Eating the Boot: A Grand Tour of Italy

[tupac17616]

yikes, way behind...

Florence

Beautiful city. This was the first city in which I didn't find myself constantly compelled to rely on public transportation. Most of the sites, or in my case, the restaurants, are but a short stroll away, so I walked everywhere. I cionveniently talked my way into a single room for €30/night, so I stayed for a full week to explore the city. In a different, but no less spectacular, way than Rome, this city has such a rich history. I loved seeing the the former home of Dante (easily my favorite poet, regardless of the fact that I'm not exactly the most well-read engineer you'll ever meet). And if you looked closely, there were these inconspicuous signs all over the place: "In this house lived ___", and you could fill in the blank with an important historical figure, whether it was Galileo, or Rossini, or whomever. Really interesting. Also, I'll be the first to admit, I'm not an art guy. I can appreciate it, sure. But ignorance is not bliss in this case. It's frustrating, not knowing who is who and what is what. But Florence was easy to appreciate regardless. The Uffizi, especially, just blew me away. And as skeptical as I was, I must admit David was pretty friggin cool. Yes, this is a tourist city, through and through. There is no question I heard at least as much English as Italian, but that is to be expected, I suppose. So at times, the city can feel more like a resort than a part of Italy, but it's an experience I was very glad to have nonetheless. It was certainly a "must-see", given that this is my first time in Italy. And one final note, before I move on to the food: the regional Miss Universe Italia competition, free and open to the public, was in the Piazza del Mercato the night before I left. Right place. Right time. Now, some food talk...

[tupac17616]

gelato

Finally. A city that could stand up to Palermo when it comes to gelato. The other cities I'd visited had had their high points, to be sure, but as far as consistency goes, I was starting to fear I had unfortunately saved the best for first. Luckily, though, I found the gelato in Firenze, to be a wonderful thing. Here's where I went:

Badiani

Viale dei Mille 20r, 055/578682

Riso. Babà. Cioccolato con Peperoncino. I read about this place in a NYT article that was pinned up in a pastry shop I visited one afternoon there in Florence. It was a trek, on foot, from the centro storico. But the selection of flavors was very interesting, the gelato creamy, and the flavors fairly pure. Maybe not worth the trip, but well worth a stop if you find yourself in the area.

Vivoli

Via Isole delle Stinche 7r, 055/292334

Il famoso. This is the first place mentioned when "gelato" and "Florence" are mentioned in the same sentence. Sometimes, such reputations can lead to high expectation and eventual disappointment. But this place delivered. Fichi. Pistacchio. Riso. Even kindly capped off with a little assaggio, or taste, or pere al caramello. Each flavor was fantastic. I would be hard-pressed to choose a favorite among them. The clarity of the flavor was phenomenal. One minute I was eating fresh roasted pistachios, and the next biting into chewy rice grains or fresh figs. The pear and caramel flavor, too, did not disappoint. Good stuff. Definitely among the best on the trip. (I'll have to do a "best-of" round-up at the end of this trip, I think)

Vestri

Borgo Albizi 11r, 055/2340374

I read about this chocolate shop and gelateria in my guidebook, and then later on the Divina Cucina site. I wanted cioccolato al peperoncino, apparently the only way I'll touch chocolate gelato, but they hadn't prepared it yet that day, so I decided to go with cioccolata bianca con le fragole (white chocolate with fresh strawberries) and pistacchio. The texture was outstandingly creamy, the flavors pure. I would certainly go back. Very good.

Carabé

Via Ricasoli 60r, 055/289476

This one disappointed. I read about in the Bon Appetit Rome/Florence/Venice issue from some time last year (the very magazine that I eventually lost on my way from Siena. ..and if anyone has this issue and could pass along the Venice recs, I would be indebted to you for life!). They specialize in all things Sicilian. Cassata, granita, gelato in brioche. Needless to say, my hopes were high for this one. But it disappointed. Not in a granita mood, I opted for a cone of pistacchio, mandorla (almond), and nocciola (hazelnut). The former two nuts are big exports from the island of Sicily, so I figured they were safe choices. All three flavors, though, were icey, though, and the flavors were practically indistinct. Ah well, can't win 'em all.

Gelateria dei Neri

Via dei Neri 20-22r, 055/210034

I don't recall where I first read about this one, but the name kept popping up, so I figured it was worth a try. It was. Good stuff. Good selection of flavors, too. I went with pinolo (pine nut), pesca (peach) e amaretto, and cioccolato con pistacchio e peperoncino. All three flavors were nice, but the last one was a knockout. Just the right punch of spice in the back of the throat, a little crunch from the pistachio, the rich chocolate. Very nice combo. Good show.

Caffé delle Carrozze

Piazza del Pesce 3-5, 055/2396810

This one I read about on Divina Cucina. Right off the Ponte Vecchio, I had scary visions of €7 cones to take advantage of the defenseless tourists like myself. Alas, all was well, as the prices were fine. The selection of flavors was pretty basic, with maybe 12 or so choices. But my coppetta of amarena (black cherry) and frutti di bosco (berries, or "fruits of the forest"), was quite tasty, and the latter was especially refreshing on such a hot day. A nice stop before or after a stroll through the Uffizi.

Gelateria La Carraia

Piazza N. Sauro 25r

I read about this one in that same Bon Appetit issue. This, I think, was actually my first gelato stop in Florence. Very solid. One of the best on the trip. Oh-so-creamy texture, so perhaps not for those looking for heightened clarity of flavor. But texture trumped flavor for me this time. I had ricotta con fichi, pistacchio and fior di latte. It tasted a bit sweeter than some of the others, but not overly so. Definitely a place I would go back to.

Perché No

Via dei Tavolini 19r, 055/2398969

The last stop on a grand tour of Florence gelato, this was a good one. I read about it on Divina Cucina. It's very centrally located, so a nice stop before or after practically any of the major tourist sites. I had cassata siciliana, with tiny chunks of candied fruits, along with amaretti (the delicious kind-of gingersnap cookies), and cannela e meringa (cinnamon with bits of crunchy meringue). All pretty good. Nothing incredible, but a good option in the area.

Grom

Via del Campanile angolo Via delle Oche, 055/216158

I'd try it in New York, and wasn't floored, but I figured hey, why not. The prices here were about half what they were in NYC, so it was like getting a good thing on sale. Besides, even with my self-imposed gelato-no-more-than-once-a-day rule, they had granita, so I was safe. A nice small cup of granita di mandorla brought me right back to Sicily. Really tasty. Hell, I may get some (here in Torino) right now. I've had gelato today, but no granita yet...

[tupac17616]

enoteche

Perhaps it has more than a little to do with Tuscany's wines, but Florence has more than it's fair share of wine bars, of which I sampled several.

I Fratellini

Via dei Cimatori 38r, 055/2396096

Easily one of the coolest places I ate and drank in Florence. I read about it in Bon Appetit. Literally maybe 10 ft, it would be easy to walk right by, were it not for the line extending across the street. A large varieties of panini, on fresh warm rolls with very nice ingredients. And a selection of wines, most of which are about €2/glass. I had a porchetta panino and a glass of Brunell di Montalcino for €6.50. So nice.

Frescobaldi

Via dei Magazzini 2-4r, 055/284724

A nice plate of mixed Tuscan salumi, and a plate of formaggio. I really enjoyed one cheese called latteria, which I'd not seen before. A bit nutty like Parmigiano, but younger. Delicious. A glass of Chianti, too, and I was out the door for €20.

Fuori Porta

Via dei Monte alle Croci 10r, 055/2342483

A little out of the way, this place has a pretty large wine list (I'm not qualified to speak of its quality, of course.). Along with a plate of fusilli con melanzana (eggplant), noci (walnuts) e ricotta and a very tasty dish of verdure al forno (roasted vegetables) , I had a glass of Bolgherri Carranza, which I didn't particularly care for. But hey, you don't know until you try, and the food was good anyway, so I was happy. €19 was the total here.

Le Volpi e l'Uva

Piazza de' Rossi 1, 055/2398132

After hiking up to Piazzale Michelangelo, back down, then up to Fortezza del Belvedere, and back down, this was a place to refuel. A tiny schiacciatina, or little sandwich, with tuna and capers. A glass of vernaccia di San Gimignano, which I found among the better white wines I've tried on the trip. (Though I'm turning more and more into a red wine guy by the day.) €7.

Coquinarius

Via delle Oche 15r, 055/2302153

Just wine on this stop, though their menu did look pretty good and the portions more than generous. A glass of Rosso di Montepulciano, and I was on my way. €4.

Enoteca Ponte Vecchio

Corso dei Tintori 21r, 055/2466848

A good friend I'd made in Rome introduced me to the owner here, and suggested I stop by one day to taste a few wines. That morning I had a tasting of 5 different wines - Chianti Classico, two Sangiovese wines from Tuscant, Barbera d'Asti, and the oh-so-nice Barolo. The owner is a very nice guy, and has clearly chosen his wines with a great deal of care. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the Santa Croce area.

[tupac17616]

il trippaio

No visit to Florence, at least no food-lover's trip to Florence would be complete without them. The good old tripe stands. Though perhaps not having quite the same charm as the pot-bellied, gruffy-bearded vendors selling spleen sandwiches in Palermo, these stands no doubt have their merits. I'm pretty sure, in fact, that even offal-fearing people would find their products delicious, assuming they had no idea what they were eating, of course. I only ended up stopping at three, but each was delicious and I'll certainly explore others on subsequent trips.

Nerbone

Mercato Centrale

Had to do it. So much hype here on eGullet abuot the bollito panino, how could I not? Boiled beef. Crusty roll. Salsa verde. And of course plenty of hot sauce. Simple ingredients. Great combination. Juicy. Spicy. Flavorful. Nice. Breakfast of champions. €2.50.

Tripperia Pier Paolo e Sergio

camped out in front of Trattoria Cibreo

When you see a simple street vendor decked out with Slow Food stickers all over the front, you know you're in a good place. Their special that day was lampredotto al sugo con fagioli, or the classic Florentine intestines, dressed with a spicy tomato sauce and cannellini beans, all inside a hollowed-out crusty roll. This sandwich was incredible. Well worth the mere €2.30 I paid for it.

Antica Tripperia di Piazza Alighieri

This time I needed to try the classic. Lampredotto bollito. Boiled intestines -- mm mm good. Half of the roll dunked in the cooking juices. Generous ladles of salsa verde and red hot sauce. Dear God, that's a great marriage of ingredients. I had no idea then, and I still don't, what kind of intestines I was eating. But frankly, it doesn't matter. I know the texture bothers some people, especially with honeycomb tripe, but this lampredotto was just about perfect for me. Slightly chewy, yet still with a nice meaty-ness. One of the best sandwiches of the trip. €3.

[tupac17616]

Quick Bites: Caffè/Bar/Pasticcerie/Alimentari/Mercati

Florence, like any other Italian city, certainly has no shortage of places to stop in and have a light snack or a drink. Walking around as much as I did, I ended up wandering into quite a few. I quite enjoyed a mid-afternoon stop at Procacci, Via Tornabuoni 64r, for their famous panini tartufati, tiny sandwiches with spreadable truffle deliciousness. I had one with just the truffle spread, and one with the same spread and a thin slab of foie gras. Very tasty, and €1.60 each. At Robiglio, Via dei Servi 112r, I saw the same sandwiches, and knew I had to have one. Tasty, if perhaps not as good as Procacci. I also had a paradisina, which was essentially a plain thin yellow cake. Not particularly amazing, though finding dry-ish cakes in Italy seems to be the norm, not the exception. All the better to have with a glass of vin santo, I suppose, though I'm not really such a fan of foods that cry out so loudly for a drink.

