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davythefatboy

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Everything posted by davythefatboy

  1. Over the years my wife and I have seen working class Italians in a few restaurants in Italy swirling their pasta on a spoon. My wife thinks once was in Spoleto (there was a room of fifty Italian army guys having a dinner in the next room, I didn't notice them using spoons). As a kid in NY I remember my father coming back from a trip to Italy and showing us that was how it was done. So in at least two Italian restaurants in the last fifty years, members of my family have seen locals do the spoon thing with spaghetti. In terms of Pizza, the oddest thing I saw was in a restaurant outside Torino - the guy at the next table ate the entire crust of his pizza (neatly with a knife and fork) before he ate the rest of it. Just looked weird and unbalanced.
  2. By the way, I asked four different cab drivers in Naples what their favorite pizza was, and 3 out of 4 said Da Michele, but two specifically mentioned the low prices.
  3. There are many delicious pizzas in the world, I don't know how important it is to identify one as the "true and correct" pizza. I happened to prefer the pizza at Da Michele to that at L'Europea, but the pizza was only part of it. L'Europea was mostly empty when we there, but Da Michele was a show. The servers, the pizzaiolas, the customers, the pies flying in and out of the oven made it a great performance. And yes, I though the pizza dough was unusually good. I preferred the marinara pie to the margherita. I remember the big deal about Brandi being the "original", but the pizza there wasn't special. Here in New York some of my favorite pizzas are more about the topping then the dough. Ottimo has a wonderful pizza with smoked mozzarella which gets a fabulous consistency in the wood oven. Col Legno (rest its soul) did something magical with red onions on their "Benjamino" pizza. La Pizza Fresca does good dough (somewhat like Michele) but the tomato and cheese leave me cold. Una Pizza Napoletana makes an excellent pie, and also puts on a good show (like Dom at DiFara). I actually think that watching a master making the pizza, and seeing his devotion to the craft makes any pizza taste much better. And it can be a thick crust or a thin one, crunchy or chewy, yeasty or flat. If they are enjoying making the pie, I'm probably going to enjoy eating it, and if they are just doing a job, I'll probably just get fed.
  4. Thanks, your mention got us to drive over to Hoboken for brunch at Cucharamama today. For us it was an immediate keeper of a restaurant. Everything was not only interesting, but delicious, foods I would get hungry for. I can't wait to go back and try dinner. And try brunch at his smaller restaurant Zafra a block away, which seems to have more side dishes and little plates. We started with a Piquillo pepper stuffed with squash in a white sauce. Sounds messy and overbearing, but it was excellent. My wife had a huevos rancheros sort of dish, except the sauce was another level up from most salsas. The fried potatoes and different salsa for them was excellent, and the little garnish of pickled onions, pozole and cubed white cheese was - Wow! Flavors I haven't had before, and want to have again. I had an Arepa with honey and cheese on a bed of fruit. It was the tastiest corn cake I've ever eaten (not spicy, just savory). Not only were all the flavors fresh and interesting, there seemed to be a good concern for mixing different textures as well. I had two different fruit drinks (non-alcoholic) that were both good, and an excellent hot chocolate. My wife liked the flan (cut from a loaf rather than the cup shape I'm used to) but it was the one thing that didn't excite me. What a find for a Manhattan provincial like me, thanks for mentioning it!
  5. davythefatboy

