cinghiale

No direct experience, but I remember an article about it in the Inky recently. Did a search and came up with Ding-Dong It's Your Chef. Since the website is so g-d awful to navigate, here's the synposis: There's another article out there, but I can't find it.

On the sammich front, I'd have on my list: * roast pork/prov/br @ Tony Luke's or maybe DiNic's in the Terminal * Schmitter @ McNally's On the resto front: * ¡Pasion! for a ceviche fix * maybe if you're in the BV, Beau Monde for a crêpe? You won't be gettin' too many of those in Roma. Was there 2 wknds ago and had forgotten that they're pretty darned good Euro-based discount travel sites researched for my upcoming jaunt (gleaned from mostly from NYT article a month ago or so), but probably gonna do Airpass instead: Apple Fares Opodo (UK) Opodo (German) Which Budget Open Jet Expedia (German) Fly Billet (Danish) Travel Price (Belgian) Air Stop (Belgian)

You might try George Wells Meats. They really don't sell to retail, but if you show up and aren't shy about a large-ish order, they probably won't turn you down. Just go in thru the loading dock and up to the office, like you've been there before.

Had late dinner last Friday (9:30 res) on short-notice reservation. I suspect once the word keeps getting out, that'll change. Can second Andrew's praise of the veal cheeks, which one of us had and was wowed. Also, the oysters and the smelts were excellent. I had a rabbit confit salad that rocked. Included were pears and oven(-poached?) grapes. A real winner. Two of us had the cornmeal-crusted trout, and this dish was a sore disappointment, esp. cf. the other outstanding dishes. The fish was utterly devoid of any flavor or seasoning. The only gaffe committed by our stellar service was to call over the owner to handle the issue. We had praised everything up to then, so I felt a bit peeved at having to discourse on the inherent flavor or non-flavor of trout before it was removed (it got to where I actually said something stupid like, "I was at Django last week, and the trout I had that night was excellent. Didn't your wife used to cook there?"). The substituted salumi/cheese plate was only OK. Still, I will certainly return. The food was by all means good enough to trump the odd disappointing dish. The bar crowd seems animated. Prices on drinks and wine (by the glass) are very fair.

I think pancetta is becoming increasingly popular and available here in the U.S. In Philly's Italian Market, at least two stores sell it, including d'Angelo Brothers, where Sonny makes it himself. He's also started making guanciale from his father's recipe, and it's better (and cheaper) than Niman Ranch. I happened upon some Niman Ranch lardo in a store in Oakland last spring, so that's available here as well. Since it's waaaaay too expensive to order, I mentioned it to good ole' Sonny, and he's gonna start in with lardo soon as well.

Turning that Q around: How about those places not (well, IMO anyway) deserving of a heinous review from Laban? I'm thinking here of aliwak's late Bella, now home to Meritage (I think). I ate there three or four times, once even taking clients. I thought the food was excellent, FOH was competent, ali herself the epitome of hospitality. Then Laban smacks the place with one bell, and the typical "newcomer struggling to make it" is shuttered shortly thereafter. Granted, there may very well have been other factors at work, but that, to my mind, vastly undeserved review surely didn't help -- and (who knows?) may have even precipitated the restaurant's downfall.

Sorry to hear that your one experience with Leberkäse was so awful. I actually prefer it either fresh right out of the oven or un-fried and room temp, served with other sliced cured wurst and potato salad. It has its own unique "taste" and texture. It's sorta the same with meatloaf, that comfort food feeling and all. Mmmmmmm, lion. And orange Fanta.

What Behemoth said, though I've found the best Thüringer come from, well, Thüringen (e.g., two most memorable things about Eisenach: Wartburg and wurst) Appelwoi (a bit out of season), Handkäse if you can find it Leberkäse Spätzle (dried is OK) Kinder Surprise eggs Wacholder (frighteningly powerful degustiv)

Right you are, Boris -- a "sweet PITA" indeed. Must someday try the rocks & fire version -- well, if it ever gets cold enough here this year.

