tommy

what pigeons.

Having arrived in Venice relatively hungry, I found myself grabbing a slice of pizza in the middle of the afternoon the first day. (This, by the way, was the best slice of pizza I’ve ever had. It could have been the hunger, I’m not sure. But it was delicious). From there on, I was in search of more pizza. Taverna San Trovaso Fondamenta Priuli Dorsoduro 1016 Venice Tel. 520 37 03 Our second meal in Venice was at Taverna San Trovaso. Another egullet recommendation. The only goals that afternoon were to sit down, eat pizza, and drink wine. Taverna San Trovaso is a pretty good place to do all of those things. We ordered two pizzas: gorgonzola & speck, and artichoke. The gorgonzola and speck was fabulous. A nice crispy thin-ish crust, with some very good speck and mild gorgonzola. The cheese was mild overall, but the flavor in the veining was intense. My artichoke pizza was almost as good. It did have a bit too much cheese for me though. I was a bit surprised at that. We drank a 2001 Cabutto barbera d’alba for 15 euro. A super-fruity wine, with cherry and dark berries. It also packed 14% alcohol. The place was filled with Italian families, having big lunches and having a ball. Seems like a real “regulars” kind of place. Kinda like the Olive Garden commercials. I’d definitely go back here for lunch. Vini Da Gigio Cannaregio 3628A, Fondamenta San Felice. Tel.: 041-528-5140 Venice website I was so looking forward to eating at this highly recommended restaurant that I completely forgot my camera. I suppose one didn’t have anything to do with the other, but I can’t think of a segue. This is a great spot, and a tough reservation. Several people came in looking for a table and were turned away. Luckily, we secured a reservation that morning. As this was an uneventful meal (other than food), I’ll just mention the dishes… Pumpkin ravioli. They came in a super-rich, but not sickeningly so, sauce. The pumpkin flavor was quite intense. Fresh pasta w/ mushrooms. The dish was perfectly balanced. Just the right amount of parsley bits throughout. I noted that I could have eaten that dish all day. Osso bucco was declared “delicious”. Sliced steak au Poivre. The sauce was slightly, and surprisingly, acidic. I’m guessing there was balsamic in it. the green peppercorns were more fruit-like than pepper-like. They tasted super fresh, and really set the dish off. We drank a clerico ciabot mentin ginestra 1995 barolo. 8 mild cheeses were brought out. A mild blue managed to bring an intense chocolate flavor out of the wine. That was a lot of fun. The service was friendly and helpful. It seemed like a family-run operation. Actually, I think it *is* a family run operation. It should be noted that dishes were brought to the table as they were ready. That’s just fine by me, as I don’t want my dishes sitting under a lamp. On the way back from dinner, we passed an irish pub on campo dei testori that had a pretty good crowd going. We figured we’d stop and have a nightcap. Strangely, I met a guy who doesn’t live far from us. He was nice enough to take a picture with his camera, as I had forgotten mine. Additionaly, I had never seen a more disgusting restroom in my life. By my estimation, I had about 3 nightcaps too many. Some horrible place near San Marco Tel: don’t worry about it Lunchtime snuck up on us the following day. It was pissing down rain, and we had just waited in line for the basilica for a very very long time. I decided, against my better judgment, to just duck into one of the thousands of touristy places nearby. What a freakin mistake. We walked into the least-offensive looking place. The theme song to “The Price is Right” was coming out of the speakers. I shit you not. We knew we were in the wrong place. But damnit we were hungry. I had a pizza with artichokes, which completely fell short of even my very low expectations. Mrs. Tommy had pasta Bolognese, which wasn’t horrible, but certainly not memorable. If I recall correctly, they didn’t even have house wine. I ended up dropping 40 euro on a bottle of amarone. Oh well. Please, don’t ever do this. Ever. You simply cannot take back a shitty meal. And when it’s not cheap, it hurts that much more. Agli Alboretti Rio Terra Antonio Foscarini – Sant’Agnese 882 Venice Tel: 041 523 00 58 website Attack of the ugly Americans. The tables are very close in parts of this restaurant, so you almost can’t help but be distracted at times. Especially when the people next to you are sending back food, complaining, and talking about deeply personal issues way louder than they should. That aside, we managed to eek a pretty good meal out of the night. After being seated, a glass of prosecco came out, along with an amuse of bean soup with john dory. Off to a very good start. My notes are vague, but from what I can tell, we had the following: Red mullet and scorpion fish with coriander. This was a really good, and simple dish. The fish was moist and tender. It was nice having a dish with different types of fish. I haven’t found that very often. A pasta with duck and mushrooms was oddly acidic (this seemed to be a theme), and declared “excellent” by the discerning Mrs. Tommy. The rich duck played well against the earthy mushrooms and fresh pasta. A bottle of chianti classico, 1997. A selection of cheeses. Horrible bread. In fact, I didn’t have any decent bread at all until we got to Rome. And even that bread wasn’t all that good. Perhaps good bread is more of a southern Italian tradition. All in all, I think the bill was about 120 euro. We had a couple of outstanding meals in the next few days. I’m looking forward to reliving them.

