markemorse

I will add my voice to the chorus of people who've never experienced this...but I've never been to Venice, only lived in Tuscany. I can't imagine that you'd run into this problem in Florence or Bologna. In Bologna i'd recommend Caffe Golem (Piazza S. Martino, 3/b) for drinks and a bite if you get there in the afternoon and want somewhere quiet/arty/cool to plunk yourself while you formulate a plan. It was our hang when we were in Bologna a lot (should mention that this was awhile ago, 2001), great flatbreads and cheese plates. As for Italian nightlife, good luck...I was rarely able to find anything truly fun outside of Milan that wasn't a completely homespun affair (as in private or very unadvertised), but Bologna would come in second on my Italian Nightlife list (Florence would be dead last I think, Rome better but not exactly an all-night city either). Not sure what you're into, if you end up stuck for ideas, I'd head to Cantina Bentivoglio if i felt like civilised jazz and wine or Link Associated for dubstep/dnb/grime beats, a definite alterna-vibe, and plenty of smoke until 5am weekends. good luck! mark

I had one of my most memorable meals in lisbon at Gambrinus in 2001. Not so much for the food (which was simple but well-executed), but the atmosphere. It was very much a men's club/steakhouse feel, my GF and i ate at the bar for lunch and sat next to a couple of very nice locals who talked and talked. I had chicken piri-piri, can't remember what she had, pork and clams maybe. Combined with a nice old red it was a good lunch, i'd recommend it but wouldn't organize around it. The best meal we had was at Sua Excelência in Lapa...Angolan and Portugese food served in a dining room that looked like an empty wedding reception hall during a power outage. We immediately regretted being there because it looked like some sort of trap, but we had very good food (again I had chicken, a moamba, great) and extremely helpful and subtly attentive service. By all indications we also had feijoada at a newer waterside restaurant that was a good cab ride out of the center, but its name and location were erased by caipirinhas. All i have is photographic evidence that we were there. mark

hi hathor! pretty excited about this blog...my wife and i had a simlar impulse back in 2000 and moved from the states to Siena, Tuscany... are those strozzapretti? one of our top 10 bowls of pasta in Italy was strozzapretti in a creamy sauce with pancetta and shrooms...eaten after valiantly struggling up the nearly vertical hill that is Urbino, which I'm sure contributed to our satisfaction with this lunch... and are strozzapretti strictly regional? i never had (or saw) them again during our time in Italy. mark

Just want to thank everyone for the fantastic thread. In July I was in Nickelsdorf for 4 days of drinking--uh, I mean jazz festivaling, and the hangover helper at lunch every day was a big bowl of goulash (soupy not stewy; more sharp than sweet; equal amounts of large-cubed meat and potatoes; no onions; no flour added; caraway definitely present)...worked like a charm. Now if someone could come up with the recipe for the salad/slaw that came with my schnitzel (vinegary, cabbagey, with caraway), i'd be all set.... mark

I'm jealous: we lived in Siena for a year back in 2000 and it is high time to go back. When we were there, we ate out constantly (as you would), and well this is our list of frequent visitees: Hosteria Il Carroccio. I used to eat here when my girlfriend was unavailable for dining. The nettle soup and pici were my usuals. Osteria la Chiacchera, Costa di Sant'Antionio 4. We used to call this place "chica chica" when we lived there and eventually ended up going there on a weekly basis for their stracotto and beans. They didn't speak any English when we were here last... Enoteca I Terzi This was one of the more adventurous restaurants in town wen we lived there, don't know how much things have changed, but...we probably ate here more than any other restaurant in town. Great, huge wine list; nice cheeses; frequently changing menu, and a very laid-back atmosphere that encourages you to hang all night. Pub Kroeg. Via Pian d'Ovile n.70. This was one of the two bars we hung out in, and this one had the better food...namely, the best pizza in town. Not Neapolitan-style, though: these are called ciaccini. The rucola/apple/gorgonzola is pined for this very minute. If that's not enough to lure you, they serve Belgian beers as well. Most of all, though....we miss this rosticceria we went to on the way back from school every day. We don't know the name, but they have both grilled and fried polenta slices; arancini; saltimbocca di pollo; roasted chicken; +++ Common guidebook recs that we'd skip if we were you because the food is unremarkable and there's at least one other random defect: Papei (truly bizarre service unless you sit outside); Da Divo (really uncomfortable dining room); La Torre (another weird dining room/service experience).