I wouldn't recommend buying an electric appliance for use in the U.S., unless you wanna buy a transformer, too. I blew out my German raclette machine AND the transformer a couple of years ago. Plus, you can buy them here. My local cheese shop stocks them. Slightly OT, but: Don't you find those machines to be a major PITA? Sure, they're fun and, well, for lack of a better word, "urig" (sorta "charmingly unusual"), but first everyone sits around with gnawing stomachs waiting for the half-wheel of cheese to warm up, maybe eating the potatoes unadorned out of sheer hunger. Then once the cheese starts to run, it's portion .... wait .... portion ... wait. So if you've got 6 or 8 guests, it takes awhile for everyone to get a first plate. But then, when the cheese is really goin', its suddenly coming too fast. And someone's gotta man the thing (usually the host), meaning he/she usually eats last. I much prefer the more pedestrian raclette "grill", pictured here. You have to portion the cheese in advance, which is a bit of a pain, but everyone eats at his/her own pace.

SCHEISSE!!!! Anise is closed for the holidays. Cube is closed between Christmas and New Year's. Brunoise is closed from today through 1/14. I was informed in trying to make a reservation at Le Club that it will open 12/31, too late for me. I'm in at Area and Otto, though I'm usually averse to dining in hotels. But that's just me. I've still got one dinner to fill. After joe's report, I'm leery of Cocagne. Maybe Le Chevre at identifiler's reco, but I'm not convinced it's for me. Culatello's urging to "go to Bronte" makes me curious, but I'd appreciate more info. I ate at APdC last trip, and while it was great, I'd like to try something new. Anyone?