At Caffè Giocosa - Roberto Cavalli, Via della Spada 10, everyone, it seemed, was too cool for school. So perhaps I didn't quite fit in, but hey, the cappuccino and tiny cornetto, or croissant, were both tasty nonetheless. As if I'd not been in-between visits to enotecas already, I deciced to stop into Riviore, Via Vacchereccia 4r, one afternoon for their house aperitivo. Essentially a negroni with some other ingredients added, it was strong but pretty tasty.

Many afternoons, I was content to stop into a salumeria or cheese shop to grab a bite for lunch, or a mid-afternoon snack. At Salumeria Verdi, Via Verdi 36r, I stopped in for a wedge of foccacia and a couple of slices of porchetta. The fact that the porchetta was refrigerated should've been enough for me to know it wouldn't be amazing, but what can I say, I'm an optimistic dude, and porchetta sounded good. While the meat wasn't anything special, the foccacia was good. Maybe a little chewier than I prefer it, but the flavor was very nice. Couldn't say the same for the schiacciata con olio from Forno de' Ghiotti, Via S. Egidio 49r. Foccacia by any other name, as far as I was concerned. But it was a bad combination of thick, chewy, dry and crunchy, all at the same time. And the taste was pretty much non-existent aside from all the oil. But eh, what can ya do? It turns out that you can go to Divina Cucina's website and see where she would have you go. So another day, I headed to Forno Bruschi Ivana, Via dell Ariento 21r, where the bread was quite good. I had a roll with rosemary and grapes, and a walnut roll, both of which were very tasty. I would certainly return there.

Sicily it's not, but I managed to have some pretty good sweets in Florence as well. The tiny Dolci e Dolcezze, Piazza Beccaria 8r, had beautiful looking tarts and cakes on display, and my little tart of budino di riso, rice pudding, was delicious. The tart crust, especially, was perfect. At Gilli, Piazza della Repubblica 39, dessert one night was an amaretto (the cookie, not the drink ), a small cookie with pinoli e pasta di mandorla (pine nuts & almond paste), and a chocolate filled with balsamic vinegar. I especially liked the amaretto and the chocolate, even though I'm not typically a chocolate guy. At Gran Caffè San Marco, Piazza San Marco 11r, I had a parisina, I believe it was called. Basically a brioche roll filled with pastry cream. Pretty tasty, if not exactly the freshest. Probably my favorite stop for sweet in Florence, though, was I Dolci di Patrizio Cosi, Borgo Albizi 15r. This one was another recommendation from the Divina Cucina site. I had five small bignoline, or cream puffs: pistachio, chantilly, chocolate, zabaglione, and pastry cream. All delicious, and so fresh. I wished I could've sampled from more from them, but it was my last day in Florence, and I needed to save room for some bistecca that was in store for lunch.

Just as with every other city I've seen, I was excited to check out the food markets in Florence. I went to both the Mercato Centrale and the Mercato Sant'Ambrogio. The former was a huge, cavernous two-story indoor market. On the first floor, you could find meat, cheese, oil, vinegar, wine, bread, and specialty goods. The second floor was exclusively fruits and vegetables. Their was a vendor upstairs that sold seeminly every dried fruit and vegetable under the sun (no pun intended). I bought a huge assortment from him: strawberries, cherries, kiwi, orange, lemon, starfruit, passion fruit, bitter orange, fig, raisins, and even carrot and tomato. Many were too sugary, though I quite liked the tomatoes, which were an intriguing blend of sweet and savory at the same time. As well as the stop at Nerbone downstairs, which I already talked about above, I bought some tarantello di tonno from a vendor downstairs. Yes, I spent €20 on canned tuna. But hey, elsewhere I'd seen the same can for €24, and sometimes you have to spend money to save money, eh. I had gathered the day before that tarantello was similar to what I know as chu-toro, not as fatty as the o-toro, or tuna belly, but still full of flavor. One vendor claimed it was even more flavorful than the ventresca, while the other claimed the opposite. As usual, I couldn't decide between tarantello and ventresca (tuna belly), though, and I had never had either one, so I ended up buying both. The tarantello from the Mercato Centrale, and the ventresca from Pegna, an awesome food shop on Via dello Studio 26r. Their selection of imported goods is wonderful, and they also had some nice meats and cheeses, of which I sampled a little prosciutto toscano and pecorino toscano on another afternoon. Definitely a place I would return to sometime.

[tupac17616]

ristoranti

Trattoria 4 Leoni

Via Vellutini 1r, Piazza della Passera, 055/218562

Probably in all the guidebooks, but I heard about this place in Bon Appetit. One of the few good-sounding places open on Sunday, I was happy to find it. I would certainly say it lived up to its reputation. Very solid meal. I had the insalata quattro leoni to start, which had arugula, pine nuts, avocado, and pesto. Slightly too bitter for my tastes, perhaps, but still very tasty. Then a primo of strigoli piccanti, I was hoping it would live up to its name and be more spicy, but it was good nonetheless, and a little dose of added peperoncino bumped the spice up nicely. Then, the gran fritto, one of their specialties: fried chicken, rabbit, and vegetables. This was a knockout, definitely the best dish of the night, and one of the better dishes of the trip, in fact. Very nice dinner for €27.

Il Latini

Via dei Palchetti 6r, 055/210916

This place, too, is about as far from undiscovered as a restaurant can possibly be. I'm absolutely certain there was not an Italian in the dining room that evening. They have a printed menu, supposedly, though it's never shown to anyone, I'm sure. A waiter just makes his way to your table to begin the interrogation. "You like prosciutto? Good. Melon? No? Okay, some finocchiona, too, then." And so on. After some back and forth conversation to make sure he knew I was hungry, the following was brought forth: Prosciutto, finocchiona, and an absolutely phenomenal panzanella di farro, with tomatoes, onion, and farro. Then, a soup of farro and white beans, also very good. A thick, juicy beef fillet cooked rare as requested. And contorno of zucchini and tomatoes. Nothing on the dessert menu sound good? No problem. Everyone gets cantucci (biscotti) and vin santo. And hey, we're all friends, right? Have some moscato d'asti, too. The price, I'm convinced, changes with the mood of the jolly, plump owner, which is fortunately, it seems, consitently a very happy one. He came over to my table, thought for a second, smiled, and decided €40 would be my tariff that night. Fine by me. Touristy environment, for sure, but the food was more than worth it.

Da Rocco

Mercanto Sant'Ambrogio

Inside the market, this tiny place has booth if you want to sit, or a take-out counter if not. This place has many of the Florentine trattoria staples, at prices that are very, very easy on the wallet. I had a portion of pappa al pomodoro, the typical bread and tomato soup, as well as trippa alla fiorentina, for a mere €6.20. The quality, too, was pretty good, I thought. Certainly a wonderful lunch option, as they are not open for dinner.

Osteria de' Benci

Via de' Benci 11-13r, 055/2344923

This place pissed me off, so take this review with a grain of salt. I had walked by one afternoon, and seen the menu touting real Chianina beef, the local cattle breed whose meat should be the only kind used for a real traditional bistecca alla fiorentina. The price, too, at least for the meat, seemed quite reasonable, at €37/kg for the Chianina. So, I decided to give it shot one night. Their menu has the traditional Florentine basics, if at slightly higher than normal prices. But it also has many more non-traditional dishes, such as spaghetti cooked in red wine, for instance. I selected one of these to start: riso alle fragole. Risotto with strawberries, cream, and parmigiano-reggiano. Great idea for the summer time, I thought. I enjoyed it, and will certainly make it at home sometime, though with some modifications. To me, it need a little bite of acidity to lift the flavors a bit, so I would add just the slightest drizzle of balsamic vinegar to finish it. And I would also put a few liberal cracks of black pepper throughout, as the combination of strawberries, balsamic, and black pepper is something I find to work very nicely. Always good to find inspiration for things to cook at home, while dining in a restaurant, I was happy with the start. Then, of course, I wanted the bistecca alla fiorentina, made the real Chianina beef. Oh, I'm sorry sir, the minimum is 1.5kg (!!!). I've seen places where the minimum is 1kg, and frankly, I'm fine with that. But 1.5kg. That, to me, is a little extreme. Even though I had no doubt I could eat it, I wasn't about to spend almost €60 on a steak way bigger than I even wanted or needed. Not to worry, they said, as I could still have a regular bistecca fiorentina, minimum 700g, at €30/kg. At this point, there wasn't much I could do, so I said sure, why not. Their menu, meanwhile, has this whole paragraph-long spiel about how they source their meat so carefully, and only serve it "BLOODY." I was fine with this, happy about it in fact, as I like my steaks quite rare. I asked for it very very very rare, practically raw. When it arrived, though, I figured their butcher must be drunk, as it's one of the most uneven cuts of steak I had ever seen. Way thicker in some parts than in others. I took the first bite. Well done. Second bite. Well done. I cut into the thickest part I could find. Maybe medium. I wasn't okay with this, so I tried to have it replaced. I'm not exactly fluent, but the waiter knew good and well what I wanted, and he tried his best to make it happen, but the cook wouldn't have it. He brough my steak back out, flaunting a piece of meat he'd cut from the thickest part, yelling "crudo, crudo". "Raw"? Hah. Try again, my friend. That's more like medium well, maybe medium if we're being generous. But he wouldn't budge. If they cooked another one, he said, it would end up exactly the same. At that point, there was nothing I could do, but bear this guy's idiocy, eat my crappy overcooked steak, pay the bill and leave. I wouldn't go back here if you paid me. The bill, for what it's worth, was €37.

Trattoria Cibrèo (a.k.a. Cibrèino)

Via dei Macci 122r, 055/2341100

This is the no-reservations, waaaay cheaper, mostly-the-same-menu little brother of the famous Cibrèo. This was exactly the kind of restaurant one always hopes for, but so rarely finds, when a restauranteur opens up a less formal place. The food here, to me, was phenomenal. You could clearly tell that it was coming out of a serious kitchen. It was more nuanced than the food you'll find in any typical trattoria. The clarity of the flavors and quality of ingredients, too, were top notch. I started with the chef's famous cold tripe salad. Thin, almost shaved, slices, mixed with parsley, red onion, carrot, garlic, peperoncino, vinegar, black pepper, olive oil, and perhaps a squeeze of lemon juice, I think. Just fabulous. They do not serve pasta here, but the polenta, prepared simply with parmigiano-reggiano, herbs, and butter, quickly made you forget all about that. My secondo was sgombro, which I believe is mackerel, served raw and dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, and laid atop a mound of extremely finely minced celery. Oh, how I had been craving raw fish. It had been far, far too long. This was very tasty. At this point, the quality was so good, I figured hey, why not throw in a cheese course, too. So I had a selection of five cheeses, one of which was especially good, although neither of the two staff working the front of the house that night knew the name of it. Dessert was a bavarese con fragole, essentially a vanilla custard with a luscious strawberry sauce poured on top. Very good. I had five courses here, with the house red wine, for €43. That, my friends, is a steal.

Trattoria Mario

Via Rosina 2r, 055/218550

Only open at lunch, this simple trattoria near the Mercato Centrale is often packed, with a line of people waiting on the sidewalk. Since I was solo, I got a spot right away, sharing a table with two English people and their Italian friend. I had one of my summertime favories, panzanella, the bread and tomato salad. They went a little overboard with the big pieces of raw red onion in this version, but picking many of those out left a very tasty dish behind. I also had a dish of peposa, basically stewed beef that is supposed to be laced with lots of black pepper, hence the name. It wasn't too peppery, but it was pretty tasty. No wine this time, just water, but I was in and out for €14. Not bad at all.