    Gusto

    I was puzzled to read this. Are most foodies looking for a great meal, or for excitement? I like restaurants that have consistent delicious food, things that I can look forward to, or as my wife says, "dishes that I get hungry for". To me, exciting restaurants are by definition inconsistent and unreliable places you wouldn't want to patronize regularly. Nice for a tourist, but not for a local looking for a regular source of pleasure and sustenance. We tried Gusto once when it was fresh and new and once after the name chef left, on neither occasion did it please us, let alone excite us.
  6. And of course al Marsala isn't necessarily Italian at all, since Marsala is Allah's seaport...
  7. Circo-lo Teatro del Sale Via dei Macci 111r http://www.teatrodelsale.com/start_e.html I know that Fabio Picchi's Teatro del Sale has been mentioned here before, but I just wanted to amplify - this is a very special and fun experience, highly recommended for foodies and ordinary folk alike. It's some of the best food I've had prepared in such quantities, but the entire experience is not to be missed. Yes, there are lots of fillers (polenta, potatoes, bread), but they too are very good and tasty. Whereas in Italy the ingredients are usually king, I had the impression here that the food was more highly seasoned, perhaps to make up for a slightly lower quality ingredients. But it was very skilled seasoning. I can't imagine liking cold cooked escarole, but this was one of the best escarole dishes I've had (and luckily the carnivores were all going for the meat, leaving plenty of veggies for me). The roast potatoes were also best of class. And the peppers. Yes, part of the "circo" is the people queuing and rushing for various dishes as they are announced, and it's obvious the food is deliberately served from a small tight area to enhance that (in fact, almost as soon as everyone was lined up for the roast meat, Picchi announced the chocolate cake, and it was funny to see some people leave the meat line and rush for the chocolate). You can see that Picchi is having a ball here, and his enthusiasm is infectious. I have no idea if he's always there, or if it's quite as much fun if he isn't. If you are really uptight, this is not the place for you. This is also a good place to go with kids - people from 10 to 70 seemed to all be having a great time. Although a lot of the kids started dozing during the entertainment (a trio with a flute, guitar and Soprano the night we were there, doing mostly pop songs, in Italian, French and English). The chef's up scale restaurant is Cibreo, which is on many people's top ten list for Florence. It's right across the street, but a world apart.
  8. Thanks, had a great trip. Piemonte is definitely one of the meatiest cuisines in Italy - unusually few vegetable antipasti other than vegetable tarts or flans (usually very good). Nevertheless we had a wonderful time and ate very well. We had some excellent agnolotti with greens, some wonderful truffles and porcini, beautiful cheese plates, and the best hazelnut cake I could ever imagine. Oh, and the wine wasn't bad either. Except for the one exceptional meal in Swiss Chef's town we stuck to Slow Food choices and they were all very good. But I have to say that at nearly every restaurant the most popular dish we saw coming from the kitchen was the Brasato al barolo (pot roast?). Just be sure to have some cheese and wine you will be very happy.
  9. We went to the truffle festival in Montechiaro D'Asti on November 4th and enjoyed it quite a bit. At first it looked like a New York City street fair with the same vendors selling the same trinkets (clothing, household goods) at every fair, but we quickly got to the food section and it seemed quite local (except perhaps the truffles). One of the truffle guys for some reason gave us a free sample of a bit of black truffle (10 or 12 slivers worth). Maybe we looked like big spending Americans who would buy a white one (we didn't). Swiss Chef had mentioned that the local restaurant in Zanco (a few minutes away) kept two truffle dogs in a kennel out front and which would be a good place for truffles, so went. It's a one street town, but very little commercial, we got to the church (which we expected would be the center of town) and found a dead end and no restaurant. We turned around and started the other way. There was a guy coming out of his house, and we asked in our broken Italian for the local restaurant. He asked if it would be easier if he answered in English, and we said yes, are you by any chance Swiss Chef? And indeed he was. He sent us to the restaurant and invited us back for coffee. We arrived at Da Maria around 2:00 Sunday afternoon, and they were packed, but they greeted us warmly. (We know that in Italy most restaurants do one seating.) When they found we mostly spoke English, a guy who seemed like the assistant chef came to translate, learned we were from New York (and vegetarian!) and said he'd check with his boss if they could seat us. He came back and asked that we wait about half an hour. They gave us some very nice sparkling