Lunch! What'd ya have? (2018)

[kayb]

Gorgeous. The food and the scenery.

[HungryChris]

On ‎9‎/‎5‎/‎2018 at 5:38 PM, kayb said:

Gorgeous. The food and the scenery.

Thanks, @kayb, I can only take credit for the camera work, such as it is. We both feel blessed to be here. The Chianti Wine Festival starts on Thursday and we are both looking  foreward to attending that event on Friday, at least, and bringing home the commemorative wine tasting glasses, which have suffered major breakage losses in the past few attempts (3 times, which in a perfect world would mean 6  glasses, yet only 1 glass has survived the trip home). I have a mission to bring back two survivors this year! In addition to the wine, there is olive oil, sausage and other charcuterie to be tasted and we enjoy it immensely.  

HC

Edited September 6, 2018 by HungryChris (log)

[JoNorvelleWalker]

9 hours ago, HungryChris said:

Our 9 hour flight from JFK to Rome was delayed more the 2 1\2 hours, for a number of reasons, which caused us to miss the high speed train to Florence, we had planned, which in turn caused us to wait for 3 more hours for the next 2 1/2 hour train ride. To say we were tired is an understatement. After a good nights sleep we spent 2 days in Florence,  rented a car and drove out to where we are now staying in Greve, in Chianti. I will fill some of that in later, but we had lunch today at what is perhaps our favorite restaurant on earth, La Castellana. It made all that travel hardship vanish completely.

La Castellana is where I developed my absolute passion for bruschetta al pomodoro. It seems that if you just order one to split, the chef does a great job, but if you order one for each of you, the chef is greatly inspired by your enthusiasm for the dish, and goes out of the way to blow your mind. Today was no exception. This has become the standard to which I hold my own efforts and that of others, as well.

La Castellana is a modest looking place on the outside, but on the few occasions we have eaten inside, it is quite charming. On nice days, like today, we prefer the outside dining across the tiny little winding hillside road.

Here is the view from out table today.

We had a bottle of local Chianti and Deb chose tortelli stuffed with ricotta cheese and lemon with gorgonzola and walnuts. She loved it!

I had tagliatelle in a kind of carbonera sauce loaded down with fresh truffles sliced wispy thin, just extraordinary! We have another reservation for lunch on Saturday and cannot wait.

HC

 

 

 

 

 

No vongole?

 

[HungryChris]

3 hours ago, JoNorvelleWalker said:

 

No vongole?

 

That was one of the first dishes we had in Florence, a day or two earlier and I'll get back to that.

HC

[CantCookStillTry]

For todays episode of 'what can I shove in my mouth before something else happens' I chose this ultra healthy salad. Lettuce, Cheese, Beetroot & Carrot - two small croutons on the side(s). 

[heidih]

@CantCookStillTry the media portrays y'all "down under" as random beetroot eaters! I'm curious if the most commonly consumed form is from a can or fresh?

[shain]

Coconut rice with mango and mint.

[HungryChris]

Back in 2016, Deb and I visited a recently opened place in Florence, Italy and split a great sandwich for lunch. It was called All'antico Vinaio, and I commented, then, on what a great idea, well carried out and well received concept it was. Two years later we found it again, not by the address, but rather by following a stream of people eating one of their sandwich's in the streets, and when we got there, we discovered that it has become such  great success, that it has expanded three store fronts down and across the street. We got a sandwich called the Inferno. It was hot, but good and we enjoyed it. We had a hard time finding a place where we could put down the water and share the sandwich.

The concept has become so popular, in fact, that there are copycat places in several nearby store fronts.

We discovered, shortly after leaving Florence, that a new ordinance has since gone into effect, fining people over $500 for eating on the street, on curbs or on store front ledges. It almost sounds like it was aimed directly at this place, but we can understand how local business and sit down eateries must feel. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

HC

[BonVivant]

Spanish-esque.

 

 

 

 

 

[CantCookStillTry]

@heidih It's true! I will admit to never having had Beetroot until I got here and it was on everything. Fresh is readily available and is used. But in my experience it is most commonly the tinned/pickled or precooked and vacuum sealed types. Huge ones thick sliced for your burgers and sammys, whole baby ones or tinned tiny cubes for your side salads. Yeah. They love the Beetroot. 

[robirdstx]

 

Lobster tail and garlic butter

[HungryChris]

We paid another visit to La Castellana today. We had reservations and scored another outdoor table with a killer view. Even the bread and olive oil they deliver to your table for a starter are both extraordinary.

 

For apps, Deb chose an artichoke plate. We probably should have shared it. You have to admit

it is a work of kitchen art, with marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, roasted and

marinated cipollini onions and assorted olives.

I had a hard time letting go of the Bruschetta al pomodoro, but reluctantly decided to expand my

experience and chose a bruschetta with lardo and truffles. If I could have waved a wand over

this dish, it would have reappeared with less lardo and more truffles, and perhaps, a splash of

house made truffle oil, but when they took the plate away, there was nothing left on it but the

lettuce.

 

For her main, Deb chose paparadelle with a sauce of stewed wild bore (chinghiale). It is not

unusual, early in the morning, to hear barking hunting dogs among the hills and grapes where

we are staying, with an occasional gunshot. These creatures are a pest in the vineyards, but

a delicious one.