Cammillo

Borgo San Jacopo 57r, 055/212963

Enthusiatically recommended both here on eGullet and by an Italian guy I spoke to in Florence ("Non è per i turisiti, è per i fiorentini," he said to me), I figured it would be a good spot to try. I found the food to be okay, but the pricin quite inflated. For an antipasto, I had pecorino e balsamico brulee. A very cool idea. Just a (TINY! ) wedge of pecorino, drizzled with balsamic vinegar, and then torched to crispy goodness on top, just as you would a creme brulee. The taste was good, and I'll certainly do this at home sometime, but for €11, clearly, I had just been taken to the cleaner's. For my secondo, I had osso buco con funghi porcini, braised veal shank with porcini mushrooms. I see the osso part, but where is the buco, man? Their wasn't any beloved marrow for me to clean out. Very disappointing. The flavor was okay, but nothing special. For a side, I had fiori di zucca fritti, just battered and fried zucchini flowers. Subtle and delicious as always, one of my favorite summertime treats. With this food, I had some of the house wine, of which I wasn't too fond. I paid the €47 tab and went elsewhere for dessert. The quality/price ratio was, to me, a little off here. I don't think I'd go back on my own dime.

Trattoria Sostanza

Via Porcellana 25r, 055/212691

This place was highly recommended here on eGullet for its bistecca fiorentina, many calling it not only the best in Florence, but the best they'd ever had, period. I had this bistecca, quite reasonably priced at €22. It was good, but nothing amazing. I also had a side of cannellini beans, which were pretty tasty. Couldn't tell you what the final bill was, as we had some wine, and the couple I ended up sitting with very kindly treated me. But the prices here, in general, are very reasonable, and the staff very kind and engaging, making for a very positive experience, even if the steak wasn't life-changing.

Ristorante Del Fagioli

Corso Tintori 47r, 055/244285

The last meal I had in Florence, this one ended things on a very positive note. I'd yet to have what I considered to be a great, or even very good, bistecca alla fiorentina, but I figured maybe the third time would be the charm. It was. They warned me of a 1kg minimum, but with the reasonable €30/kg price, I could easily deal with that. So they brought the meat. Juicy, rare, flavorful. Exactly the way it should be. I gnawed the bones until there was nothing else left to gnaw. That steak and a side of fagiolini, green beans, made a very tasty lunch for €37.

[ajgnet]

I'm getting more and more jealous everytime I read this. 

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Which part? The part about Tupac being skinny??? Sorry....I couldn't resist! We ALL wish we knew his secret!

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I've never met anyone who eats as much as Tupac and who remains as skinny! It's crazy. I remember him telling me about the first time he went to DiFara's in New York and "the pie" he enjoyed ... he literally meant the entire pie. Hope you're having a great time in Italy, Tupac! You've inspired me to put together something about my current adventures in Buenos Aires.

[tupac17616]

From Firenze, it was time to move north, albeit in a crooked and slow manner. My next two stops were just a quick ride away from Florence. The first was only for an afternoon, and the latter for a couple of days. Anyhoo, without further ado..

Pisa / Lucca

Pisa, in my opinion, has no character whatsoever. There. I said it. I liken it to Disneyland, a veritable United Nations of tourists from all around the world, but a nebulous identity that could easily find a home anyplace on the globe. In other words, it didn't really feel like Italy to me, if that makes any sense. The tower was pretty cool, though ridiculously expensive to climb (€15). The immense piazza with the duomo, tower, and baptistery was vibrant and green. But for me, beautiful lawns like that are meant for picnics, for lounging in the sun, for relaxing. The only relaxation you can have here is knowing that the carabinieri eventually grow tired of blowing their shrill whistles to shoo people away from the grass. Eventually, they just come up and yell instead. Thank goodness I didn't stay for more than an afternoon, as a stroll around town revealed nothing but the dreaded "menu turistico" translated in five languages. A guy's gotta eat, though, so I stopped at a deli called Guarnieri Laura, Via Santa Maria 145, for a panino. The kind old man working the counter was quite amused by my request for foccacia stuffed with prosciutto toscano, pecorino fresco con pesto, melanzana grigliata, carciofi sott'olio, and pomodori secchi. Sure made a tasty sandwich, though. And with all the vegetables - eggplant, artichoke, tomato - so healthy, too. Although I also searched for a gelato spot, nothing really appealed to me. (I admit, I am a picky mofo. God forbid I just walk into any random place for ice cream.) I did pick up a small meringue stuffed with cream from Bagnani, Borgo Stretto 4, for a sweet snack. A bit too sweet, but probably was to be expected given the combo, I suppose.

Lucca, by contrast, I quite liked (and I promise I wasn't swayed by the immediate sight of two porchetta trucks near the train station!). I'm finding as I go along that I seem to enjoy the medium-sized cities, neither too big or too small. Siena, minus the slightly excessive element of tourism, had this feel. Lucca did as well.

Dinner the first night was at Locanda Buatino, a place outside the city walls, but less than a 10-min walk from my hostel. It was, I believe, a Bib Gourmand choice (though I've remained too cheap to actually buy the Michelin guide to be sure ). To say the prices here were fair is an understatement. Finally, a trattoria where you're not just paying less for less, if that makes any sense. The quality for the price was great, I thought. I had panzanella al sapore del mare, the traditional bread-and-tomato salad kicked up a bit by the addition of tiny calamari, mussels, and clams. Quite good. Then coniglio alla cacciatore con polenta e olive. I'm not normally an olive guy, but with this rabbit, prepared "hunter's style", they worked just right. And polenta is something I've had far too little of on this trip. (Too much time in the south, I suppose!). Very good, and a mere €15 for the meal.

Lunch the next day was at Trattoria Da Leo, Via Tegrimi 1. This place had come highly recommended by the gentleman I'd spoken to at the hostel. Along with Buatino, he said, probably one of the better trattorie in the city, and very popular with the locals. I started with a bowl of minestra di farro lucchese, a red bean and farro soup that was as filling as it sounds. Pretty good, though the Texan in me was crying out inside for a side of cornbread. My secondo was vitello tonnato, poetically translated on the menu as "veal scallop with tuna fish cream". Doesn't that sound tasty? I was not such a fan. Admittedly, it was the first time I'd tried that dish, though I've tried it a few times since, and I must say, I just don't get it. Even in the Piemonte region, where the local veal was sublime, the combination just didn't do much for me. But hey, you don't know until you try, right? This meal, too, was nice and cheap. €14.

Dinner that night was one of the better meals of the trip so far, at Bucadisantantonio, Via della Cervia 3. My guidebook deemed this place a Fodor's Choice, supposedly among the better "budget restaurants" (whatever that may mean) in Italy. I always take such recommendations with a grain of salt, of course, but the place seemed to be in several food guidebook as well, so I figured I would give it a shot. I'd reserved for 9pm, I think, and I strolled in a few minutes later. Hey, how are you doing? Good to see you again. (I'd stopped in that afternoon to check out the menu.) It'll just be five minutes. Five turned into ten, and ten into twenty. Soon, they brought out some prosecco and some assaggini, or little snacks, and apologized for the wait. No worries, I thought, as I sat there reading their copy of La Gola in Tasca, kind of the all-in-one Italian restaurant guidebook. I was shown to my table, and I ordered two courses. The antipasto was a tortina di ricotta e porri, a ricotta-and-leek tart, which was very tasty. Spotting the dishes brought to a nearby table, I developed some pasta envy, so I asked the waiter if I might add a small primo. Sure thing, he said, and soon came a dish of tortelli lucchesi al sugo, tender homemade pasta stuffed with a meat ragu. This was good, if not a step up from the antipasto, at least keeping pace with it. The secondo, too, was very good. A tender chunk of spit-roasted capretto, or baby goat, wrapped in its own fat, and served alongside a sformato di carciofi (artichokes) and roasted potatoes. None of the regular dessert options appealed to me. (Well, more accurately, I found them overpriced..) But I did have a very tasty €2 glass of Malvasia wine from Sicily, along with some housemade biscotti. For reasons unknown to me, they didn't charge me for the primo, and the meal, with a glass of red wine (Colline Lucchesi) came to €34. Pretty reasonable if you ask me.

Every area inevitably has their traditional sweets, and of course I sampled some of Lucca's. My first stop was at Buccellato Taddeuci, Piazza San Michele, which produces the namesake buccellato, an anise-and-raisin bread of sorts. Good flavor, but the bread certainly could have been fresher. Strolling down Via San Paolino, I saw the beautiful display of buccellato, tarts, cookies, and more at Panificio Chifenti, but ended up buying only a wedge of foccacia integrale. It had been way too long since I'd had whole wheat anything, and this scratched the itch nicely. From Pinelli, a bakery on Via Beccheria 28, one morning I had a treccia lucchese, the usual braided dough you see all over Italy (I'm going to assume treccia means braid, though I'm not sure), this time studded with chunks of candied fruit and given a thin glaze on top. Tasty. And no visit to a new city would be complete without some gelato, of course, so I went to Gelateria Veneta, Via Veneto 74, which I'd seen recommended in the Gambero Rosso gelato book. €2.50 buys you five tiny scoops (yes, they use scoopers not spades here ), so I chose fragole, stracciatella, tiramisu alla frutta, nutella, and torrone. Combining five gelato flavors, of course, is near impossible, but each one was pretty good on its own. My favorite was probably the strawberry.

[tupac17616]

After Tuscany, I had planned to move on to Emilia-Romagna. But wait! There is no plan for this trip, and a little foray into Liguria sounded good that day, so off to Cinque Terre I went. This (for once!) was one place I didn't go for the food. So many people I had run into during the course of this trip had recommended it that I figured I should check it out, as I was relatively close in Lucca. A few hours on the train, and I was in Riomaggiore. I found a place to sleep for the night, and I started the hike. The five-hour hike all the way from Riomaggiore to Monterosso al Mare, that is. This was mid-afternoon, in late July, so it goes without saying that it was blazing hot. I had fueled up with some very tasty foccacia topped with pesto, some cheese, and some fruit, But by the time I'd reached Corniglia, the middle town, I was beginning to get tired, and by the time I'd reached Vernazza, I was dehydrated in a major way. I stopped and literally chugged two liters of water in a matter of about a minute. Did I mention it was hot that day? Heheh. But there was no way I was going to stop there, so I moved along, figuring there had to be another one of the free beaches I'd been seeing between there and Monterosso al Mare. Just before I'd reached the final town, there it was. A steep little cliffside stairway down to the water. This would be my home for the next few hours. A dip in the water had never felt so good. I'd certainly earned this one. I swam, and lounged on the rocks for a while, before continuing on the center of Monterosso to take the train back to Riomaggior for dinner. Our hostel, surprisingly, had a kitchen, so I really wanted to cook. Luckily, little shop just up the block was still open at around 9pm, so I bought some stuff to cook. I had some coppa to snack on as I cooked, and I prepared some pasta with potatoes, green beans, tomatoes, garlic, and salsa di noci. Not exactly tradtional to the region, of course, but pretty tasty and filling, not to mention cheap. Even with an orange for dessert, I think the total bill was about €5. Nice.

