Tag Archives: restaurants

One Thanksgiving just isn’t enough

26 Nov
In the U.S., our Thanksgivings were usually over-the-top: 13 people in our tiny condo for a 5-course meal, for example. This is definitely the holiday I miss most living abroad and replacing our U.S. traditions just doesn’t fit. So we do Thanksgiving differently. One year it was a non-traditional hike. The next we cooked dinner for 11 Italians at our friends’ house. Last year we fed ourselves on American nostalgia by touring the Norman Rockwell exhibit that was here. This year, we celebrated twice, because once is not enough.
A week prior to T-Day, the American Women’s Association of Rome held their annual Thanksgiving dinner and we joined about 110 ex-pats and Italians for an Italian-ized dinner at the ever-so-elegant Hotel Hassler. If you want a room there tomorrow night you would pay €330.00 non-refundable for the smallest room. For only an extra €100.00, you do not have to pre-pay and get breakfast too. Such a bargain. Personally I’d prefer a 3-night stay in a cute B&B in Venezia.
Elegant tablesetting at the Hassler.

Elegant table setting at the Hassler.

Cin Cin!

Cin Cin!

The AWAR dinner was beautifully prepared and served with prosecco and wine flowing freely. So freely I had to put my hand over my glass a couple of times to prevent the constant topping-off.  As I said, the menu was Italianized. Of course, there was a pasta, in this case perhaps the most delightful lasagna I’ve ever eaten, made with pumpkin and porcini. It was my intention to NOT complete each course, to pace myself and not overdo it. I managed to do so with the soup, but the lasagna demanded to be eaten. If there had not been 10 other people at the table, I might have finished off Ric’s too. (Note bene: all of the Italians finished their pasta. I was just trying to blend in.) While on the menu it looks like we had five side dishes (Brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, corn, apple/soy cabbage, and chestnut with baby onions), in actuality only the sweet potatoes were a portion; the other four were a melange, more of a garnish than a vegetable dish.
OMG to-die-for lasagn of pumpkin, mushrooms and almonds.

OMG to-die-for lasagna of pumpkin, mushrooms and almonds.

 
Italian take on a Thanksgiving dinner.

Italian take on a Thanksgiving dinner.

 
The little garnsih including the Burssles sprout and corn at 12:00 on the plate comprised of 4 individual items on the menu. More of a garnish,actually.

The little garnish including the Brussels sprouts and corn at 12:00 on the plate comprised of 4 individual items on the menu.

 
The dessert buffet was insane and totally Italian. I managed — only being polite — to down a wedge of something intensely chocolate. We finished the evening with a visit to the rooftop for a moonlit view over Roma. Fabulous.
Our “second Thanksgiving” is barely underway but is decidedly low-key. Setting up the house for Christmas, watching a movie or two (last night, the annual viewing of Planes, Trains and Automobiles), and later dinner with friends at a favorite trattoria. 
May those of you who celebrate this great American holiday have a truly blessed day. We look forward to hosting one of our classic dinners when we return to Portland. 
Dessert buffet: no pumpkin pie in sight.

Dessert buffet: no pumpkin pie in sight.

 
Roma by moonlight from the hassler, above the Spanish Steps.

Roma by moonlight from the Hassler, above the Spanish Steps.

 
 

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Land of giant everything

2 Aug
An embarrassment of riches aptly describes the retail scene in the U.S. What an amazing thing it is to walk into a Safeway store after 3 years’ absence and see aisle-after-aisle of options! Acres of wine, miles of frozen foods, yet a rather humble selection of pasta types. The Safeway was at least five-times the size of our “big” neighborhood grocery store, DOC Parioli, but DOC has five-times the pasta.
The wine aisle in a Safeway store. Una scelta imbarazzante! (A selection so grand it's embarrassing!)

The wine aisle in a Safeway store. Una scelta imbarazzante! (A selection so grand it’s embarrassing!)

Going for coffee at an independent coffee house in Portland, we chuckled over the large cappuccino one patron was nursing. Ric took a picture with her hands and laptop in view for perspective. I was excited to get espresso over ice without the barista cocking an eyebrow and looking down her nose at me. It just isn’t done in Italy. You can have a shakerato or a sweetened caffe’ fredo, but over ice? I had more ice in my single drink than I can even fit in my Roman freezer.
Iced, iced iced! In the foreground my iced espresso, which is a sacrilege in Italy. Ric's "small" iced coffee (rear) was not only huge but undrinkable due to a burned taste.

Iced, iced iced! In the foreground my iced espresso, which is a sacrilege in Italy. Ric’s “small” iced coffee (rear) was not only huge but undrinkable due to a burned taste.

Coffee in the U.S.  is even more expensive than I remember, and it takes a long time to make an espresso. In Roma, from ordering to drinking is the blink of an eye. At Starbucks the other day I waited at least five minutes. What takes so long to pull a shot?
Land of the giant everything, a "bowl" of cappuccino at neighboring table.