Hmmm. That's a bit of a tough one for me: I've got some places I really like for beers/wine/coffee outside, but food (and service, because one of my most frequent haunts is self-service on the terrace) is definitely not a priority at these places, it's all about location and sun. Other than that, I'm having trouble recalling an outdoor lunch that was significantly above average. Van Kerkwijk (mentioned upthread) is nice for lunch, but there's no sun because it's on the Nes. Is there anywhere you already enjoy, Nico? I'll do what I can here: when there's beer to be drunk, I'm normally at one of the following handful: De Engelbewaarder, Kloveniersburgwal 59. used to be my local, I've grown to like everything about it. Excellent "real" jazz on Sunday (in the Sonny Rollins/Dexter Gordon vein), usually led by bad boy Sean Bergin. De Kat in de Wijngaert, Lindengracht 160 my favorite uitsmijter in town, normally quite great music inside. Sound Garden, Marnixstraat 164-6. a pit punky-looking, but totally friendly with a nice back terrace. Cafe Het Molenpad, 653 Prinsengracht. next to the library, insert your favorite drinking/studying joke here. Pacific Parc, Polonceaukade 23. really dismally preoccupied service, which I avoid by ordering at the bar...really useful only if you are already near Westerpark. http://www.blablablog.nl/B1038127581/C937148759/E20050722233727/index.html Kanis & Meiland, Levantkade 12. On KNSM-eiland, this place has gotten really dismal food reviews lately, even though I've never had anything bad there. But I haven't been this year. Anyway, I like it because it seems like a futuristic version of Amsterdam. i also re-second Chufi's Vondelpark recommendations upthread (except for maybe Vertigo), along with In de Wildeman, which has no food but is a nice hang outside. mark

Right on, but this "us" thing...I'm almost sure he wasn't talking about eGulleters from the triangle when he wondered if NC was ready. That would've been not only brash but counterproductive and well, not very smart. Maybe he should've said "I don't mean you guys", but I thought that was implied... Anyway...can't wait to hear the reviews. Is there a actually an eGullet night @ Z Kitchen planned, or did that get sidetracked? mem

Aw...I've been holding off on this, and don't really have time to do it justice at the moment, but: I agree with almost everything else you say, detlefchef, especially that dude should be able to just cook dinners out of his apartment.... However, I myself have been dismayed at the naysaying of the "alleged naysayers". I almost said something at the outset but didn't. Re-reading the posts, I don't know why I found them so negative, there are only a couple....I just got a harsh vibe. I would've been disappointed if I'd been Bryan, but maybe that's me. As for Bryan's questioning of whether or not "his audience is ready"...That's absolutely the prerogative of anyone who's going to invest time and creative energy into an endeavor, isn't it: will there be anyone to appreciate it? And having spent plenty of time in Bryan's neck of the woods, I understand his concerns. I would've said the same thing he did, and I'm not a man/boy his age. I'd say it about most cities. This is not a dis of non-megalopolis diners, this is an assessment of the potential audience for an alternative creative effort: something outside of what people are used to. And about his age...at what age does a chef become qualified to gauge the potential receptiveness of the city he lives in to his food? mem

Good to know, apronstrings....so you just sub the same amount vanilla-flavored Jello pudding powder for the vanilla custard powder. Don't laugh if there's no such thing as Jello pudding powder...I have no idea what's in a box of Jello pudding. I've never made it before! I feel like the biggest doofus! Thanks... mark

Cool, thanks Kerry...glad I didn't just forge ahead with the ol' instant pudding mix... I'll probably do a test run next week and report back here with "issues".... Thanks all, mark

Not sure if you guys already read this or not, but I think that culiblog has a really creative, informative, and somewhat realistic perspective on some of these sustainable/local/etc issues. Or maybe she's just delusional (insert sarcastic "softening wink" emoticon here). Either way, it's a good read. mem P.S. When are we going to get some snarkier emoticons around here. You know, in order to more accurately reflect the intentions of our posters?