The next day, I needed to get closer to the Piemonte region (I'll explain why later), so I headed up to Genova for a day. This city I found quite amusing. I thought no place could keep up with Naples in terms of dirtiness, but I seem to have found a worthy competitor. With its maze-like network of tiny vicolos, or alleys, this is not a city you necessarily want to be walking around in at night. During the day you see enough. On and around Via Dupré, for example, the streets were lined with prostitutes. And this was at 2 o'clock in the afternoon, so I can only imagine what it's like at night. I didn't have much energy for sightseeing, so I just checked out the Palazzo Reale, and walked around aimlessly the rest of the day. Before all this, though, as soon as I arrived, it was lunchtime. I'd read about Antica Osteria Vico Palla, Vico Palla 15r, in the Michelin guide, where it received a Bib Gourmand. I was pleased to see a menu so filled with fish after meat-heavy Tuscany. I started with the traditional Ligurian dish of pansoti con salsa di noci e pinoli. This was flat out fantastic. The best pasta dish of the trip up to that point. The velvety sauce, the handmade pasta, the tasty filling, everything was the perfect consistency and had wonderful flavor. Definitely a winner. Then I had the grigliata di scampi, gamberi S.M., e calamaretti. I'm not sure what was with the S.M. moniker for the shrimp, but they were wonderful. Juicy and cooked just right, as were the scampi and calamaretti. Unless they just look like chainsaws, 9 times out of 10, I eat the shells, and the shells of the jumbo shrimp, especially were very tasty. This meal cost €29, and was definitely worth it. A very nice lunch. So nice, in fact, that I actually returned that evening for a bowl of soup. The minestrone lucchese, had thick balls of pasta that were not unlike moghrabia (a.k.a. Israeli couscous), and was generously laced with a tasty pesto. Very tasty, I think this was about €8. Nice start to dinner.

After finding a hotel, I started to walk around, and stumbled upon Gelateria Profumo, Via Superiore del Ferro 4r, which looked very promising. My cone of pistacchio e fichi (what can I say, I am a sucker for those two flavors) was wonderful. Really great flavor, and texture, too. I would certainly go back there. On their business card, I noticed there is a pastry shop by the same name, so the next day, I visited Pasticceria Profumo, Via del Portello 2, where I bought some tiny sweets. Bacio di dama, a small cookie "kiss" filled with chocolate. A very tasty lemon tart. A chocolate mousse tart. And a pinoli tart. All very good, and very fresh. They made a great snack on the train to my next stop.

The second part of the dinner I mentioned earlier was at La Cantina di Colombo, Via di Porta Soprana 55r, which I'd found on the Gambero Rosso site. I had a plate of traditional Genovese pasta: trenette al pesto con fagiolini e patate. Long, thin, flat noodles served with dressed green beans, boiled potatoes, and pesto, Genova's main claim to culinary fame. The pasta was okay, but to me, the basil was a tad bitter and lacked the slight sweetness I tend to enjoy in fresh basil. But hey, for €8, I can deal with just "good".

As I walked around the city both days, I also grabbed some snacks here and there. At Pietro Romanegro Fu Stefano, Via Soziglia 74r, I had a bit of canded orange peel dipped in chocolate, and a piece of marzipan. At Foccaceria Luccoli, Via Luccoli 55/57, I had a really wonderul piece of plain foccacia. Very flavorful, soft, slightly chewy, quite good. From Sapore di Pane, Via Luccoli 30, I had a bocconcino al basilico, a small basil-flavored roll of bread, as well as a wedge of torta pasqualina, the vegetable pies so common in the region of Liguria. Both were pretty good, and I was glad to have tried another regional specialty I'd not had before.

[tupac17616]

Alba

Several people here on eGullet and elsewhere had asked me, how can you do a food-and-wine-focused trip to Italy, and not visit the Piemonte? How, indeed. I decided that with the area just a quick train ride away, and some friends arriving in Alba the following evening for dinner, it would be stupid not to go. The train from Genova to Alba was quick and uneventful. I played the normal search-for-a-hotel game once I arrived, and found what I'm certain was the cheapest spot in the city center. I settled in for a bit, showered, and headed out to explore the town.

The centro storico in Alba is basically made up of smaller streets that feed off of Via Vittorio Emmanuele. Walking down this street, one starts to notice that perhaps half of the stores in this town seem to be food and/or wine shops. The city's claim to fame, of course, is the prized white truffle. Pity that it wasn't September, October, or November to take part in their Truffle Festival, but I guess I'll just have to return. Darn. I couldn't leave town without getting something truffle-related. So I stopped into Tartufi Ponzio, Via Vittorio Emmanuele 26, to buy some sale con tartufi bianchi, white truffle salt. Half of the contents of my suitcase now smell like glorious white truffles, but I suppose this is the price one must pay.

On this trip, I'd brought along Frank Bruni's NYT article from, I believe, sometime last year pitting Emilia-Romagna vs. the Piemonte for the best food region in Italy. In the article, a place called Laboratorio di Resistenza Dolciaria, Via P. Ferrero 11, sounded very intriguing. It's only perhaps a 15-minute walk from the city center, and when I arrived, it looked like nothing. A small, nondescript candy-shop perhaps. The pastries mentioned in the article seemed to be non-existent. I stepped inside though, and started chatting with the woman working the counter, and eventually, with the owner himself. Federico Molinari knows his food, and knows his wine. He told me all about why the Barolo Chinato wine he uses in his very tasty crema di cioccolato al barolo chinato tastes the way it does. How the climate of the region affects the grapes, how the production process affects the flavor, and how the wine supposedly affects digestion (historically, the wine was used to cure stomach aches, apparently). He loves Sicilian desserts, he said, and always has. So he wanted to do something with marzipan, the almond paste so commonly found on that island. Almond don't grow as well in the Piemonte, he said, but hazelnuts, of course, do. He had me sample a wonderful tart he'd made with hazelnut paste and robiola cheese that is traditionally produced all over the region. "The cheese has a natural sweetness...nice, eh?", he said to me in Italian. Nice, indeed. I bought a good-sized wedge to share with the folks at dinner that evening, and it received praise all around. The owner, by the way, studied civil engineering in school, which I thought was very cool, considering I studied engineering as well. So maybe there are back doors into the food business, after all, eh.

Let's see, where else did I go? Ah, gelato. But of course. The first day, I stopped at Golosi di Salute, Piazza Rossetti 6. The name should have been enough to scare me away. Hell, all the signs about low-fat this and sugarless that should have, too. But the stuff looked pretty good, so I had a small cone of nocciola gelato, a very traditional flavor in the Piemonte considering how well the hazelnuts grow there. The gelato, I won't lie, was quite good. Very creamy, and very clear hazelnut flavor. I also saw that they had latte di nocciola, hazelnut milk. In Sicily, I'd had latte di mandorla, almond milk, and loved it. So I figured, hey, this must be good, too. Hah! Think again. A chalky, bland, completely unsweetened mess. Just nasty. I left most of it in the glass, after I'd re-tested to make sure it was in fact as terrible as the first taste had suggested. The following day, I also tried some gelato from Sacchero Gelato e Cioccolato, Via Vittorio Emmanuele 32. Unfortunately, gianduja gelato, the region's famous chocolate-hazlenut combo, tasted like plain chocolate to me. Not very good. Things were looking up, though, as I wandered down toward Piazza Navona 10b, to Gelatissimo. A member of the Slow Food organization's Menodiciotto (-18°C) group of gelaterie, from what I gather this is one of many places around the country using only pistchios from Bronte in Sicily, lemons from the Amalfi coast, etc. Basically, carefully chosen natural ingredients without unnatural additives in the gelato. I only had small cup of pistacchio, but it was quite good. Definitely the best I had in Alba.

Oh, and I almost forgot another meal. That first evening after I'd arrived in Alba, I met the couple I'd first met in Rome for dinner. They were in the midst of a 10-day food and wine tour with a group of about 10 or so. So I met them all at Vincafe, Via Vittorio Emanuele 12, for dinner. We had various crostini, prosciutto, and cheese as we sampled a few wines. Don't remember what the white wine was that we had, but I do remember Nebbiolo d'Asti and Nero d'Avola for the reds. Along with the wine and the snacks, I had a proper dinner, of battuta al coltello, a phenomenal and simple dish of raw veal with olive oil, salt, and lemon juice, served atop baby arugula. Then the regional fresh pasta tajarin, dialect for tagliarini, the thin, long, flat noodles, in this case served with asparagus and some other vegetables. After dinner, we had some wonderful mojitos, with, suprisingly and randomly, chunks of fresh peach in them, and we devoured the robiola and hazelnut paste tart I'd bought earlier that day. Pretty darn good meal, especially the wonderful battuta.

Edited July 29, 2007 by tupac17616 (log)

[tupac17616]

Asti

Less than half an hour from Alba, the trip here was a short one. I arrived, early afternoon, spotted a huge outdoor food market, and bought some fruit. The prices at this market, by the way, were undoubtedly the best I'd seen anywhere, especially for the fruit and vegetables. I walked around to literally about every hotel in the city, and was unable to find anything under €50/night. Thanks, but no thanks. So I figured I would try my luck in Torino. Took a quick train there, found a place easily, and relaxed for the afternoon. I'd reserved a few nights ahead for dinner in Asti, so I took a train back there early in the evening to visit...

Gener Neuv

Lungotanaro 4, 0141/557270

Another Fodor's Choice from my guidebook, this place sounded quite promising. Come to find out later, the place has one Michelin star, which I would say is just about right. Anyhoo, I had the tasting menu, the Menu Tradizionale: che, dal 1971 ha fatto la storia del Gener Neuv.

Things started off some champagne, ahem, prosecco, along with four types of bread (salted!) and grissini. The stuzzichino di benvenuto, amuse-bouche, consisted of four tastes: a frico of parmigiano-reggiano and, I think, chives, topped with creamy robiola fresca; a piece of an herb frittata; peperoni ripieno, a yellow pepper stuffed with some sort of cheese; a cube of prosciutto layered with prosciutto gelee; and finally, what tasted like some kind of potato salad. The robiola was my favorite among the bunch, but all were pretty good.

Then came the Quadro di antipasti, composto da: Vitello tonnato, Terrina di verdure, Galantina di coniglio e mandorle, e Anguilla marinata in aceto cotto di barolo. The vitello tonnato was the best version of that dish I've had, with essentially carpaccio-style thin slice of rosy pink veal, yet this dish is still, perhaps, not really my thing. The vegetable terrine was light and flavorful, a great summer dish. The gallantine of rabbit and almond was flavorful, and had a pleasantly chunky consistency that reminded you this was, at heart, rustic cooking. The eel, marinated in cooked barolo vinegar, was great, definitely the best of the four. It was also served with raisins that acted as a nice sweet counterpoint to the richness of the eel. As an alternative to any of these 4 dishes that might not be to one's liking, there was an option of Foglioline di vitello crudo, e battuta al coltello, olio, limone, e robiola di Roccaverano. I eat anything and everything, though, and once the very kind owner learned that I love raw meat, he sent this dish out to me as well. Thin slices of lean raw veal on one part of the plate, simply drizzled with olive oil, salt, and pepper. On the other side, more raw veal meat, "battered by a knife", literally, roughly ground. This was had the same simple adornments, along with a squeeze of lemon juice, and a little block of robiola cheese alongside it. Fantastic.

Next up was agnolotti "ai tre stufati" (vitello, coniglio e maiale), light pasta pillows stuffed with a rich mixture of veal, rabbit, and pork. Quite tasty.

For the secondo, I had finanziera all'astigiana (filoni, animelle, creste di galleto, funghi sott'olio, infarinati, saltati in olio d'olive e marsala). God only knows what animals, or more specifically what animal parts I was eating. I'll admit my food Italian isn't perfect, but from what I gather, I had veins, sweetbreads, coxcombs, and marinated mushrooms all stewed together with marsala wine. This was tasty, if perhaps, surprisingly, a bit too subtle. I was expecting more of a meaty flavor, but it just never came.

