Thoughts on a trip to Italy

[tommy]

several people have urged me to post notes about the meals i had on my recent trip to Italy. at the risk of coming off as self-indulgent, i will oblige.

i tried to take as many notes as possible (i generally do this for myself during notable meals, but i will say that this is the first time i've done it knowing that they'd probably have to be put together for public consumption), but some are just illegible, as my handwriting is so horrible, and others are sparse. so i'll just make stuff up at points.

the first few posts here might very well be long and boring. that's a function of the amount of notes i took for the first few meals, and the excitement level during those meals. rest assured, as the notes for subsequent meals morph into posts, they'll be much shorter.

i'll also apologize for misspellings and general ignorance in advance. my knowledge of the language (english) and italian wines/foods is pretty grim, so i don't know if i'm spelling stuff correctly or not. but you'll get the general gist.

at any rate, i thank everyone again for so many great recs. and i hope these ramblings will help someone else decide on restaurants in Italy.

[elyse]

Can we hear more about your spelling?

[tommy]

Our first night in Italy was spent in Milan, as that is where we landed. Rather than add another 3 hours to an already long trip to get to Venice, we opted to spend the night in town.

Jet lag had taken its toll. We arrived at 10 am, couldn't check in til noon, I left my camera at home, and I hadn't felt the urge to pee in about 15 hours. We had no choice but to walk around, dazed, tired, and probably stinky (well, me anyway). McDonalds seemed scarily appealing at times, but my goal was to buy a camera. They saw me coming. I bought pretty much the same one I have at home, but this one had zoom. We took the requisite 2 hour nap, and lunchtime came and went. Back onto the streets to see what was what.

We took Craig Camp's advice (and this was not the last time you can be assured) and walked to the Duomo. The Duomo in Milan is perhaps the single most amazing structure I've ever seen. I've been moved by other churches, but the spindles on this thing were simply awe-inspiring.

Craig suggested a snack at the touristy Galleria, next to the Duomo, as it provides "good people watching". At 4 pm, who were we to argue. We sat our asses down and ordered some sliced meat and spumante at a non-descript ristorante in the mall. Our first bite and sip in Italy. Quite pleasing, overall. However, the people-watching aspect quickly indicted that I dress like a complete dick, and even the fashion-conscious and smartly-dressed Mrs. Tommy was feeling the need for a shower and a new "bag."

Boccondivino

Via Carducci 17 Milano

Tel.: 02866040 Fax: 02867368

website

We had no idea where or what to eat, but I brought some print-outs of threads from the Italy board. Craig had suggested, somewhat in passing, that we should eat at Boccondivino if in Milan. Again, who were we to argue. We called for 8 o'rock reservations. No problem. The cab dropped us off, and the door was locked. A friendly fellow came running from inside the restaurant and quickly opened the door and sat us in front next to the window. Thoughts of "oh my god, we're the only ones here", quickly ran through our heads. "Is that guy Craig a complete moron? Would he recommend a restaurant that is completely dead and uninteresting?" Mrs. Tommy quickly lost faith in my promises that the good people of egullet would not steer us wrong. Well, that thought was about to fade into the wind, and would not return. Ever.

A gracious server, immediately recognizing my "buona sera" as that of a fat-tongued fat-faced American, greeted us with something along the lines of "welcome to Boccondivino". Fair enough. He then explained what was about to happen. He suggested that we would be eating meat, pasta, cheese, and more of the above. He said "the only thing you should decide on is the wine". Not having any clue as to what was going on, I simply said "please put us in your hands" in my best Italian, which came out something like "please put us in your hands". He was pleased at that, and with a "very good", off he went, leaving us there to wonder what was happening. However, we had a basket of crudite to keep us busy. Not much unlike you'd find in restaurants in France. Clearly, as a tourist, I was confused, but I poured some olive oil and vinegar in the dish, and cracked some salt and pepper in it. I mean, that's only common sense. We nibbled at the carrots and peppers and leafy greens with great hesitation. After all, we are tourists. Our server was pleased and came by to make sure we put salt and pepper in our dish. We nodded knowingly. Yes, we know what's going on, we figured. After all, we're tourists, but we know food.

Fast forward 20 seconds. Spumante comes out. A wonderful Prosecco. The gentleman pours it, and leaves the bottle on the table. Now, for those of you who are pathetic alcoholics like me, you can imagine the delight/confusion of this. Do we drink more? Do we drink it *all*? Are we paying by the inch? Screw it. we've got our "vacation wad" on us, and we can afford the extra inch.

Fast forward a few minutes. A plate of pate on toast comes out along with another bottle: an oaky Arbiola Monferrato. Too oaky for me. At any rate, it's 30% chardonnay and 70% sauvignon blanc. Not a bad wine by any means, but not my style. But, I'm committed to learning how to enjoy oaked wines, as I know my ignorance is my worst enemy. But we liked the crispy spumante with the pate.

Fried balls of goodness came out about 3 minutes later. These were basically fried balls of taleggio (I got this from craig's Boot Camp, although my notes suggest veal) and gorgonzola. Oh my, these were tasty. And again, we liked the spumante with the fried and rich balls.

