the food ended up being very good! cannelloni gratinati alla Buca Lapi (pasta canapés stuffed with ricotta and spinach served in a cream sauce of boar and mushrooms) il cinghiale con polenta can't remember the name but it was veal with roasted shallots in a kick ass sauce! Biscotti and vin santo and then they sent out grappa on the house, I think it was like a prize because we were the last people in the restaurant! But we tend to do that.....

Thanks ludja, I found a few restaurant names and added them! I have to find my notes for more. We spent an entire day driving around Chianti. It was glorious!!! We tasted wines at Fontodi and more at enotecas like this one The harvest hadn't begun yet so there were vines heavy with grapes! the scenery was so beautiful with all the little towns and castels! We stopped in Badia Coltibuono for lunch at the thousand year old abbey! Pork meat cooked as tuna, “zolfini” white beans and red onion Ricotta cheese dumplings with pumpkin and rosemary velouté large noodles with wild boar

We ended up at Cantina della Vetra via Pio IV, 3 02-89-40-38-43. It was great, very lively and wonderful food (but a tad slow service wise)

thanks Franci! Dinner that night at Quattro Leoni started with these beautiful figs and salumi plate TRUFFLES!!! This lamb "stew" was to die for! and a little veal scallopine

After Cinque Terre we headed to Florence. We had a rental car so we stopped in Pisa (and had some pizza!) Obviously we ate gelato every day, it's was Dayne's personal goal- you gotta have goals! The first night in Florence we went to a restaurant that was owned by a friend of our hotel manager. Here we found out that wedding anniversary was misunderstood by our hotel as honeymoon! We wondered why we had gotten such a nice room with a balcony! The owner of the restaurant was told it was our honeymoon also so she was very nice is suggesting the best food for our dinner. We started off with a nice mixed antipasta platter- there was fried squash blossoms, frittata, salumi, cous cous salad, etc Then an amazing steak florentine all nicely carved up for 2 and a nice digestif of limencello (how cute is this glass??) on the house of course! The next day we found I Fratellini!! This was the best lunch. Literally a hole in the wall down a small street, for a couple of euro you got your pick of panino and a glass of wine grab a place on the sidewalk and enjoy! I think Dayne enjoyed 2 of these Then when you're finished you put your glass up on these little shelves!! dessert was had on Ponte Vecchio

YES!!!! It was my favorite day

Percy I love Stockholm!! If you get a chance go check out the Berns hotel restaurant- it is stunning!!

TallDrinkOfWater and I travelled around northern Italy for a few weeks in Sept. Here is a bit about our trip! Our stops were Cinque Terre, Florence, Emilia Romagna, Venice and a day in London on the way home. We started off in Milan, mainly because the flights in were well timed for us. Didn't do much as we were just there for the night before heading to Cinque Terre. Our friend from Paris met us and we went out for some nice aperitivos and snacks before dinner. Had dinner at Cantina della Vetra which was very good- gnocco fritto became one of my favorite things! The next day we were off to Montorosso! These towns are stunning! Some other friends from Geneva, Oxford and Vancouver met us here so we had a nice little apartment for 5 days. Every morning we would go down the street to the Foccaciaria where you could order multiple slices of different foccacia and pay by the gram. Brilliant! This is also the region for pesto which we ate daily!! And of course lots of fresh fish. One restaurant had a house specialty that was basically a seafood risotto with a crust on it (edited to add restaurant name)

Our contribution to a dinner party last night was the stuffed onions. Insanely delicious!! and actually quite easy to make.

the ga bahn mi at Saigon Deli (12th & Jackson) has become an addiction for me........

the bar is tiny and most people at it last friday were having full dinner....but if it was later it might work!

LOL!!!!!

Had dinner at Crush last weekend and everything was great (except having to wait 30 mins for my reservation). We started with the seared foie gras on a waffle with huckleberry compote- YUM!! seriously Jason and crew know how to do foie!!! I had lamb chops served with white beans and lamb tongue. Fantastic! My friend had the sturgeon which she loved. We had the donuts for dessert and they also sent out the chocolate cake with beet sorbet- I hate beets but the taste was very interesting. love Crush

Interesting... I've never been there for lunch, though my girlfriend has and was quite happy. On the other hand, we tend to like minimalism when it's done right. ← I also like minimalism when it's done right. I just didn't think the tuna sandwich or the scallop and green bean dish were very good, that's all. The pork sandwich was great. My friend who was dining with us also shared my opinion of Matt's. ← That's funny, I took a friend there for lunch last month and we thought the pork sandwich and the gumbo were kindof blah but my duck confit with grits was like Crack!!! couldn't stop us from licking the plate!

I love doing shots as an amuse, here is one I did recently with butternut soup and brown butter with fried sage leaves. We sip on our shots while we chat. these are a big hit!

:sobbing uncontrollably: [set you up for that one, didn't I?] ← it was WAY too easy!

well there is....... but it has nothing to do with the restaurant! well the others that I'm dining with are pretty stuck on the tapas so I think that will be it this time.... however I've got Painted Lady on the list for "very soon!"

Le Pichet! on 1st and Virginia. Great for eating alone, fantastic prices, wines by the glass, demi or pichet if you'd like. Also happy hour menu in the bar at Union is very yummy and a steal!