I spied a cheese cart, and just about all of the cheeses were new to me, so I asked if I might have a sampling before we headed toward dessert. Sure, they said, no problem. The Degustazione di formaggi piemontesi d.o.p. was fantastic. Eight different types of cheeses, along with chestnut honey, a dark cherry compote, and a fiery cherry mostarda. My favorites were one of the two types of robiola they served (the fresh, unaged one), the bra duro, and the toma di murazzano.

I'd finally made it to dessert, the Dolcezze di Asti: Semifreddo al torrone, Bonet, Panna cotta, Zabaione freddo al moscato d'Asti, e Sorbetto di Barolo Chinato. My, my. Everything was so good. It was my first time trying Bonet, the traditional chocolate pudding-like dessert of the region. The semifreddo was very good, as was the panna cotta. The stars, though, were the outstanding zabaglione, and the Barolo Chinato sorbet.

Of course, I wasn't done yet, as there was still the Piccola pasticceria della casa on the way, a tray of lovely little chocolates, cookies, cakes, and confection. Good show.

All this food, by the way, was accompanied by regional wines. Monferrato, Barbera d'Asti, and Moscato d'Asti with dessert. The tasting menu was €55 to begin with, the addition of the wine was nominal. The raw veal dish was gratis, and the outstanding cheese course, I'm almost ashamed to say, only tacked on an additional €11. All said and done, I was out the door for €88. Not cheap, of course, but very well worth it, I'd say. The best meal of the trip up to that point.

The family, too, was very kind. The mother is the chef, along with her two daughters helping her in the kitchen while her husband runs the front of the house. Great group of people to have met after a meal. I thanked them profusely, vowed to return, and went on my way.

Then, an unexpected and unwanted continuation of my time in Asti. You see, I'd arrived by train from Torino that night around 8pm or so. Little did I know what I train strike was going to begin at 9pm. They didn't tell me this in Torino, of course. Why would that information possibly be of use to travelers? After dinner, happy and full of food and wine, I wandered back to the train station to catch my 11something pm train back to Torino. The station, though, was a ghost town. Not a person or a train in sight. Finally, a guy comes out of the office there, gives me the throat-slitting motion that is, of course, universal code for "You're S.O.L., buddy". He explained that the strike was to last until 9pm the following night. Great, I thought, considering I'd already paid for my Torino hotel, and my bags were there. I went back to the restaurant to see if there was a hotel they might recommend. Sure, they said, Hotel Cavour, right next to the station. We'd offer you a room at one of our places, but I'm afraid we've got no extra beds. We'll drive you to the station, though. Like I said, very nice people. So I grudgingly handed over the nightly tariff at the hotel, and hit the sack.

The next day was Sunday, so most places were closed. Not too far from the station, I found a place that looked pretty decent, though. Tartufo d'Oro, Via Cavour 95. They had a full regular menu, but I wasn't up for a full meal after what I'd eaten the night before, so I opted for one of their many pizza options. Pizza carbonara: uova, pancetta affumicata, e mozzarella. This was pretty outstanding, I must say. The thin sliced pancetta was wonderful, the egg still perfectly runny and vibrantly orange, the mozzarella fresh and milky. A little drizzle of olio piccante lifted the whole thing to new heights. Nice lunch for under €10.

Wandering back toward the train station, I saw that Gelateria Ferrara, Piazza Marconi, had the Gambero Rosso Gelaterie d'Italia sticker, and I've noticed as the trip goes along that these places do not tend to disappoint. This was no exception. The gianduja (chocolate-hazelnut), torrone, and malaga al moscato (usually rum-raisin, but in this case moscato-raisin) were all very good. And the girl was quite amused when I told her I was trying to pick all flavors typical of that region. Yes, my friends, I am a food nerd.

Edited July 29, 2007 by tupac17616 (log)

[tupac17616]

Torino

This city was, for me, a pleasant surprise. I hadn't really intended to visit Torino on this trip, but ended up so close that I figured, hey, why not. I found the city to be among the most beautiful I've seen in Italy. It seemed everywhere you turned, there was a huge piazza, palace, church, or a serene park. I didn't really do much sight-seeing here (at this point in the trip, I'm doing less and less), but just walking around was fun.

The first afternoon, having secured a hotel for the next few nights, I figured that called for some chocolate. Or, more specifically, a giandiuotto, the chocolate-hazelnut treat that Torino is famous for. I stopped in Stretta, Piazza San Carlo 191, for one of those, as well as a piece of cioccolato al peperoncino. The spicy truffle wasn't anything special, but I thought the gianduiotto was great. I think it took me about 3 minutes to eat that single piece, as letting it melt slowly is definitely the way to go. The girl working the counter said it was free, so I went happily on my way.

On subsequent days, I also had giandiuotti from Cioccolato Peyrano, Corso Moncalieri 47, Avvignana, Piazza Carlo Felice 50, and A. Giordano, Piazza Carlo Felice 69 (I also had torrone from the last two: hazelnut from both, and Sicilian pistachio from Avvignana). The favorite, though, remained Stretta. It had the smoothest consistency, and the best flavor, I thought.

I also had plenty of gelato, as I figured the ridiculous number of gelaterie in the city mentioned in the Gambero Rosso guide had to be a good sign. From Cremeria Ghigo, Via Po 52, I had a small cup of pistacchio, which was good. From Fiorio, Via Po 8, I had meringa allo zabaglione, basically zabaglione flavor with chunks of meringue throughout. This was also tasty, though head-to-head, I probably preferred Fiorio. Another afternoon, I had some very tasty anguria (watermelon) granita from Mondello, Piazza E. Filiberto 8, a Sicilian gelateria that also sells gelato in brioche, cassata siciliana, and fresh-filled cannoli. I would certainly go back there to try out their other Sicilian goodies. Ah, and almost forgot one. One night after dinner, I went to the outpost of Grom at Piazza Paleocapa 8, for some granita alla menta. I had hoped for spearmint, yet, alas, the flavor was peppermint. Not bad, just not what I was looking for. Gave me fresh breath, I suppose, so it wasn't a complete less.

Another one of Torino's famous treats is bicerin, a hot drink consisting of coffe, chocolate, a splash of milk, and whipped cream. Admittedly, that combination doesn't exactly scream summertime, but I figured I'd try it anyway. I had it first at Neuv Caval 'd Brons, Piazza San Carlo 155, and later at Al Bicerin, Piazza della Consolata 5. I preferred the latter, though neither really blew me away. I'll stick with hot chocolate, thanks.

Torino was also the place I tried some things for the first time. From Al Passatore di Quaglia Teresa, Via Barbaroux 10, I tried a piadina, a thin, thin almost tortilla-like flatbread. In this case, it was stuffed with some local toma cheese, and it made a very tasty snack. At Caffé Mulassano, Piazza Castello 15, I also tried tramezzini, the little triangular finger sandwiches so popular at bar all across Italy. Between the pieces of thin white bread with crusts trimmed, I had three kinds of fillings: robiola/sedano/noci, vitello tonnato, and mascarpone/tartufo. The first (celery & walnut with creamy robiola cheese) and last (truffle spread and mascarpone) were tasty, and the vitello tonnato, well, still not my thing. I'm not sure I'm such a fan of the tramezzini in general, but it was cool to try them at the place they were invented, at least.

Ah, and another thing I tried for the first time: horse. At Macelleria Ristorante, Via Bava 2r, I had tartara di cavallo. Raw horse meat, with the traditional tartare accompaniements: raw egg yolk, chopped red onion, mustard, and cornichons. So how did the meat taste? I'm sure I could tell you, as it was so masked by the other crap on top of it that it was difficult to tell. A few bites of the meat by itself revealed what seemed like a slight hint of sweetness, which was interesting. Would I, or more accurately, will I try it again? Yes, just not at that restaurant. I found it in the Gambero Rosso guide, but the decor and feel of the place is incredibly lame, and the prices kinda suck. But hey, at least I tried a new food, as that is always fun.

Another cool stop in the city was Formaggi Murazzano, Via A. Albertina 38a, where I bought a piece of Robiola di Murazzano, which comes from the same town as the Toma cheese I had enjoyed so much at Gener Neuv in Asti. The staff at this place was very nice and helpful, not to mention generous with the samples.

Oh, and one more place. The lady whose husband ran my hotel recommended a Sicilian bakery nearby (she and her husband are both from Calabria, so they'd spent a lot of time in Sicily). Pasticceria Immordino, Via Ratazzi 5, had all several different kinds of Sicilian treats, but I was in search of only one, a cannolo. And it was friggin wonderful. Fresh-filled. Creamy ricotta sweetened just enough without overdoing it. Tiny pieces of candied fruit here and there. A quick sprinkle of powdered sugar. And that was it. Did I mention the shell was still warm. Yeah, it was that fresh. Very, very good. Brought me right back to Sicily.

[tupac17616]

There was one more place I visited in Torino, and I've definitely saved the best for last...

Eataly

Via Nizza 230, 011/19506811, WEBSITE

I can say, without the slighest bit of hesitation, that this is the coolest food shop I have ever seen, and possibly my favorite single place the entire trip. If every city, or at least every region of every country had a place like this, the world would be a better place. Where to begin? A salumi shop, cheese shop, fish market, bakery, vegetable and fruit market, fresh pasta shop, grocery, wine bar, wine store, indoor beergarten, cookbook and restaurant guide store, cooking school, kitchenware store, gelateria, sit-down more formal restaurant, tapas bar-like casual restaurants, free internet point, prosciutto curing room, cheese cave, posters with detailed descriptions of local food and wines, a huge display of what is in season when, and on and on. I probably even left some things out. Suffice it to say, the place is ridiculous. One of the daughters who cooks at Gener Neuv in Asti had told me about it, torn out a little newspaper ad for me, and insisted that I go Sunday, when most everything else food-related would be closed. The first time (yes, of course there was a return visit) I think I spent about 5 hours there. I had a snack from the bakery, a pistachio macaron (yep, the Parisian kind) a cannele (yep, the French kind) that reminded me I was but a stone's throw from France there in Torino. Each department has its own restaurant: bakery, pizza, pasta, vegetables, cheese & salumi, fish, and meat. I had some pesce crudo from the fish counter. Raw slices of salmone, castagna and lampuga. I still don't know what the last two were in English, but they were all good. Man, oh, man, had I been craving some raw fish, something I'd had just twice the entire trip up to that point. With the raw fish, I had a perfect €2 glass of prosecco, which did a wonderful job of waking up my tastebuds to better appreciate the delicate raw fish. Did I mention the bread was phenomenal, and still warm, fresh from the oven, when they brought out the basket before the meal? So good. Then I moved on to the meat area, where I had battuta al coltello for the third night in a row. Just too good to pass up. The Piemontese veal is just so nice. It needs nothing but a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of salt. Well, maybe a squeeze of lemon, too. So simple, but oh so good. With the battuta, I drank a glass of Nebius, a red wine from the Piemonte. The grand total for all of this was a very reasonable €25. The following night, before heading off to eat some horse (see above post), I had a bowl of crema di zucca con amaretti, the pumpkin-like squash soup with tiny chunks of amaretti cookies throughout. This made a tasty first course, for sure. Ah, and I also bought some saras del fen cheese (Piemontese ricotta made from mix of goat, ewe, and cow milk, and wrapped in hay) on my second visit as well. I'd never seen it, much less tried it. Unfortunately, I think my being without a refrigerator may have hurt the flavor a bit, in this case, as the next day, it was a bit.. strong. I wanted to buy a bit of prosciuttello as well that night, but I was a tad late, as they were closing up shop for the evening. No worries, though, as I will undoubtedly go back there at some point. Just such an awesome place. If you have the opportunity to check it out, I insist! Go, go, go!