 

Mr. porcini and truffle (yours truly) chose ravioli with a cheese, truffle and porcini stuffing and

a truffle sauce. This dish, while short lived on the plate, will stay with me for a good long time,

I think. If only we could have access to good porcini mushrooms and truffles near us!!

Here is the view from our outdoor table today.

As we headed back to Greve, for our second day at the Chianti wine festival, we both agreed, that while we do love La Castellana,

it is time to go exploring once again.

HC

 

Edited September 9, 2018 by HungryChris (log)

[liuzhou]

Another working lunch at home. Working on a translation with an urgent deadline. Like yesterday!

 

 

Local mozzarella, tomatoes and balcony basil on halved baquettes. Inslata caprese open sandwiches, if you like! Sea salt and pepper.

[Anna N]

 

 Stirfried pork with kimchi and a small salad.

[robirdstx]

Late Lunch/Early Dinner:

 

 

Floyd’s Shrimp Diableaux ~ Bacon-wrapped, cream cheese & jalapeños

[CantCookStillTry]

Boring but pretty desk salad. 

I have never been friends with Salad, probably because I don't like Cucumber or Tomato, but I'm trying. 

Would probably have been a lot better if I remembered most salads have some kind of dressing! 

 

Edit: I know there will be a specific post somewhere in the last 9000 years of egullet that I should ask this question but if someone wants to send me an idea for a dressing to suit this salad - that would be great 😋😆

Edited September 10, 2018 by CantCookStillTry (log)

[rotuts]

Ranch.

[chord]

Out-of-focus photo of my lunch. Carrot and roasted red pepper soup with cornbread.

 

[Anna N]

 

Leftover pork and kimchi with Japanese potato salad (roughly mashed potatoes, carrots, cucumber, onion, hard-boiled egg with a  dressing of kewpie mayonnaise and mustard.   Missing is the optional ham).

[Smithy]

11 minutes ago, Anna N said:

 

Leftover pork and kimchi with Japanese potato salad (roughly mashed potatoes, carrots, cucumber, onion, hard-boiled egg with a  dressing of kewpie mayonnaise and mustard.   Missing is the optional ham).

 

I like the design on those chop sticks. Tell me about eating the potato salad with them, please: does one have to more or less shovel the potato salad with them the way one would sticky rice?

[Anna N]

 The potato salad is pretty cohesive so it poses few challenges to the chopsticks.   It is not like mashed potatoes which have  lots of dairy incorporated.

 

I am not much of a fan of most potato salads but I’ve always enjoyed the Japanese version. I can see where it would be shunned by those who like the distinct potato chunks in their salad. 

[kayb]

One of my favorite lunch places has moved. Went to the new location today. Much has not changed: one now orders at the walk-up counter, gets a number, gets one's drink, and finds a spot to sit, putting the number in a holder. They bring you your food in pretty short order. Menu has been shortened (it used to be several pages in a loose-leaf binder!) and some additions made. They still have their hot sellers -- the quiche, the salads, a few sandwiches, and the killer rolls. And they still have their "Monday special," one of the best meat loafs I've ever eaten. I toyed with the ham palascinta crepes -- haven't had palascintas in approximately forever -- but Monday won out, and I had the meat loaf, with cream cheese corn (about nine million calories, but SO good) and fruit salad. The mashed potatoes, while good, went mostly untouched.

 

 

[lindag]

My weekly meet-up with friends again today at a nearby favorite café.  Two of us had Patty Melts and two had Taco Salad.

The food was great as usual.  I had boxed up half my sandwich to take home but, as I've done before, left it on the table when we exited.  I hate when that happens!

 

 

[heidih]

9 hours ago, Anna N said:

 

Leftover pork and kimchi with Japanese potato salad (roughly mashed potatoes, carrots, cucumber, onion, hard-boiled egg with a  dressing of kewpie mayonnaise and mustard.   Missing is the optional ham).

 

I was going to say my idea of Japanese potato salad (via Hawaii) has ham and is creamier. My friend from Yokohama apologied when she served it thinking I was wedded to "American style". She soon learned I was culturally omnivorous

[HungryChris]

We happened upon a little place called Uscio E Bottega next to an ancient looking church on a tiny little road in Castellina a few days ago. For some reason, neither of us took a picture from the outside, but there is a good one in this review I found, after the fact. We ate outside under the awning to the left of the church. It seemed to be filled with locals and some large families. We felt pretty much right at home there.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g194720-d2271869-Reviews-Uscio_e_Bottega-Castellina_In_Chianti_Tuscany.html

We split an app and a main. The app was a plate that included some prosciutto and salamis, and a tomato and a chicken liver bruschetta. The chicken liver was served hot, which was a surprise to me. Deb would not touch it, but I made it disappear pretty quickly. The highlight, of this Sunday lunch, however was the ravioli stuffed with fresh Pecorino cheese, served in a pear sauce topped with "pink pepper".  If the deer have left us any pears at home, this is something I will try and reproduce. Fresh Pecorino is nowhere to be found at home, but a mildly seasoned ricotta mixture should do fine. It is the pear sauce that will be the challenge.

HC