CNN Series - Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy

[blue_dolphin]

@paul o' vendange mentioned this over in the pizza topic:

On 2/15/2021 at 4:25 PM, paul o' vendange said:

Guys, 

Just to chime in on pizza, if people haven’t watched it, man the Stanley Tucci in Italy event on CNN is out of this world.  First one last night in Naples, origins of pizza, Amalfi Coast.

 

I agree that it's great and thought I'd pop it up over here since it goes well beyond pizza.  The title of the show is “Stanley Tucci: Searching For Italy,” it's on CNN and there are 6 episodes.  The first one to air, Naples And The Amalfi Coast, was filmed after the first lockdown was lifted so masks are in evidence.  The second episode, Rome, was filmed pre-pandemic.

SCHEDULE
February 14   Naples And The Amalfi Coast

February 21  Rome
February 28  Bologna
March 7  Milan
March 14  Tuscany
March 21  Sicily

There are some clips online at this link.

This link lists the dishes and featured restaurants for the 2 episodes that have already aired and hopefully will be updated as the future episodes air. 

[weinoo]

I've seen the first two, and for some reason they don't move me.  How do you do Rome without some of its classic street food, like the famous fried baccala, pizza (either al taglio or blanca), suppli, gelato? Too much eating of pasta standing up. 

 

I was happy they gave Santo Palato a shout out (Not surprising with Katie P.) - it's a great restaurant. I've had that tripe and the frittata and both are so good.

 

 

 

It's a bustling, friendly place -even way before starting to get attention.

 

 

Maybe I just miss Tony for this kind of stuff...does anyone really do it as he did?

Edited February 22, 2021 by weinoo (log)

[blue_dolphin]

4 minutes ago, weinoo said:

I've seen the first two, and for some reason they don't move me.  How do you do Rome without some of it's classic street food, like the famous fried baccala, pizza (either al taglio or blanca), suppli, gelato? Too much eating of pasta standing up. 

...

Maybe I just miss Tony for this kind of stuff...does anyone really do it as he did?

 

Very fair to call out what it's not.  Being unable to travel for so long, I enjoyed it for what it was and actually thought it was a reasonable call to let the Rome episode revolve primarily around a few pasta dishes rather than trying to cover every food eaten in the city.  But comprehensive?  No.  And not Bourdain either!

[KennethT]

I saw the first 2 episodes also, they were ok, but they both made me long for Bourdain.

[gfweb]

1 hour ago, KennethT said:

 they both made me long for Bourdain.

 

Yeah, but I still have trouble watching Tony.

[Eatmywords]

My sister was just rec'ng the show yesterday.  I'll chk it out (with low expectations thx to Weinoo).  Having been starved for travel for so long I like to think I'll be happy to have anything new to watch.  

 

As for Tony, I still have a really hard time accepting he's no longer with us let alone by his own doing.  Miss him. 

[Kim Shook]

We have loved both episodes.  Love Stanley Tucci and appreciate his joy in what he's eating and who he's meeting.  It's funny how much I'm noticing all the touching that people do - I wonder if I'd have noticed it so much prior to the pandemic?

 

And while I appreciate what Tony brought to the world and miss his contributions, I have to say that Tucci suits my disposition better than Bourdain's too-cool-for-school attitude and occasional dick-fencing did.  

[Eatmywords]

Watched the first (Emilia Romagna) episode last night.  Nicely produced, beautiful cinematography (as expected for a well funded show).  Not that much any food centric person hasn't seen before.   Tucci comes off a bit too cocky and more knowledgeable than he is.  Not as off putting as Zimmern but not too far off.