Nice one, Ling...thanks for being so speedy! That's actually the recipe I had my eye on, but I was unsure about a couple of ingredients... graham wafers = graham crackers? vanilla custard powder = instant pudding mix? And are your almonds toasted, blanched, skinned, etc? This may be obvious...desserts are not something I make very often. Thanks for the help! mark

So, the other night over too many bottles of wine with some friends from Toronto and London, it was revealed that the Londoner's mom used to make him a nanaimo bar every year for his birthday until she died 10 years ago. His birthday's coming up in a week or so and I'm considering making him a nanaimo bar. Forgetting for a moment the shakily sentimental/nostalgic ground I'll be cooking upon, has there been an eGullet nanaimo bar bake-off that I'm not aware of? I guess I'm looking for an eGullet-tested nanaimo bar recipe. Does anyone know of one? Thanks! mark

Please tell me you're going to make piki bread this week. mem

Well Grub, I think that the soft outside is pretty critical to pepperoni bun/roll enjoyment. They're nice and chewy the way I'm used to them, and the main payoff is the chew and the spicy center, lightly soaked with "oil" from the pepperoni.... When you mention a crispy outside I start thinking of the various "sausage broodjes" available here in amsterdam (sausage wrapped in croissant dough or puff pastry), and that's a very different creature from the pepperoni roll. That said, I've never had a crispy one, so by all means...fire up the lab and report back with your findings! mark

The plot thickens: my wife's grandmother DID in fact live in West Virginia in her youth (1928), and her dad was a miner...it looks like she was most likely one of these original Italian mining families mentioned upthread. Amazing the national treasures you find underfoot Haven't had actual contact with grandmother Alverta yet, but my wife's text-messaged recollection of the recipe is: "basic pizza dough recipe - let rise. after first rise - roll out and cut into pieces of about 1 inch by 3 inches - lay cut pieces of pepperoni inside - close sides and long seam and place with seam down to rise for a second time. then bake according to dough recipe - probably 8-10 min at 375F." She's normally a bit more articulate than that. The family is reunited next week so hopefully I can be more precise about both the recipe and Alverta's history. mark EDITED to include 2nd text message.

These are all of Eating Asia's KL posts...that's what I'd do if I was there. good luck, mark

The same thing is happening to Amsterdam as well, but the most painful examples here involve "new urban dwellers" moving into neighborhoods with established music venues (our 25-year-old jazz mecca the BIMHuis, for example) and complaining about the noise until the venue has to move to a more expensive or less central location. Or close altogether. Anyway, sorry for a tug OT, but i'll end with: I feel your pain. It's a frustrating situation for someone who (while I like my sleep), like H. du Bois, I live in an urban environment for its vitality and alive-ness and late-night possibilities. And music. mem EDIT: Sorry, meant to add that we have the restricted liquor license thing happening here too, but with coffeeshops (yes, those coffeeshops).

interesting....my wife's Italian-American grandmother makes them (their clan is from Abruzzo), but she calls them pepperoni buns, and she's lived in Ohio most if not all of her life. i'll have to find out where she got the recipe so we can trace the migration..... and now that i think about it, their family were miners as well. hers have no cheese, no sauce, just pepperoni. and just like pizza, they're good hot or cold, but i almost always have them at room temperature. hers are smaller than the ones pictured, and it's real easy to eat too many of them without realizing it. i try to draw the line at 5 or so. And usually stop around 7 or 8. mem

I was going to say curryworst but I thought it was too Berlin. Shows you what I know.

EDIT: Oops again, just noticed the UK specificity here. Never mind

I don't think these were mentioned: Eating Asia. Masak Masak. beautiful photos and stories about food from Malaysia. mem

EDIT: This PDF has pictures and names of members of the chicory family. On a Belgian page there was mention of a Globo variety of andijvie. There is mention of a Globo variety in the PDF file linked above and it refers to a type of chicory called "Scarole endive". So: I think in America you might see this as endive or escarole.

Hey Leo, It's chicory I'm pretty sure.... mark

goulash? don't know if it's 100% authentic Oktoberfest food, but it's always one of my favorite things to eat in germany and it's a great hangover "cure" either way. mark EDIT: I have to say, the further east I go, usually on my way to the Austrian-Hungarian border, the more I enjoy this soup (seems to be more caraway involved eastward, maybe it's just been my luck)...i'd look for a recipe that skews Austrian....