[ajgnet]

There was one more place I visited in Torino, and I've definitely saved the best for last...

Eataly

Via Nizza 230,  011/19506811, WEBSITE

I can say, without the slighest bit of hesitation, that this is the coolest food shop I have ever seen, and possibly my favorite single place the entire trip.

←

I cannot believe the size of this place. Does this make you miss whole foods back at home? How did the French pastries compare to others that you've had in Italy, and back in New York? The Eataly website made me very hungry.

[tupac17616]

There was one more place I visited in Torino, and I've definitely saved the best for last...

Eataly

Via Nizza 230,  011/19506811, WEBSITE

I can say, without the slighest bit of hesitation, that this is the coolest food shop I have ever seen, and possibly my favorite single place the entire trip.

←

I cannot believe the size of this place. Does this make you miss whole foods back at home? How did the French pastries compare to others that you've had in Italy, and back in New York? The Eataly website made me very hungry.

←

Eataly definitely brought to mind the best aspects of the Whole Foods and HEB Central Market stores (I don't think these exist outside of Texas), but it also seemed to have a very cool sense of place. That particular store wouldn't belong anywhere else but Torino. It is definitely a concept that could (and should) be adapted to other cities, countries, etc. Hell, maybe I should start one in the US.

The pastries I sampled at Eataly, by the way, were sort of mediocre. The pistachio macaron was chewier than I'd like, and it didn't quite have that fragile egg-shell crunch when you bit into it. Flavor was good, though. The cannele had a nice rummy flavor, but the outside was a tad too chewy.

I've not had the opportunity to sample many other French-style pastries in Italy, as I don't seem to find them anywhere. I was shocked to see pain au chocolat at Eataly, for example, as the only croissant imitations I'd seen time and time again were the almost eggy, brioche-like cornetti that are so common with one's caffé or cappuccino in the morning. A very different animal than a French croissant. Probably the most French-leaning pastry shop I've seen on the trip was Dolci & Dolcezze in Firenze, and what I sampled from there was very good.

There are pastry and sweet shops on basically every corner here, to be sure, but French pastry, not so much. As an aside, though, I should add that I've not been to a single Italian pastry shop in New York City that even comes close to competing with some of the better ones I've visited during this trip.

[ajgnet]

what differences have you noticed (if any) with coffee quality and preparations? is cafe americano really rare and espresso the standard? how about cappuccinos?

here in buenos aires, coffee is taken very seriously. so seriously, in fact, that i have not seen a single starbucks anywhere. the starbucks equivalent, havanna, gets the ratios of milk/foam to coffee really nicely and knows when a shot has been pressed for too long. it's pretty incredible. all this, though, is from the heavy italian influence. i can't imagine what it's like where you are ... at the source!

[tupac17616]

what differences have you noticed (if any) with coffee quality and preparations?  is cafe americano really rare and espresso the standard?  how about cappuccinos?

here in buenos aires, coffee is taken very seriously.  so seriously, in fact, that i have not seen a single starbucks anywhere.  the starbucks equivalent, havanna, gets the ratios of milk/foam to coffee really nicely and knows when a shot has been pressed for too long.  it's pretty incredible.  all this, though, is from the heavy italian influence.  i can't imagine what it's like where you are ... at the source!

←

I've gotta admit, I'm not the one to ask about coffee. It's a rare occassion that I both drink and enjoy it. That said, I find the ubiquitous Italian caffé, espresso, to be easily preferable to American coffee. Thankfully, the only place where they actually seem to inform the clientele that they do, in fact, serve American coffee here is at the most touristy of restaurants. These are the same restaurants that ask if you'd like a cappuccino after dinner, which is a no-no here, for whatever reasons.

I've also had several wonderful cappuccinos interspersed throughout my trip, the most memorable of which was probably at Sant'Eustachio in Rome. Often, though, I've found the smaller, less hectic caffé to serve a better product that some of the more famous, and inevitably more crowded, ones. When they take the time to do it right, it makes a difference, I think. Caffé may be more about the product, but cappuccino is more about the method, and the skillful barista.

Starbucks, by the way, are also absolutely nowhere to be found here (though, there are, much to my chagrin, McDonald's in all the bigger cities). When a guy at a caffé in Rome asked the barista if there was a Starbucks anywhere in the city, his response was as follows, in Italian: "Buddy, I'm going to do you a favor and suggest that you never ask that again in this country. It's not safe. No, there are no watered-down P.O.S. Starbucks anywhere in beautiful Italia. Let's just leave it at that, eh?"

[tupac17616]

Okay, time to get back at it...

Emilia-Romagna

Parmigiano-Reggiano. Prosciutto di Parma. Culatello di Zibello. Aceto Balsamico di Modena. Tagliatelle al Ragu Bolognese. Do I need to go on? Yep, didn't think so. In a food-focused trip to Italy, this region was a no-brainer. I was excited to be in arguably the gastronomic heart of a country whose various regional cuisines had already been treating me so well. Could things get better? It was time to find out.

[tupac17616]

Parma

Stepping off the train here, I quickly realized this was no bustling city, as Bologna would prove to be. It was a mid-sized town, neither too big nor to small to lose its relaxed character that I grew to love. I spent maybe 2-3 days in Parma, but could have easily spent more. A nice, laid-back vacation here would be nice to do sometime. Unlike in the United States, where I am undoubtedly a city boy through and through, in Italy I find myself enjoying the mid-sized places, with enough things to see and do, yet few enough tourists to make things a bit more peaceful.

I arrived, not coincidentally, at lunch time. Salumeria Garibaldi, Via Garibaldi 42, looked to be a promising first stop. Little did I know what I was getting into. In the window I spotted gnocchi fritti, the squares of fried bread typical of this region. My request was simple: two of these warm little pillows, filled with the robiola di Murazzano I'd brought from Torino, and a few slices of speck. "Speck? Sei sicuro?" ("Are you sure?") was the kind man's reply. Not a regional product, he was thinking of something more along the lines of prosciutto crudo di Parma would make more sense. I explained that I had so cheese from the Piemonte, and I wanted something from closer to that region (Speck is produced in the Val d'Aosta, not far northwest of Torino). He smiled, and applauded with a hearty "Bravo!". Apparently, he approved of my food-related eccentricities, shall we call them. I told him not to worry, as I'd be back the next day for some prosciutto and parmigiano. To me, a meal, no matter how insignificant, is a sad thing without dessert, so I also had a pesca ripiena, a fresh peach half stuffed with a mixture of chocolate, amaretti cookies, and some type of liquer. I struck up conversation with the staff as I told them of my adventures in Italy, and they listened, first with slight shock ("Nove settimane?!" ("9 weeks"), then with keen interest. From them, I learned which restaurants in town were the best, which ones were more catered to tourists, and all the essential stops for a buongustaio's (gourmand's) visit to Parma. Really good people, and the owner, Vincenzo is quite the character.

Just as I was headed out the door, a couple standing nearby quietly tapped me on the shoulder and whispered "Do you speak English?". "Solo un pochino... Just kidding!" was my reply. They wanted to buy an entire wheel of parmigiano-reggiano. Uh...come again. You want that?, I asked them, as I pointed over to one of the 40-kg wheels in the window. Oh boy, I thought to myself, this is going to be fun. For the next hour, maybe two, I was translator for one of the most amusing purchases I've ever seen. I learned how Vincenzo chose his farm, which cows produce the milk for his cheese, produced once a day on the 4th of 5 vats at a small factory just outside of Parma. We learned how to properly cut a wheel open, myriad ideas for its use, and even a little Italian wedding tradition (use the hollowed out wheel to serve pasta to your guests). The couple, very nice people from Los Angelese, bought a wheel, allright. All €1200 of it. Wherever, you are right now, much respect, homies. That party you've got planned to give pieces to all your friends, you're going to need a looooot of invitations, and I hope I'm one of them!

The next day, as promised, I returned. This time, I had a platter of prosciutto crudo di parma, culatello, and 27-month and 36-month parmigiano-reggiano. To tell you the truth, I don't actually know the difference between prosciutto and culatello, except that the latter is much more expensive and, I assume, more limited in production. You certainly don't find it often in the US, that's for sure. Surprisingly, I preferred the younger parmigiano. I enjoyed the fact that it was a bit more milky and less dry (and of course less intense) than the more aged one. If faced with the impossible task of choosing a favorite cheese, it would undoubtedly be parmigiano-reggiano, and I'd previously liked the more assertive stravecchio (extra-aged) varieties that I'd had in the US. I guess you always want what you don't have, though, as when I was here, in the land of (€11/kg!) parmigiano's production, I was enjoying the younger ones more. But I digress. I also had a bit of zuppa inglese, a layered trifle with boozed-up ladyfingers layered with creamy custard, and pesca, a custard-and-chocolate filled sandiwich cookie in the shape of a peach.

On one return trip, I had gnocchi fritti con lardo. Sweet Jesus, what a combination. Hot fried bread, razon-thin slices of seasoned pork fat melting on top of them. So good. And on another visit one afternoon, an arancino con sugo di carne, the fried risotto balls stuffed with meat sauce, that had been so wonderful in Sicily. Alas, this one disappointed, as essentially all of the imitations after Palermo have. Guess I just have to go back. Too bad.

I'm sure it may sound as though I've already described enough food to have been sufficient for three days, but there were restaurant meals, too, of course...

Trattoria del Tribunale, Vicolo Politi 5, provided dinner the first night. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and recommended by several locals I spoke to as well. Culaccia con fichi was my antipasto. Thin slices of a prosciutto-like cured meat, along with fresh figs. Then I made my own little bis of primi, asking for half portions of anolini in brodo, small filled pillows of pasta served in a wonderful meaty broth, and tortelli di erbette, a spinach-and-ricotta filled pasta in a simple butter sauce. The former was outstanding, but the latter, pretty bland. A little pinch of salt in the filling would have made an incredibly difference. Still, though, at a reasonable €27 for dinner, it's hard to complain.

On another afternoon, lunch was at Sorelle Picchi, Via Farini 12, which I had read about in Bene magazine back in NY, and was also recommended by a woman at the tourist office. I was not very hungry that morning, as it was following a large meal the night before, so I opted for just one dish. Well, and dessert. Heheh. My plate of tortelli di zucca, filled with the pumpkin-like squash grown in the region, was wonderful. Simply dressed with butter and parmigiano, it was simplicity and deliciousness on a plate. Dessert was a small dish with warm zabaglione, cold zabaglione semifreddo, and drizzled with chocolate sauce. The contrast of temperatures was very nice, as was the flavor. This lunch, at €18, was one of the more enjoyable ones of the trip. I would definitely return here.

Gelato at Dolce Vita, Via Farini 16, also proved to be pretty good. They had an interesting selection of flavors, from which I chose sorbetto di lampone e Campari (raspberry-campari sorbet), chantilly con zabaglione e amarena (cream-based flavor enriched with zabaglione and black cherries), and zabaglione con uve passite e nutella (rich concoction of zabaglione, raisins, and nutella). Best by far was the sorbetto, but all were pretty good.

And the last day, though my allegiance lies with Salumeria Garibaldi, I also checked out the nearby Salumeria Verdi, Via Verdi 6. I bought some prosciutto crudo di parma, caciotta dolce (a mildly sweet cheese made, apparently, from the same milk as parmigiano-reggino), and a bit of fig jam, all of which was made into a tasty panino for the train ride later on.

There's one restaurant meal, I've yet to explain, but it deserves a separate post...

[tupac17616]

Parizzi

Strada Repubblica 71, 052/285952

This place, listed in my guidebook, sounded quite promising, and the unanimous verdict among the staff at Salumeria Garibaldi was that it is the best restaurant in Parma. One guy even had a good friend there, so he called and got a table for me that evening. Small towns, I tell ya, everyone knows everyone. Gotta love it.