white wine, and had us wait on the patio (great view of some autumn foliage and the next hill town over). Half an hour later they invited us in, and sat us at a table right in front of the kitchen passthrough. It turned out to be an amazing "chef's table" experience. The chef, Giorgio, who also spoke English quite well, came and asked who was the vegetarian. His face fell a bit when I told him both of us, but he kept going, suggesting a meal - antipasto, pasta, cheese. He suggested a pasta with Porcini, and we inquired about Tartufo Bianco. He said sorry, there were no local truffles to be had, it had been too dry a year, and they were all from Bulgaria, Romania or elsewhere (and clearly beneath his dignity to serve). They asked if we wanted red or white wine, still or not, and we said still red wine. They brought us a delicious Barberra del Monferrato (Castello di Lignano, Valisenda). We spent the rest of our time in Piemonte trying various Barbera's and never had one as good. The starter was goat cheese on greens with a balsamic topping (and some ground nuts). The balsamic was subtle, and it was a great combination. Then peperoni with bagna cauda. We're not anchovy lovers (did I mention we're vegetarian), but it was quite good. Then they brought a dish of sliced porcini covered with slices of a somewhat aged cheese (Toma?) and a bit of black pepper, red pepper, and wonderful olive oil. This was a fantastic pairing. The chef kept coming by and talking and offered next a taste of a risotto with cheese that he was making for someone else. It was scrumptious. Meanwhile we noticed a waiter bring half a white truffle to the kitchen on a truffle slicer. We wondered if Romanian truffles were good enough to serve the locals? Then they brought us our tagliatelle with porcini - covered with white truffle shavings! The chef explained that a guest had brought his own truffle, and shared it with the kitchen (who then shared it with us!). Sublime. Then the cheese course - the best of our trip. No mostarda, no fruit, no nuts, no honey. The chef brought a huge board of 12 to 15 cheeses, all from Piemonte, said that these are cow, these are goat, these are sheep, here's the knife, help yourself. We tried about six of them, mostly harder cheeses, and they were all spectacular. We asked the name of what looked like Pecorino Sardo, and he said it was Pecorino from Piemonte, no special name. We were stuffed, and said no dolci, but they brought some local cookies (torchelli?) with Moscato D'Asti. Then espresso. I've probably forgotten something along the way. Like that each of the staff who spoke English stopped by our table at one point - including one waiter who had been a moonie in New York twenty years before, but had returned to his roots. This was by far our favorite meal of the trip - the incredible hospitality, the simple clear flavors, the perfect combinations of perfect ingredients. They brought the check - 30 Euro per person. We reminded them they'd forgotten to charge for the wine. They said it was all inclusive. Then we found our way back to Swiss Chef's house, and had coffee and cookies and a delightful visit with him and his wife. Swiss Chef swore that he had not called the restaurant to say we were coming - their warmth and hospitality was unprompted. It was dark by the time we headed back to Bra, and we were both sated and satiated, both by food and conversation. Oh, the joys of Italy!
  10. Thank you! Although I loved the bagna cauda at Tavolcalda Da Alfredo on Bleecker street 25 years ago here in New York, in Italy it is usually quite heavily anchovy based. But we've learned in Italy that anchovy and pancetta are considered vegetarian...
  11. We're liberal vegetarians who will be staying in Bra for a few days in about a week. (liberal means that we don't fuss about the odd bit of pancetta, gunciale or chicken stock, but we prefer that meat and meat flavor/texture not predominate). We rarely have trouble being well fed anywhere in Italy, but I'm wondering if there's any restaurant that anyone would recommend that would be especially appealing to vegetarians - not just good pastas filled or sauced with cheese or vegetable, but interesting or appealing vegetable sides or even entrees? Naturally we intend to have some truffle dishes this time of year. Thanks
  12. I've had disappointing meals in both places. Nothing particularly delicious or remarkable at either one. At the new place we tried a bunch of appetizers and didn't finish any of them. I admit that I don't eat meat, perhaps it's only the veggies that are lackluster.
  13. Since Shopsin's recently moved to lower rent digs in the Essex Street Market, they've actually lowered their prices, something of a rarity in the NY restaurant world. The food is still great, and the place is still unique and entertaining on many levels.
  14. davythefatboy

    Tasca

    I liked the stuffed pepper at Tasca quite a bit. But I prefer the Tortilla (and almost everything else) at Ostia across the street. Ostia is clearly a labor of love. And that tastes darn good.
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