salutistagolosa

Ciao Saluistagolosa! I work with a Roman, and for 'sport' we have this same arguement! ← I hope he converts you to the true abbacchio

Hi Alberts, guess what, for the past three years I have been spending between 3 and 5 months in Trento for work reasons. I hope this does not sound as self promotion, but on my blog I have reviewed a lot of very good (and some bad) restaurants in the area between Trento and Bolzano, here they are in case you want to have a look: -Castel Toblino (Trento, IT) -Il Libertino (Trento, IT) -L'Ortica (Brescia, IT) -La Cruna dell'Ago (Rovereto, IT) -Lo Scrigno del Duomo (Trento, IT) -Malga Panna (Trento, IT) -Novecento (Rovereto, IT) -Orso Grigio (Trento, IT) -Osteria Fior di Roccia (Trento, IT) -Osteria Le Due Spade (Trento, IT) -Zur Rose (Bolzano, IT) All hte above are proper restaurants. But there are loads of other small trattorias where you pay very little and get a very nice meal, e.g. i 3 Camini, which is on Hihglands outside Trento, close to two beautiful lakes (a walk around both of them takes a couple of hours, half of this if you walk round one of them only). In addition, If you have got the time make sure you try and reach a "Rifugio" up in the mountains: besides really unforgettable views, you can get very cheap and very nice meals, too. They might require you to walk a bit, but you will be rewarded by the traditional peasant fair of polenta and game stew. These are two I have tried, one that is some kind of an institution, Rifugio Marchetti, Monte Stivo (Rovereto, IT), and the other one easier to reach, and also ok (also with impressive views, though perhaps not as scenic as the rifugio Marchetti, but it is a matter of taste): Rifugio San Pietro (Trento, IT) And if you have time to go to lake Garda, there are a couple of good ones there too. As for the roads, you are spoilt for choice for scenic routes. The two "gardesana" (i.e. the winding roads going around Lake Garda) are probably murderous in June because of traffic (and if you are stuck, there is no way out). But coming from Trento, Valle dei Laghi I would say is a must, and if you have the chance to go visit the Parco Naturale Adamello Brenta" there will be some unforgettable views, I promise you. If you go further up, cannot miss Val Badia and Val Gardena. If you happen to get to Trento, their local tourist office is very active, and staff there was always very helpful. They also have an official site: tourist office Gosh, can you tell I am rather envious of your trip? enjoy!

good luck to you! can anyone help me understand why these courses are so expensive (almost 16k for a three term Diploma course at Leith's, and 12K for a cuisine diploma at the cordon bleu)? is this just in anticipation of future earnings? it can't be just because of use of equpment and ingredients... or can it? edit: just to explain where I am coming from, an MPhil in Biological Sciences (i.e. lab based) at the uni of Cambridge should cost around 3,5K....

hi, you may have found them in Umbria, too, but 'abbacchio scottadito' is definitely roman (I live in London now, but was born and raised in Rome). I know it is late for artichokes now, but for the future I wonder whether you may find this video[/URL] useful (from www. gennarino.org): there you have a true italian grocer cleaning an artichoke from Sezze (an area around Latina that I think one of the first messages in this thread referred to).

I don't think Arbutus ever aspired to a Michelin star, but it nevertheless has held one since January this year. ← of course. it must be that deep inside I still can't get round a Michelin starred restaurant with no extra treats

Hi Helen this seems to me an overexaggeration, but I agree (I am Italian) that Italian cuisine (with all its countless regional variations) gets engrained deep in our tastebuds from a very ealry age. There are "foreign restaurants", too, by the neighbourhood ones at least have to make concessions to local taste: e.g. a local chinese also making pizza., noodles that are served as "primo", as we are used to starting with pasta, and so on. More adventurous when travelling abroad, but in Italy itself you would go to a mexican more for a change than for genuine curiosity... Of course, this is a sweeping oversimplification, let's say that this applies to teh way Ithink of the average italian, if anythign like that exists....

Hi everybody, I have been at Arbutus with my partner a couple of weeks ago. I agree with rjs1 on coffee, must disagree on the ravioli (at least when I visited - and I promise you I am very fussy). Although I did enjoy the food (well, ok, my partner and I have an issue with unstoned cherries in the clafoutis, but this is a long story...), I found it on the whole a bit on the stingy side: hardly any bread, nothing to nibble on, nothing to go with the coffee... I think establishments that obvioulsy aspire to a Michelin star could put slightly more effort (especially given the competition), and still keep costs under control. Anyhow, in case you are interested here there is a full list of what we had and what we made of it... ah, and excellent idea having wine by carafes of various sizes, hope this catches up!