Next out on the table were meats. 2 types of prosciutto. Salty and delicious. Additionally, as my notes suggest, I uttered the words "I want to become intimate with this ham". The best lardo I've ever tasted hit the plate. It seemed "seasoned from the inside out". And it wasn't just salt. The flavor was so wonderful and full, and, of course, the lardo melted in the mouth. This is perhaps a more exciting experience than even foie gras. Don¡¦t tell anyone I said that.

Our server then brought out a leg of a pig, in that torture device thing. All pinned up, this thing could not escape. He deftly sliced pieces so thin that you could see through them. I didn¡¦t ask what it was, nor did I care. I needed it to be on my plate and then in my mouth. It was all very dramatic.

OK, now we're full, and slightly buzzed. Check please? Nah, I don't think so.

Pappardelle came out, served from a huge hallowed out piece of cheese. This is quite a sight, and pretty fucking incredible. At the same time, a risotto was served. Both in small portions, and both wonderful. Served with a Pietratorcia Scheria Rosso (99). I have no idea if my notes are accurate on that one. But given my lack of knowledge of Italian wines, I have to just types it as I¡¦s reads it. This wine was 40% Anglianico and 30% syrah. Very zin-like. Fruit driven and little tannin. I¡¦ve found most Italian (red) wines to have these characteristics. I only figured that out on this trip. I need to look into it a bit more as I hate generalizations. But, given I like fruit-driven wines, and zins, I liked this wine quite a bit.

My notes get a little vague here, as, quite frankly, I stopped given a shit about noting what I was eating, and I was more into actually eating it.

3 soft cheeses hit the table: Bufala mozzerala, burrata di andria (sour and interesting), and ricotta pugliese (strangely nutty, and fascinating). More cheese came after that, along with an amarone (which I just love) and a dessert wine that was chilled and almond-y.

And then, the cheese cart. This cart would give most NYC restaurants a run for their money. We were asked if we wanted strong or mild cheeses. I asked for strong. I don't know if my request went misunderstood, but the cheeses were certainly not what I'd characterize as strong (although there were some strong-looking cheeses on the cart). That was the only misstep of this meal. I would have preferred some seriously pungent cheese.

At the end of the night, there were about 7 bottles in front of us. What did they do with the leftovers? How much would this cost? It was all too baffling. And, did I mention the grappa? Oh yes, the grappa. I can't drink that stuff, so I had more amarone.

I think the bill was about 140 for 2 people.

I would seriously consider stopping in Milan, given the chance, just to go here. Granted, repeat visits might provoke that feeling of "the same again", but it was simply the most fun meal we had in Italy.

[hollywood]

Wow! Off to a great start. Did you walk on the roof of the Duomo in Milan? Now, aren't there more details? Venice, for example.

And letting me know he's a-waiting.

He's a-waiting ohh there. Yeah.

Edited November 2, 2003 by hollywood (log)

[tommy]

Wow!  Off to a great start.  Did you walk on the roof of the Duomo in Milan?  Now, aren't there more details?  Venice, for example.

jesus dude, that took me 3 days. give me a chance.

didn't get up to the top. i was too hungry and we were pressed for time. went up to the top of other structures, however, including the Torre degli Asinelli in Bologna, which almost put me in an early grave.

[hollywood]

went up to the top of other structures, however, including the Torre degli Asinelli in Bologna, which almost put me in an early grave.

When your eyes return to your skull, I'm sure you'll fill us in. I am curious if the early grave would have resulted from exertion or bad traction. Having never been to Bologna, I don't have a clue about the structure/widowmaker.

Hey, it just occurred to me! Are there gonna be photos? You did buy a camera after all.

[beans]

I love it tommy. Thanks for sharing. I look forward to more.

[Varmint]

This may be the first tommy post where I don't have a smart ass comment. Thanks for the report, and I look forward to what follows.

[tommy]

This may be the first tommy post where I don't have a smart ass comment.  Thanks for the report, and I look forward to what follows.

i also think it was my first post that didn't have a smart ass remark. i don't like this trend at all.

[hollywood]

jesus dude, that took me 3 days.  give me a chance.

As you know, Agent Tommy, it's the Company's policy to conduct an immediate, comprehensive debriefing to prevent loss of critical data and distractions caused by thoughts of bedding Jennifer Garner.

[tommy]

So many people said “don’t go to Venice.” “There’s nothing to see there.” “The food in Venice sucks.” “It’s all tourists.” Well, all of those things are accurate to one extent or another. However, Venice is absolutely magical. It’s unlike any place on earth. I’d say it’s like Disneyland and Las Vegas, but I’d only say that because they have Venice at those places too. But they’re nothing like the real Venice.