I arrived, took all of 2 seconds to look at the menu, and decided on the Menu degustazione di terra, the meat-based tasting menu priced at €55. Two types of grissini, the crispy thin breadsticks, were brought out, along with 4 or 5 types of bread and crackers.

The amuse-bouche was zuppa di zucchine con crema di parmigiano. A creamy, vibrant green zucchini soup toppped with a dollop of parmigiano-flavored savory whipped cream. What a wonderful way to say hello. This was nothing less than outstanding, and a very good sign of things to come.

The first proper course was Composizione di manzo crudo agli oli essenziali e piccolo hamburger (all. Paolo Parisi), composition of raw beef with essential oils and tiny hamburger. The raw beef came in two forms: three small cubes of raw beef, with sauces of basil, cenere (slow-cooked, large onions), and orange, respectively; and a small mound of tartare with the traditional condiments. The piccolo hamburger was, indeed, just that. A freakishly minature bun with cooked ground beef patty, lettuce, and tomato. To wash this burger down, they provided a shot glass full of birra Italiana. I don't think I need to translate that. All were tasty, if not quite memorable, aside maybe from the outstanding basil-sauced one.

Next up was Fiori di zucca ripieni di zucchini e parmigiano cotti a vapore con salsa al tartufo nero, zucchini blossoms stuffed with finely minced zucchini and parmiano, and dressed with black truffle. This was wonderful, with the less assertive summer truffles providing just the right level of earthiness to boost the delicate flavor of the squash blossoms without overwhelming it. Well done.

Now it was pasta time, and soon a plate of Cappellacci di anatra e borragine con salsa al vino rosso e porto al tartufo nero arrived. A stuffed pasta shape typical of the region, with a perhaps non-traditional, but incredibly flavorful filling of duck and borrage, in a port wine and truffle reduction. Man, oh man. So good. One of the best pasta dishes on the trip, undoubtedly. This was the point that I'd asked for the wine to arrive, as I thought the previous courses too delicate to compete with a glass of red wine. Refosco, from Friuli if I recall correctly, turned out to be one of my favorites that I've sampled on the trip. So smooth, and it went wonderfully with the pasta, and the remainder of the meal. Sure, it doesn't have the complexity of a Brunello or Barolo, but it doesn't need to. It's very, very drinkable, so it went wonderfully with this meal.

Next up was Agnello rosolato al timo con tortino di melanzane al parmigiano e salsa alle spezie, a rosy-pink roasted lamb loin bathed in the fragrant perfume of fresh thyme and served alongside a little cylinder of grilled eggplant slices and creamy eggplant puree. Very nice.

Then came the Assaggio di parmigiano di diversa stagionatura, tasting of three different ages of parmigiano-reggiano (Jan 2005/Apr 2005/Feb 2006) along with the tiniest dots of intense 25- and 35-year balsamic vinegars. "To be eaten strictly with the hands," I was instructed. All were quite tasty, but my favorite was the youngest cheese and the older vinegar.

Pre-dessert (don't you just love that concept?) was fior di latte gelato con fragole e aceto balsamico, a very tasty and very simple combination of creamy gelato, summery-sweet strawberries, and complex sweet-tart balsamic vinegar.

Dessert proper was Cuore di fragola e lamponi al frutto della passione, a passion-fruit mousse, whose liquid core was made of sweet strawberries and raspberries. Very, very good.

I was not in the mood for caffé that evening, but they indulged me by bring out the piccola pasticceria, the tiny sweets that accompany the coffee, anyway. There were maybe 10 kinds of mini treats, cookies, cakes, meringue, pate de fruit, etc. A nice touch at the end of any meal, I'd say.

This place was the first of several I would come to visit that carry the distinction of being part of the association of Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe (Young Restauranteurs of Europe). Marco Parizzi, the chef here, and his wife Cristina, who works the front of the house, were both very kind, and very helpful in recommending other places in Italy to try out, even going as far as photo-copying the Bologna pages from the Michelin guide for me, and giving me copies of Le Soste, Buon Ricordo, and Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe, various restaurant guide books.

This meal struck a very good balance between tradition and innovation. It was very true to its roots in Parma, but at the same time trying to expand and define what that culinary identity means today. I enjoyed chatting with Marco, Cristina, and the entire staff. The service was great, as was the food, of course. Arguably the best meal of the vacation up to that point.

[tupac17616]

Modena

The land of balsamico. I didn't end up spending a very significant amount of time here, but rather made short trips there on a couple of evenings, one evening arriving from Bologna, where I made my home-base for the majority of my time in Emilia-Romagna, and another evening returing from Maranello, home of the greatest cars in the world. Just judging from first impressions, I didn't seem to find this town as appealing as Parma or Bologna. It just seemed kind of, well, dead.

But of course I would not be deterred. I had come for saba and aceto balsamico, two condiments typical to the area. The former, a super-sweet reduced grape must, I bought from Specialita dell'Artigianato Alimentaro (La Dispensa di Giuditto), Corso Canalchiaro 136, along with a tortello dolce all'amarena, a cookie filled with a chocolate, amaretti, and liquer mixture. The aceto balsamico I ended up getting from Caffe della Fortuna, Via Emilia Centro 209, where I spent probably a good hour or so chatting with the very kind lady who owns it. She let me try several different types, and I ended up settling on 100ml of 30-year aged balsamico for €20. Why so cheap, you may ask. (I certainly did.) Basically, she told me it was "2nd-choice quality", the stuff not good enough to get the aceto balsamico tradizionale di Modena seal of approval or whatever. Fine by me. I liked the taste very much, and thought the quality to price ratio was just right.

I had two restaurant meals in Modena as well, each of which was certainly long and involved enough to warrant its own post, which will follow forthwith.

[Pontormo]

Tupe: Your report on Parma made me smile since I had a somewhat similar if less charged experience, that is, regarding generosity, civic pride and warmth of the people--this was well over a decade ago when there were even fewer Americans in town, especially in the dead of winter.

Similar feelings about Modena, though the cathedral's wonderful. As for Pisa, more on that later. First impression is bad thanks to the popularity of tourism and the campanile, but it can be a fabulous place--as it was long ago when powerful and Florence was not even a twinkle in the Arno's eye.

[tupac17616]

[...] As for Pisa, more on that later.  First impression is bad thanks to the popularity of tourism and the campanile, but it can be a fabulous place--as it was long ago when powerful and Florence was not even a twinkle in the Arno's eye.

So you're saying I should give it a second chance, eh? I'd love to hear what one might see and do (and eat!) to make a better experience of it.

[tupac17616]

Allora, the two restaurant meals in Modena I alluded to before...

L'Erba del Re

Via Castel Maraldo 45, 059/218188

I heard about this place through Cristina Parizzi in Parma, who pointed it out to me in the Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe book as a place I might consider trying in nearby Modena. After my experience at the other places (I hit one in Bologna in between Parizzi and here), I was definitely willing to check it out. I was curious to see what this young chef (38, if I remember right) would have up his sleeve. I had an idea of what I was getting into, as seemingly all of the chefs in that restaurant association seem to find comfort in straddling the line between traditional and innovative regional cuisine. This was most certainly not a traditional meal, but chef Marchini's food has a playfulness to it that I appreciated, as you will see.

I opted, not suprisingly for the Menu Degustazione "Grande" Luca Marchini, eight courses and piccola pasticceria for €55. (I should add, as an aside, that I was the only patron in the restaurant throughout the entirety of my meal)

Several types of bread were brought out, along with a tiny glass full of crema di peperoni e pomodoro, a thick, creamy shot of sweet-pepper and tomato puree. I think a bit of tarragon on top as well, if I remember right. This was okay, but certainly not a stunning opener.

The first proper course was sogliola con borragina in padella e vinaigrette di aceto balsamico e senape. Two grilled pieces of sole, with sauteed borrage and a very tasty vinaigrette with balsamic and a grainy mustard. The fish itself was a bit bland, but I thought the choice of condiment was a good one, as the acidity of the vinaigrette really lifted the flavors of both the sole and the borrage.

Next was baccalà marinato e fritto con cippoline in agrodolce. The marinated and fried salt cod was tender, flaky, and piping hot. The sweet and sour onions, though, stole the show. They were fantastic.

A pasta course was up next, pasta integrale con triglie, pomodori essiccati ed uvetta, spumosità di mandorla, olive nere. Whole wheat pasta that I don't remember the name of, but I would call francobolli, as they were shaped like large postage stamps. Red mullet, semi-dried tomatoes, tiny sweet golden raisins, almond foam, and black olives. My, my, my. Far and away the best meal of the evening. This was an aboslute knockout. The combination seemed almost a bit Sicilian to me, though the chef claimed the inspiration for it came from no specific place. The salty-sweet counterplay that was everywhere in this dish was really great. I thought it to be perfectly balanced when it came to both texture and flavor. I will have to make this sometime at home.

The best course was unfortunately followed by the weakest. "Arancino" al parmigiano, salsa allo yogurt greco e bottarga, nero di seppie, panna acidulata, caviale italiano. The chef came out to explain this dish, saying it was a marriage of land and sea on a plate. It was also waaay too busy, and way too tangy. The "land" in this case was, I suppose, the parmigiano-filled risotto fritter, which by itself was tasty. The greek yogurt and bottarga (tuna roe) sauce, combined with the creme fraiche, absolutely assaulted the flavors of everything else. I would describe the taste as bacterial, as the yogurt cultures provided by this dish alone were probably sufficient for a year's time. Even the small dollop of Italian caviar was not enough to re-establish balance. This dish, I would say, was a disaster. But hey, it happens.

Things took a turn back in the right direction after this. Tagliatelle con ragout modenese (5 tipologie di carne) came next. At first glace, it seems to be a plate of the tagliatelle al ragu that one finds all across this region, with a meaty condiment more focused on the mixture of beef, pork, and veal than on the few tomatoes (and a bit of milk) that bind it. That, of course, would be too boring for this guy, so he came out again to explain what his twist on it was. The pasta was made with embryonic eggs, making it extremely difficult to roll out by hand, he said. The resulting texture, though, was super-porous to soak up the sauce, and he promised a clean plate by the time that I reached the bottom. The five types of meat were just different cuts of beef and pork, with guancia di manzo (beef cheek) definitely among the cow parts, and guanciale and pancetta among the pork parts. They were cooked sous-vide for something like 24 hours, I think he said, and then chopped by hand. The added courseness this produced was very nice. The flavors of both the pasta and the condimento were very good, and the plate was clean, as promised, by the time I was done.

One last savory dish, now, with the Mailino da latte in porchetta (Az. Cura Natura) cotta a bassa temperatura, scalogno glassato. I felt like I was in the US again, with the listing of the farm from with the suckling pig came. This was not cooked sous-vide, the chef said, but rather at very low (don't remember how low) temperature overnight. The skin was wonderfully crisp, and the meaty-fatty layer on which is rested was fantastic. The meat was moist. Properly (read: aggresively) salted, always a very important detail in my book, and something that often separates great dishes from merely good. The scalogno glassato was a type of glazed onion. Really, really tasty. This guy seems to have a way with onions.