Land of the giant everything, a “bowl” of cappuccino at neighboring table.

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Long weekend

22 Feb
The Presidents’ Day long weekend gave us an opportunity to celebrate: my birthday and Valentine’s Day, not the presidents. In Oregon we almost always went to the coast for a few days this time of year. Last year we spent 5 days celebrating in Rome as tourists. This year we had a weekend at an agriturismo in mind, and the opportunity to stock up on wine from a favorite cantina we visited last July. How lucky are we to be able to say “We’re going to Toscana for the weekend”?
Toscana in winter is not for the faint of heart. It is chilly: 32-34 degrees Fahrenheit overnight and maybe high 40s at the highest during the day. (OK, I know the U.S. is in a deep freezer right now and 40 sounds pretty balmy, but that is considered cold here. And we are considerably less acclimated to cold than our Minnesota and North Dakota roots would indicate.) There are no sunflowers, and vineyards are bare, but also there are no crowds, driving is easy, and wineries and restaurants are welcoming.
Last April we bought a stay at Agriturismo Poggio Etrusco at an auction. As readers of this blog are aware, we are on-the-go a lot as I try to burn up all of my paid vacation time before I retire. So it was winter before we found time in the schedule for this trip. 

 

Our Agriturismo house. About 400 years old.
A small portion of the yard and garden at Poggio Etrusco.
Beautiful sunset from our agristurismo.
Barnyard friends.
Beautiful antique furniture in an enormous bedroom at Poggio Etrusco.
Part of the main room in our Tuscan apartment.
Just enough rooms for preparing small meals and snacks.
One of the downsides of a trip to Toscana is that we have to rent a car and I have to drive. Ric is the navigator and manages the GPS, a bitch voice named Bonnie. She drives me mad with her repetitious, annoying flat mechanical voice. And she’s not always right, so we have to have maps as well to double-check her directions. For example, I have no idea how we ended up on a dirt road coming home from one day trip when our outbound portion was all paved. I think Bonnie found a “short cut” to entertain herself. HOWEVER, without Bonnie we would have much more trouble navigating and we have learned to always take her along. We have also learned when to turn her off so we don’t end up in a ZTL.
The upside to renting a car is we have a method to transport massive quantities of wine and olive oil. Our Fiat 500L was luckily big enough to handle the purchases. If we had bought anymore we’d have needed a van. We whiled away the weekend at wineries, visited an abbey we have planned on seeing since our first trip here in 2010, ate too much, and got to know the Montepulciano area better.
The Abbazia di Monte Oliveto Maggiore is a magnificent and off-the-beaten-track place to visit, at least in winter.  It was begun in 1320, which in itself is hard to grasp, and also houses priceless frescoes from the 15th and 16th centuries. One wanders down a forest path to visit this very peaceful place. It was fun to be the only visitors wandering around on our own. The monks make wine, olive oil, herbal remedies, honey, and soaps. An affable young man named Luca was manning the cantina and entertained us with stories and history. An enjoyable aspect to off-season visits is the availability of people like Luca who have time to chat when visitors are not lined up 6 deep. 

 

The Abbey of Monte Oliveto Maggiore
The cloisters contain priceless frescoes by Luca Signorelli and Antonio Bazzi depicting the life of Saint Benedict. We were the only admirers here this day.
Rather violent details in a fresco, showing some of the feats of St. Benedict.
This is the magnificent choir in the abbey church. Inlaid wood.
The monks dining hall.
We met Luca, who runs the cantina for the monks. He has a lot of great info and stories to share. And plenty of time on a winter Sunday to chat.
Part of the historic wine operation at the abbey.
The wine used to be aged underground and hauled up this ramp in small casks carried by the monks.
One does have to plan meals around restaurant openings especially in the off season. On Friday we arrived at our destination, Poggio Etrusco, a farm that produces olive oil and wine, after 2:00 PM and were directed to try to find something to eat in the town of Montepulciano as there was nothing open in the little hamlet near the farm. On the way to Montepulciano at almost 3:00 PM, we saw a place that in retrospect I can only describe as a Tuscan Tourist Roadside Attraction. Almost like Camp 18 in Oregon. The quality of the food was fine, but sale of products was clearly uppermost in the minds of the staff and owner. You are caused to walk through their retail space on the way to the cavernous dining room; there’s a push toward the €20-€30 bottles of wine (not at lunch, thank you); and walking back through the retail area to pay, there are all kinds of inviting products practically throwing themselves off the shelves at you. That said, it was the only game in – or out – of town and there were Italians eating there too. If we had waited until we got up into Montepulciano we’d have ended up eating cheese, sausage, and oranges standing on a street corner in the cold.
Cavernous Ristorante Pulcino - not my picture but from their website. I wish I had photographed the outside for you!
Cavernous Ristorante Pulcino – not my picture but from their website. I wish I had photographed the outside for you!
We ate some meals at some old favorite places (Grappolo Blu in Montalcino) and also discovered some new ones like Tre Stelle in Sant’Albino. We also enjoyed the luxury of hanging about the farm, entertained by cats, dogs, and chickens, nibbling on pecorino from Pienza, sipping wine provided by our host, eating the aforementioned oranges, in front of a lovely fire in a massive fireplace.  I will say for those who seek a non-touristy experience, winter in Toscana will provide that. As long as you aren’t forced into Ristorante Pulcino. And bring your flannel pajamas.
Artful display on pecorino in a Pienza window. Brought home a few kilos….
Lovely path in Pienza. The sun helped chase away the chill, a little.
Part of our wine purchase. The trunk was fuller when we finished shopping: leather, honeys, olive oil and more wine.
This little guy was begging for attention.