A bit tardy with this report. After a taxing journey to Ancona – a sciopero resulted in flight cancellation, necessitating a re-route to a three-hour train ride from Rome – I met up with Angelo. He was kind enough to chauffeur us to Senigallia for dinner at Uliassi; as it happened, it was Angelo’s birthday. The restaurant is right on the beach and has a seaside ambience, with liberal use of blue and white. We were greeted warmly by co-owner Catia, here with Angelo, and received great service throughout. We started with an “aperitivo”: From L-R: • corn wafer tubes stuffed with fresh cheese • mozzarella in carozza • prawn “cotoletta” with mustard • parmesan/sesame sticks • passion fruit sorbet on mango with mint We opted for the four-course antipasti tasting menu, which consisted of one raw and three cooked fish courses. First up was grilled calamari and octopus with nuts (i.a., hazelnuts, almonds, mais, and cece, I think), garnished lightly with lemon marmelade. This dish was quite delicate and light, though I found the inclusion of nuts somewhat unusual. Next was triglia (which Angelo tells me is mullet) with a vegetable gratinee, served with hazelnuts and a praline creme. Angelo, who professed to eating triglia as much as twice a week, pronounced this the best version he had ever eaten. This time, the use of nuts seemed to work well with the rather striking taste of the mullet. The crudo was canocchia, which appears to translate as mantis shrimp. I’d never had this before. It looked more like a large snail than a shrimp, and it had the texture more of fish than shrimp. I remember the dish being a bit briny, more pickled than ceviche. Last course was mazzancolle (like a crawfish, says Angelo) with black truffle. This was great. The crawfish was sweet and was well-matched with the truffles. We each had a pasta dish. Angelo had spaghetti con crostacei, which was unfortunately over-salted, as was my strigoli al nero de seppia, parmagiano, calamaretti pennini e basilico Angelo had a pinacolada for dessert. The next day, it was on to Fabriano to meet up with kellytree. I stopped off at Serra San Quirico to have lunch at La Pienella, which is actually located off the road leading into the hills above the town, about 3 km. My primo of tagliolini di farro with mushrooms was very nice, earthy and woody. For a main, I had guanciola di vitello with lentils and a roasted potato. I really liked the veal cheek. It was nice and fatty, braised just right. The lentils were cold, but the potato was seasoned great, with liberal use of butter. I drank a quarto of their house red: Lacrima di Morro d’Alba, which was a good, fruity match for the veal cheek. Onward to Fabriano. I met with kellytree at the Marchese del Grillo, where I stayed at her recommendation and can now whole-heartedly recommend further. Although they have a very nice-looking restaurant, she decided we should go into town. Our first stop was an osteria/enoteca, where we were joined by Kelly’s friend Karl and his friend Alana, both from Dublin. The ice was quickly broken, and we moved on to dinner at Osteria Fricandò, where Kelly is obviously a welcome regular. She and owner Daniele worked out our meal. The antipasto was ample, diverse and very good. The lardo-ish bruschetta was my fav. We shared three pasta dishes: ricotta ravioli with a nut sauce, maltagliati with a sauce I can’t recall, and tagliatelle with truffles. We all were having a blast, so we moved on for drinks at the local communist bar. We closed it, then went back to Fricandò for more. It was a memorable evening. From Fabriano I made my way to Camerino and was sorely disappointed. I made the gruelling drive in the dark out toward Matelica to Il Giardino degli Ulivi, only to find it closed (I know, I know). Back in Camerino, everything was shuttered by 8:00, including the Osteria dell’Arte, recommended by Marche Voyager. I ended up eating a lousy meal in a hotel in the old city. Amandola, my next stop, wasn’t much better. I did go down that afternoon to Ascoli, and I stopped in at Anisetta Meletti, a beautiful café on the Piazza del Popolo. I skipped the anisette and had several glasses of their delicious house amaro. At a local’s recommendation, I had dinner just outside Amandola, into the Sibellini Park, at Benito. Friday night. 8:30. No patrons, just the owner, a bored server, and a cook anxious to go home. I was surprised to find both risottino and veal con tartufo bianchi. However, I guess they felt they could pawn off black truffles on the tourist instead (judging from the truffle poster across from my table, they were nero d’estate). I was too tired and too lacking in Italian to complain. In working off the frustration at a bar near my hotel, I did discover the magic of Varnelli, another regional, anise-based liquor. I was planning on staying two nights in Amandola, but I decided instead to take kellytree up on her invite to a party at her house outside Fabriano, near the Grotte di Frasassi. Her house was rockin’ when I arrived, as part of the party was her son’s 11th birthday celebration. In addition to snacks and cakes, she’d prepared several terrific panini. But my fav was her polenta with mushroom sauce, baked in her outdoor bread oven (NB: the photo does not do this dish justice). Sunday I made my way to Macerata, a quaint university town. This time, I called ahead for a table at Da Secondo, recommended by Marche Voyager. Curiously, the menu is roughly half fish, but I was informed that no fish was being served that night. A good sign, I guess. Amuse were olive fritta all’ascolana. This regional speciality is really delicious. The local salumi antipasto was also excellent. Primo was ricotta raviolini with crema di tartufo (here, the waiter made a point of saying the truffles were black). The sauce was rich, of course, but a tad under-seasoned. For my main, I wanted the lombetto di vitello con capellini di porcini. I ordered “lombetto” and got a plain ole veal steak. An impetus to learn the language. Still, it was well-seasoned and good. The 2003 Rosso Piceno Saladini Pilastri was very nice and paired well with the veal. Monday, I returned to Ancona and met up with Angelo again. He first took me to Jesi to visit the Enoteca Regionale Marchigiana, which sells wine from something like 600 different growers. It’s located next to a cooking school where an eG’er had studied (forgotten who, sorry). This shop is definitely worth a trip. (When I returned to Philly, I stopped by my local wine merchant, Moore Brothers, to purchase some verdicchio and learned that their Italy buyer had just returned from Jesi and really dug the Enoteca). For dinner, I wanted to try the local Ancona speciality stoccafisso, made from salt cod yet supposedly somewhat different than baccala. Angelo had heard that the one of the best versions can be had at Gino, across from the train station, so we headed there. Expectations were heightened when we discovered that on their wall they proudly display their “recommended” status for stoccafisso. The dish is hearty and flavorful, seasoned merely with rosemary, S&P, maybe a little garlic and perhaps some anchovies, with a bit of tomato added for body. Served with boiled potatoes, this is a great winter dish. The fish is firm and flaky – I believe the waiter said it’s “wetter” than baccala. So while I made a dent in southern Marche, there’s certainly much more to explore. I did make it to Grottamare but couldn’t find anything open on a Saturday afternoon. San Benedetto del Tronto undoubtedly deserves a visit. Then there’s the northern part of the province. Thanks to all who made recommendations I missed; I hope to get to them soon. Special thanks to Angelo and kellytree for making my trip memorable.