Osteria al Mascaron

Tel - 041 5225995

Castello 5525, calle lunga Santa Maria Formosa

This was our first meal in Venice. We knew going in that there would be communal seating. What we didn’t know was that the two people next to us would be such complete tw*ts. Tourists, from Germany. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

At any rate, the table at which we were seated was just big enough for, say, 2 people. Throwing 2 more into the mix made the entire situation quite cramped. If my legs were any fatter, I would have gotten stuck between the woman next to me and the table leg. But back to the beginning…

Osteria al Mascaron is a cozy enough little place, well away from the touristy and crowded San Marco scene. We scoped it out during the day, and were very much looking forward to having dinner. We were seated at a 4 top, and I pretty much figured that we’d have neighbors. When the neighbors came in and were shown the table, they definitely looked as if they were even more unhappy to be sitting next to us than we were them. I figured it would be OK, and we soldiered on . Unfortunately they were the coldest people I’d ever rubbed knees with. It was clear that they were listening to everything we were saying, and commenting to each other in their native tongue as well. I’m quite sure this tainted our impression of the meal, which is unfortunate…but it gave us impetus to suck down some house wine.

Mrs. Tommy ordered Antipasto Misto. We both kinda assumed that there’d be some vegetables and meat and stuff like that. Unfortunately for Mrs. Tommy, it was all fish. And all of her not-so-favorites: squid (with the head), octopus, tuna (with mayo), sardines, etc. Between our neighbors, and getting presented with this, Mrs. Tommy had no choice but to just laugh. We sucked down more house wine.

I started with squid in black ink sauce. A classic Venetian dish I think. I actually thought it was going to be pasta with black ink, but it was the squid. It was a decent dish, although gritty in places, which just drives me bonkers. I sucked down more house wine.

The lobster with spaghetti came out, which was recommended by our friendly-enough server. As we soon found out, Venetian lobster isn’t the Maine lobster that we’re accustomed to. It’s got a stronger flavor, and is almost a bit fishy. This, of course, drove Mrs. Tommy to suck down more house wine. It was a decent dish, and the sauce was quite good. At this point Mrs. Tommy is dunking her bread in the sauce. As some of you might have noticed, I find humor in constant repetition. So I start saying my favorite line of the trip, “You know, using your bread to clean the plate is a sign that you like the dish”, and Mrs. Tommy cuts me off at “plate” and finishes with “is a sign of starvation”. We had a nice laugh, which pissed our humorless neighbors off sufficiently. We sucked down more house wine.

The communal seating, I think, was too tight. It just put a damper on the whole dinner. The kicker is, the people behind us, at another communal table, were a young English speaking couple, who were talking about cooking and Thai food and travel, and were very pleasant and fun. It was salt on the wound. So we sucked down more house wine and then laughed all the way to the hotel.

About 76 euro.

[pete ganz]

Are all the tables 4 tops, or are there also really big tables that can sit like 20 people? At least you'd have a chance to talk to more people if it was a bigger table.

[tommy]

Are all the tables 4 tops, or are there also really big tables that can sit like 20 people? At least you'd have a chance to talk to more people if it was a bigger table.

most were 4 tops. no big communal tables that i saw. you're right thought. if the odds were increased, it would have been better. some of the places had tables tighter than even those in NYC that are very close. in most situations, we had nice conversation with the people next to us. still, even though there were only a few inches btwn those tables, it's nice to have that "barrier". at the very least, there was generally no fear of touching the person. not so in this case.

[hollywood]

As some of you might have noticed, I find humor in constant repetition.

The word is about, there's something evolving,

whatever may come, the world keeps revolving

They say the next big thing is here,

that the revolution's near,

but to me it seems quite clear

that it's all just a little bit of history repeating

[elyse]

Oh tommy, you make me laugh.

[Suzanne F]

tommy, I always knew you had it in you.

The ability to make some damn good reports, that is. More, please. I can hardly wait for Bologna!

[tanabutler]

I'm loving this, Mr. Tommy.

[SethG]

This is starting to resemble your bio, Tommy (where I've never dared to tread), but let me add my voice to the chorus. I love the reports. Keep 'em coming!

[elyse]

Welcome to the dark side, Seth.

[tommy]

This is starting to resemble your bio, Tommy (where I've never dared to tread), but let me add my voice to the chorus.  I love the reports.  Keep 'em coming!

yes seth. with hollywood posting quotes from pop songs, it does seem to be similar. however, the direction of this thread will hopefully be decidedly more culinary...if we can just keep hollywood focused.

[Priscilla]

Tommy this is all very cool and evocative. Moremoremore.

[hollywood]

if we can just keep hollywood focused. 

Have you been taking notes again?

[Craig Camp]

Tommy this is all very cool and evocative.  Moremoremore.

Tommy goes to Italy and now not only is he stylishly dressed but is...evocative.

Is the world ready for an evocative Tommy?

By the way, what that guy at Boccondivino was slicing off that leg was Prosciutto di Norcia - as you will see in the photo here and in the photo page link at the bottom of the Boccondivino page.

[tommy]

Tommy goes to Italy and now not only is he stylishly dressed

not so fast there captain.

[hollywood]

Tommy this is all very cool and evocative.  Moremoremore.

In the midnight hour she cried - "more, more, more"

With a rebel yell she cried - "more, more, more"

In the midnight hour babe - "more, more, more"

With a rebel yell - "more, more, more"

More, more, more.

[sorry, tommy, couldn't stay focused.]