notes on italia

it's been about (who knows how many) months since my return from the land of all things tasty, and now that i've carried the guilt for FAR long enough, here is the update on all the fantastic things i was able 2 sample on my culinary vacation. this is a lovely breakfast sent to our room daily. i believe the italians call this colazione, but that word doesnt sit so well with me. the delicate little mandarins and apples we took along our walks to the forum and colosseo but the fantastic cafe latte, tea with hot milk & the fantastic WHOLE WHEAT croissants filled with apple filling and sweet, european butter 2 spread over the whole lot was all luxuriously gobbled up before we considered going back 2 sleep, just 4 an hour or 2.

our first night out was a casual one, as our driver (a suspected gigilo) took us 2 a 'locals' place 2 watch roma play some team or another. the place was no frills, and we werent 2 convinced when we ordered bruschetta and the tomato that topped our bread was nearly devoid of color. as a supermarket snob, i am a HUGE fan of bright red tomato, often only buying the holland style, hydroponic tomato here at home. well, upon tasting the little toasts, my friend + i nearly fought over the appetizer. there must be something in the soil, something about the perfect amount of olive oil and salt mixed with the simple tomato, because we have never in life had bruschetta so good, and fear we might not have it again... what followed was a plate of scampi risotto so creamy, so flavorful that i believe i blacked out... and because we were so unconvinced of this place, there are no photos of this meal. sadly...

next door 2 our little residenze hotel, was a fantastic + tourist filled restaurant called pizza imperiale. the owner, a lovely man, with sparkling blue eyes who spoke fluent english and portugues (YAY!) and was well traveled throughout brasil, so we were immediately welcomed. unsure of old world wines + how many euro we could spare tasting wines, we opted for the bottom shelf italian equivalent of chardonnay called frascati and worked over the menu looking for a repeat of our lovely bruschetta from the previous night. imperiale did not disappoint, with offerings of the toast topped with chopped mushrooms + truffle oil + the classic bruschetta naturale, with beautiful red tomatoes. we chased our treats with bottle after bottle of ferrarelle sparkling water + discovered what might be the most seductive, simple plate of melanzane parmgiana in the world. we loved it so much that we found ourselves returning to imperiale day after day ordering the very same thing. a lunch for two with a half bottle of frascati, the two bruschetta + two orders of melanzane cost us 31.50 €.


it's safe 2 say that ALL our eating experiences in roma were great ones, and the single one that was not was in vatican city, and we wont tell u anything about the place, aside from the fact that it's named arlu's, and is not recommended. if u're headed 2 vatican city, plan on stopping by a supermarket, pack some cheeses, fruit + salumi + plan 2 picnic after u've walked thru. a few surprises were a place called cafe tazza d'oro. although we didnt have coffee (a sacrilege), i discovered a few new chocolates that will haunt me until i get my hands on them next. the first was from a well known swiss chocolatier, lindt, but this one was laced with peperoncino, a hot pepper and was perfectly balanced in spice + sweetness + creamy mouthfeel. sadly, it's only sold in italy, not online + not at the lindt stores, even here in nyc. the second is one whose name i've forgotten after all this time, but now i'm planning 2 tear up the house 2 find the wrapper with the name on it... another real treat was discovering a sicilian pasticceria called ciuri ciuri that made not only gelato, but fantastic little sweet ricotta filled fried ravioli, perfect with a bitter, creamy espresso.

it's no secret that rome left a mark on my heart + it left a significant mark on my palate. upon returning, nothing was tasty enough, nothing was rich or simple enough in taste. the smartest thing i did was shop. shopping, not in boutiques, but in food shops, where i could bring the feeling of italia back 2 my kitchen. the simple knorr packettes of 'just add water + butter' risotto are better than most that u can buy in restaurants here in the US. the luxury of being able 2 have a little taste of italy at home is the best souvenir u could bring home.

 *update* nov 9, 2008:: the chocolate i fell head over feet for, with the name i couldnt recall is venchi, cuor di cacao