i'm not positive, but i'm pretty sure i use both "on" and "in" without giving it much thought. and i don't think twice when someone else uses either one.

Houston, TX, is "hews-ton" in NYC too. It's just that Houston street, in nyc, is "House-ton", which is ok because it's presumably in no way related to Houston, TX.

for sure. i seen it on da tv too. and i've been dying to go since! jason, how was it.

this is why i hate the internet. how about the british. they pronounce just about *everything* wrong.

if she went to the same Total Wines that i have up here, then she got some of the best prices around (well, up here anyway). i particularly like Michel Lynch white bordeaux. and at about 7.60 a bottle with a case discount, you can't get hurt.

and that argument, of course, is "BK bad. Me good."

you're affiliated with the place i assume?

i hope the secret to the pronunciation doesn't come out here. it's way more fun watching people struggle with it.

i'd actually recommend seasoning. my has held for some time now, and i generally have the burners as high as they will go.

they read egullet and found out that people are comparing the numbers to the RDA so they changed it. actually, it has been there as long as i can remember. it's probably for the 10 people in the country who are affected by sodium (and they clearly shouldn't be eating at BK to begin with).

listen

best thing crust: kinchley's. almost the best thin crust: brooklyn's in hackensack (not the other locations). best boardwalk pizza: the sawmill in seaside. i could eat this stuff every day.

cast iron lodge. that's pretty much it.

Did he seriously call you Mr. tommy? no, he called me by my last name. it was a shock that he knew it to begin with.

thereuare, you should try the Brass Rail's tasting menu, which i think is on wednesday and thursdays. i find it very satisfying, especially when paired with wines, and at the bar.

ah yes. it sites a "reasonable body of evidence". although i'm sure they have a point: americans should probably reduce their daily intake by 20% or so. from 5000mg down to 4000mg.

too many words.

some people look at the numbers in a vacuum. i look at them in comparison to other food.

and other reasonable people don't think it's salty.

i hear that you should put them in the refrigerator for 2 hours, and then in a pot of cold water, and heat it slowly.

I gather you didn't ask for another one. Why not? there shouldn't be a bad table at that price point when the restaurant isn't full. perhaps glenn should have asked for a better table (although many don't bother, including me), but the fact remains that better tables were available and went unused, in glenn's estimation. the question is: why was he seated there?

if you look at some of the numbers i posted earlier about sodium content, you'll probably see that they're really not all that salty when compared to other sandwiches. perception is certainly reality, but the numbers don't lie.

i did a search, and that's the one i've brought up twice on this issue. seems that we have had the same experience there. and the place is mediocre ta boot. Tao comes to mind as well, although the guy there isn't as annoying for some reason. but don't get me wrong, he's still annoying. fat guy mentions that some places don't seem like they should have one. i recall fondly the many nights spent at the Limelight (a club in NYC) in the 80's and early 90's. i'm sure an attendant fit right in with some of the events they had there, but during a Dead Milkmen show, it just didn't seem appropriate. the blow seems a little softer when they've got a nice spread. i usually grab a cigarette and some gum or mints.