Dessert was fantastic, and a dish I will undoubtedly be replicating in my own kitchen at home. Tagliatelle "alla carbonara"...dolci. A fun reinterpretation of possibly my favorite pasta preparation, the traditional Roman egg-and-bacon(/pancetta/guanciale) sauce. I couldn't understand when he told me what the pasta was made with, but I assumed it to be a normal egg-based pasta without the addition of any sugar, though I could be wrong. The egg portion of the carbonara came in the form of a foamy zabaglione, with a subtle hint of cinnamon. Crispy sheets of thin, candied pancetta (crisped in a saute pan, then cooked for a moment in simple syrup, he said) were oustanding -- salty and sweet at the same time. For a second, I thought there also might have been just hint of salt and pepper in the dish, but I could have been wrong. One thing is for sure, though, it was neither too sweet or not sweet enough; it was just right. He absolutely nailed this one.

With the meal, I had three glasses of wine, among which was a muffato, which is becoming one of my favorite sweet wine varieties. And, of course, with my caffé came the piccola pasticceria, a plate of tiny cakes, cookies, and other sweets. Nothing too memorable, but at all but the very best restaurants, this usually seems to be the case.

Fun meal, with the two pastas, one savory and one sweet, definitely the stars of the show. The suckling pig also was a favorite. Certainly not a bad option to explore if you find yourself in the Modena area.

[tupac17616]

I seem to has misplaced my notes from Osteria La Francescana, so that one will have to wait. In the meantime, though...

Bologna

In a city lovingly deemed "Il Grasso" ("The Fat"), how can one not eat well, right? That was my hope, at least. In a region whose gastronomic claim to fame is immense, I figured its largest city would also be one of its loudest cheerleaders. Home to a university that is almost 1,000 years old, it was not surprising to find that the city was full of people around my age. I stayed in an area very near the university, and was glad to find another place alive at all hours of the night. The porticos that are everywhere in the city were quite enchanting. It really adds an air of elegance to a city that probably would not be otherwise referred to as such. So what did I find on the culinary side of things? Well, without further ado, let me get to that.

Dinner the first night was with the couple I met in Rome (CLICKETY), as our paths had crossed once again. We walked over to Godot Wine Bar, Via Cartoleria 12, which was mentioned in my Fodor's guidebook as well as Gambero Rosso, and sounded quite good. Their wine list seemed to be quite diverse, with selections not only from Italy, but from Australia, the United States, and several other countries one doesn't often find wines from here. We ended up sharing three bottles over the course of the evening (hey, that's just one each! ), two whites and a red, the only one of which I seem to remember was a Gewürztraminer from Austria. Perhaps it was bad choices on my part, but my food was absolutely terrible. Probably the worst meal of the trip (only food-wise, of course, the company was fantastic). I started with fiori di zucca ripieni con formaggio di capra affumicata. Smoked goat cheese, this was not. I know gorgonzola when I taste it, and this was undoubtedly as blue as the sky. It absolutely killed whatever subtlety the squash blossoms should have had. Sauced with a simple passito di pomodoro, tomato sauce, this was a disaster. I cut my losses about halfway. Next was lasagne croccante al ragu bolognese. This "lasagne" was no pasta, but rather thin, greenish, crackery sheets of some type. Was I eating cooked paper? I might as well have been, as this had all the taste of a package of college-ruled looseleaf. The ragu bolognese was decent, but incredibly oversalted, and this criticism is coming from a guy who likes his food salty. No way was I opting for dessert after that meal, so we paid the tab (€46) and hit the road.

Lunch the following day was at Tamburini, Via Caprarie 1, a deli-cum-self-service-buffet that offers antipasti, primi, and secondi that change each day. I had a tasty insalata caprese and a plate of tortellini al ragu for €9.30. Not a bad deal at all. The prices for the salumi, cheese, and prepared foods in the regular deli area were sky-high. On another afternoon, I nonetheless figured I should try some squacquerone, a soft, rindless cheese typical of the region, often eaten with piadina, the unleaved flatbread of the area. Unfortunately, it tasted a bit too strongly of acidulous milk. Too tangy for my tastes. Ah, and I also had a couple of slices of their porchetta on another visit. I can't believe the words "terrible" and "porchetta" are together in a sentence that I've written, but that is the only way to describe it. Two bites, and the rest was thrown out. The weakest attempt at porchetta that I've had.

A trip to another salumeria, though, certainly redeemed squacquerone in my eyes. The cheese from Salumeria Simoni, Via Drapperie 5, was quite good. And their fiochetto di prosciutto (can anyone explain to me what part of the prosciutto this is?), sliced paper thin, made a wonderful accompaniement for some fresh figs I'd bought from a nearby fruit vendor.

From the bakery Atti, Via Drapperie 6, I had a horrible piece of brioche-like bread one day, only to be followed by a very tasty torta di riso the next. This sweet rice cake, typical to the region, was moist and delicious. That gave me enough reason to return another day for a wedge of "pietanza veloce" ("quick dish"), a quiche-like pie with ham, cheese, eggs, and onion. This was also quite tasty, and made a nice breakfast. And another trip, I had an ofella, basically a cookie in a half-moon form filled with pastry cream and raisins.

As usual I had to make a few stops for gelato and gelato-related products. From "La Sorbetteria" Castiglione, Via Castiglione 44, I had a cestino ("basket"-shaped cone) with three flavors: crema di ricotta e fichi caramellati, crema di mandorla e mandorla pralinata, and crema di mascarpone e pinoli caramellati. All were quite good, with the creamy almond with crisphy almond praline the favorite. The ricotta/fig and mascarpone/pine nute certainly weren't far behind, though. Very good stuff. From Grom, Via M. D'Azeglio 13, I had some granita di limone, as I watched Roberto Benigni's Piccolo Diavolo in Piazza Maggiore's free outdoor cinema one night. It was good, but I think their almond granita is still my favorite. Hmm, where else was there? Ah, yes. Stefino, Via Galleria 49/b, where I had granita al pistacchio the first day. This was a mess. The texture was terrible. Thick, and more like very icey gelato than the granita I was used to. Flavor was very pure pistachio, but that wasn't enough to make up for the strange texture. Returning the following day for some of their gelato, which people seemed to be lining up for, I had a cone cestino of yucatan (spicy chocolate-and-peperoncino), zabaglione, and fior di panna (basic cream flavor). This was by far the spiciest chocolate and peperoncino gelato I'd had on the trip, but I appreciated that bolder flavor. The other flavors were tasty, but the favorite among the three was certainly that one. After dinner another evening, I tried Gelateria Mauritius, whose newest of several locations in the city is on Via Riva di Reno near, I think, Via Marconi. A cone of pistacchio, cassata siciliana, and noci con fichi (walnut with figs) was very creamy and quite flavorful. Nice. Ah, and I also tried Gelateria Gianni on Via Monte Grappa, where I had fichi, fior di latte, and a third kind with nutella and little crispy chocolate-coated rice puffs (think Nestle Crunch) throughout. Tasty, no doubt, but perhaps not on the same level as La Sorbetteria and Mauritius in terms of clarity of flavor. With several branches in the city, though, clearly it is quite popular with the Bolognesi.

My restaurant meals in Bologna were mostly at simpler trattorie. The one exception to this, though, was Marco Fadiga Bistrot, Via Rialto 23c, a Michelin Bib Gourmand and a member of the Jeunes Restaurateurs d'Europe association that was recommended by Cristina Parizzi. Clearly the name seems a bit French, the music here was French, and the vibe, too, was French. This would all seem to add up to a place that I wouldn't want to visit on this trip, perhaps, but the menu was very appealing, and very well-priced. When one has this much trouble choosing from among the menu options, it is usually a good thing, I think. I started with zuppetta fredda di pomodoro con baccalà, chilled tomato soup with creamy salt-cod, a crisp ciabatta crouton, and fried basil. The fried herbs appear to be one of chef Fadiga's things, as they prepared in all three courses. This soup was very flavorful, and very summery, I thought. Next I had gnocchi con finferli e canocchie (chantarelle mushrooms and mantis shrimp). This dish had great potential, but was, unfortunately, undersalted and therefore bland. This was my first time on the trip to try canocchie, but thankfully would not be my last. I find them incredibly delicious. Can one even find these bug-eyed creatures in the United States? I don't think I've ever seen them before. My secondo was outstanding. Calamaro farcito, finferli, pomodori was the simple menu description. Two fat stuffed calamari, filled with some kind of creamy mixture. I couldn't tell whether it was potato-based, or perhaps even a calamari puree of some sort, but it definitely had tiny chunks of pata negra ham from Spain in it. It was served with squares of yellowish polenta, grilled tomatoes, and balsamic vinegar. Very, very good. With food, a glass of wine, and tip, total was €39 for this meal.

Ristorante Victoria, Via A. Righi 9, a trattoria/pizzeria was recommended in my guidebook, and seemed to be quite popular, so I gave it a shot one evening. My salad of gamberi, mais, e rucola (shrimp, corn, and arugula) was very flavorful, and very plentiful for that matter. That dish alone with a chunk of bread would make a nice lunch. Next I had tortelli alla panna, delicious tortelli in a simple cream sauce with grated parmigiano. This was also quite tasty. Dessert was mousse di ricotta e fragole, a light, layered concoction of ricotta cheese and strawberries on a sweet crust. Nice meal, and at €24, not a pricey one, either.

Trattoria del Rosso, Via Righi 30, certainly was reasonably priced as well. A place consistently recommended each year in Slow Food's Osterie d'Italia guidebook, I went for lunch one afternoon before heading to Maranello for the day. For €10, a had a set meal of zuppa di verdure (vegetable soup), insalata caprese, and ricotti e amaretti. All were mildly disappointing, but I guess this is to be expected when one is getting three courses and water for that price. I'm sure the a la carte, options, all very reasonably priced, have more potential, but that wasn't the day to find out, as I had a long meal ahead that evening, so the vegetables sounded appealing that day.

After befriending one of the guys working the desk at my hotel, one night he suggested Trattoria delle Belle Arti, Via delle Belle Arti 6/F, and walked me over (the entire 10ft or so) to introduce me to his friend, the owner, and make sure I'd be well-fed. The cuisine here is billed as mediterranean, which in this case basically meant a more southern-Italian focus. In a very nice change of pace, I had a plate of cavatelli alla marinara, pasta with clams, mussels, and calamari in tomato sauce. A little bigger pinch of peperoncino certainly wouldn't have hurt, but when I asked for ground peperoncino, they brought me chili powder. Not the same, and I didn't want my pasta smelling like enchiladas, so I left it off. For a secondo, I had guazzetto di calamari e seppie, a tasty tomato-based calamari-and-cuttlefish stew. With an accompanying glass of the house white wine, the total for this meal came to €27, though they wrote €26, and ended up charging only €25. Works for me. I guess when you're friendly with the owner, little "mistakes" like that will happen from time to time.

And one more trattoria meal. Da Bertino & Figli, Via delle Lame 55, was in my guidebook, and a little restaurant reconnaissance one afternoon revealed some potential, so I tried it one evening. For a mere €14, the bollito misto is certainly enough for a meal, and easily the best rendition of that dish I've ever had. Meaning simply "mixed boil", it is various boiled meats, in this case zampone (pig's trotter stuffed with minced meat), cotechino (a sausge made from the same filling), manzo (beef), lingua (tongue), and what sounded like "cestino", which means basket, and I assume refers to the netting in which this particular meat (whatever it was) was kept. Alongside this platter (and I do mean platter) of meat were various contorni, onions stewed with tomato, potato puree, beans, and slightly pickled onions. The meats were accompanied, traditionally, by salsa verde, much like Argentinian chimichurri sauce, to cut through all the rich flavors. All the meats were quite flavorful, with my favorite probably being the zampone. One of the meats, the cestino, I believe, still seemed to still have some hair on it, so God only knows what parts of what animals I was actually eating. But hey, it was all tasty, and that's all that matters, right?... Right? Seriously, though, this simple trattoria seemed like a good place, and it is one I would certainly return to sometime.