Yeah, anal cinghiale Angelo's even more of a food stylist: he made me take my fork off the plate of stoccofisso for that pic I'm back in Philly. What a great time! Report w/pics should be out by this weekend. But in the interim, I wanted to say thanks to Angelo for a great beginning and ending to my trip. Angelo is a terrific host, and I encourage any eGer passing near Ancona to contact him. I also owe a big shout out to Kelly, the Den Mother of Fabriano. Upon entering her town alongside the striking Grotte di Frasassi, I was reminded of Dante: "Before me things create were none, save things Eternal, and eternal I endure. All hope abandon, ye who enter here." I was fortunate to have found my Virgil in Kelly (she herself counts a Virgilio among her friends), but there was little hope in getting out of town without a hangover. Kelly arranged one great evening in Fabriano and was also kind enough to include me in a kick-ass party at her home. More later...

Does Wells sell to the public at the plant off Delaware Ave? ← Yep, although they don't really publicize it. Enter the building through the loading dock on, I think, Fishtown St. (going north on Delaware, it's the hard left, with Frankford Ave. being the soft left). Usually, no one pays you no nevermind, so just go upstairs to the office. They'll ask you what you want. Most of the time, they're nice enough to take five minutes to work with you in between taking retail orders. I once had a dry-aged rib roast that was out of this world. The only problem? You shouldn't expect to receive the precise (or even approximate) weight ordered for a small order. They usually say, "You'll get it how they cut it." I now expect to get more than I really want. Here's a little info on their aging process.

I'll bite: The Asian markets at 6/Washington and 11/Washington. The (seasonal, of course) farmers' markets at Headhouse Square and South/Passyunk. The fish distribution center off Packer Avenue (particularly Samuels and Sons). George Wells for dry-aged beef. Assouline & Ting for, inter alia, caviar/roe.

OK, I was sorta not into the Middle Eastern focus of Anise, but after reviewing their current menus again, I'll do it, Lesley. As for Les Chevres, I'm just a bit averse to vegetarian restaurants, though they apparently do offer several non-veg items. Still, any comments about Chez l’Épicier? Cube? Anything else current? Too bad about La Bastide.

Thank you to all for the recommendations! I leave in three days for what is now assured to be a fine tour. I'll be meeting kellytree in Fabriano and Angelo in Ancona. Ah, the blessings of eGullet! I'll be sure to report once I return.

I’m returning to your fair city for another round of eating. Thanks to all for your generous assistance in making my last visit an unqualified success, as I wrote here. Now, Mom and I are returning for four days, culminating in New Year’s Eve at La Chronique, which we both thought was top-notch last time. Other than that, I’d like not to repeat the same restos. Here’s my thinking, culled from recent eG postings, and I’d welcome your feedback: • Chez l’Épicier. This looks like a wonderful place and has gotten pretty solid reviews. Is Godbout still cooking there? Do they have a website? • Cube. Also looks excellent, but I recall some grumblings and mumblings about the place. • Le Club des Pins. Looks pretty good, in a brasserie sorta way, even if somewhat straightforward. • La Bastide. Has gotten good response. Is this a Basque place, or just -influenced? Website? • I’m really interested in sampling your French cuisine, so Cavalli and Bice are out, right? And what about Bronte? Also Italian? A montrealfood.com review makes it sound kinda fusion-ish. • Anise doesn’t appear to be my style, nor does Les Chevres. There seems to be a significant difference of opinion about Laloux. My first choice of destination – Toque! – is unfortunately closed from pre-Christmas to post-New Year. I could of course go back to Brunoise, which was excellent last time. Any comments about these, or other, restaurants would be much appreciated.

Angelo: Thank you for your well-considered recommendations. Looks like I'll be meeting up with kellytree in Fabriano. She has some firm ideas, so perhaps I can get to La Pianella for lunch. Does the veal guanciola have guanciale in it? I'm not familiar with the dish. As for the Matelica reco, do you mean Il Giardino degli Ulivi? I had this on my list from Michelin, and it looks a good choice. I'll look into Il Passetto when I arrive Ancona next week. If it's closed on Mondays, I'll drop you a line at your website for other ideas, if I may. Thanks again. And welcome to eGullet!

Thanks kellytree. Marchese del Grillo was certainly on my list. Marche Voyager mentions La Pergola as their fav in Fabriano. Any thoughts? Trattoria da Martello sounds very intriguing and I believe I'll give it a try. BTW: Angeli di Rosora is only 7 km from Le Busche (*) in Montecarotto. Do you, or does anyone else, have any information on this restaurant? Thank you MMerrill and Ore for the southern coastal recs. Perhaps I'm laboring under a misconception, but I figure the seaside during the offseason isn't very interesting, and for that reason I'm heading inland. Not to say that I haven't read very interesting things about San Benedetto del Tronto and Grottamare: for instance, Mario Battali (typically hyperbolically) considers those two towns to house among the best of Le Marche's restaurants. Am I wrong to omit them just because it's December?

I’ll be in southern Marche for one week, in early December. Itinerary is: ● Ancona: I arrive on November 30 and have a reservation at Uliassi ● Fabiano ● Camerino ● Amandola (for the weekend, two nights): considering trekking to a meal at Emilio in Casabianca ● Macerata (Sunday night) ● Ancona (Monday night) I’ve researched Michelin, Marche Voyager, and the Le Marche in November thread. Restaurants that sounded intriguing include Pipo e Gabriella in Sant' Angelo in Potano, Oscar e Amorina in Piane di Montegiorgio, Ristorante al Girarrosto in Loro Piceno, and Tornasacco in Ascoli Piceno. Also, I’ll be back in Ancona on a Monday night, making for limited dining options. Even though they’re probably not open, I’m not interested in going back to the Senigallia area for Madonnina d. P. or Symposium. Other than Uliassi or maybe Emilio, I’m more interested in the highlights of the cucina marchigiana. So, anyone got any southern Marche favs to recommend?

Not an oxymoron, but rather an institution (at least when referring to Lafayette C.I.).

Excellent news! I've been going to Jovan's Place on York St. for my Serbian fix; 23/Kater's closer. BTW: Jovan's dad is a butcher and is known for his suckling pigs. The resto offer a great cevapcic, plus cutlets as big as a catcher's mitt. Hope the Balkan will brave to offer us yocals regional fare. Isn't goulash Hungarian?

I was back in HH in June for 10 days and had a number of terrific meals, including Poletto (Germany's only * kitchen run by a woman), Tafelhaus (*), and Stocker. I've been meaning to post reviews and hope to do so soon. In general, though, I found that the quality and diversity of high-end dining in Hamburg is approaching that of Berlin, but it's less expensive in Hamburg. Berlin prices are nightmarish. I don't think Hamburg is a particularly remarkable place during the holidays. Lübeck is certainly a better choice up North. If you're in Munich around Christmas, you might consider a trip to Oberammergau, a jewel of a city that stages the famous Passion Play once every five years. While I've never been there at Christmastime, I can imagine it would be quite magical.

Caribou Cafe? Not the largest tables, but the upstairs area may offer a bit of shelter from the bustle.