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Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

6 Jan
The last two weeks have been busy what with four – count ’em – four holidays in Italy! December 25 and 26 (Santo Stefano) we spent in Ortisei (see prior posts), then returning from vacation we had two more holidays to enjoy: New Year’s Day and Epifania.  Life is good!
New Year’s Eve we traveled to our favorite trattoria in Roma, Antica Taverna. The owner Paolo and our favorite waiter, Giovanni, took good care of us and we enjoyed a protracted dinner with too many dishes to name them all and a steady supply of good red wine. The dessert was the only item I managed to photograph, a delightful tortino al cioccolato.  It tasted 10 times better then it looks. It was THAT GOOD.  We slipped out before 23:00 in hopes of finding a cab before the whole city descended into chaos. The buses stop running at 21:00 on NYE because they can’t make it through the streets effectively. Can you imagine? Shutting down the buses because there are too many people in the streets? The Metro runs but unfortunately nowhere near our home. We can walk from Antica Taverna to home in 75-90 minutes, but it was really cold (for Roma) and walking did not seem like much fun. What luck! We found a cab at an obscure cabstand near the restaurant! Got home in time to endure 45 minutes of neighborhood revelry.  Some year we need to be brave and go down to the party in via Fori Imperiali and see the fireworks over the Colosseo. Some year.
This weekend was the start of the winter saldi (sales). We had a couple of purchases in mind and headed out into a bright if chilly Sunday along with THOUSANDS of people making their way to our destination, a major shopping street near the Vatican. We made our way by bus to transfer to the Metro at Termini. The Metro was packed like the Japanese subway on a business day. I wanted to take a picture of how crowded it was, but I couldn’t maneuver to do so packed in as I was with my arms pinned! We wondered at so many people heading out to shop! We might have bailed in the Metro station but by that time we were like cows going through chutes and there was no turning back. Moo. When we got to our stop, the hoards headed down the street toward the Vatican. It was then that we realized they were headed to Piazza San Pietro for the Pope’s angelis. Shopping was busy too, but not quite the cattle drive.
Today is Epifania, the official end to the Christmas season, also called Befana, when the witch La Befana visits the children leaving candy for the good ones and coal for the not-so-good children. Having no young children around and having spent Christmas out of Roma, we decided to have a small group of friends for a decidedly non-traditional lunch. Is Italian-Swedish a fusion cuisine? Our new friends and soon-to-be-landlords had voiced an interest in Swedish meatballs, and she wanted to make a special Neopolitan pastiera for dessert. Combined with a purè di patate casserole, Swedish pickled herring, Swedish cheese, a beet salad, and Italian salumi, it was cross-cultural event. Unfortunately as we got into entertaining we forgot to take more pictures!
So now we have to go a week-and-a-half until the next holiday, Martin Luther King’s birthday. Hope I can make it!

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Tranquil Toscana

13 Jul
In the past couple of days, two regular readers have told me I am not blogging enough, so I finally got my act together to offer up this trip report. Lest you think life is just one big vacation for us, we do still have to cook, shop, do laundry, clean the cat boxes, go to medical appointments, and I might add, work, as that is our reason for being here. Much of what we do daily is not exactly blog-worthy. You, dear readers, only get the good stuff.
Tuscany offers one spectacular view after another.
Tuscany offers one spectacular view after another.
I am not sure what I expected when we decided to spend the holiday weekend in Montalcino. Certainly I expected some traffic in the height of summer, maybe mosquitoes as well. We found neither. What we did find was tranquility, uncrowded restaurants, and winemakers anxious to tell us about their wines in private tastings. We prefer off-season travel; we just did not know this would actually be off-season.
We had planned to go to Abruzzo, but at an Embassy auction we acquired a three-night stay at an agriturismo. Therefore, destination decided: Le Ragnaie, less than 4 kilometers outside of Montalcino in the heart of Brunello di Montalcino country.  This is a delightful, peaceful spot, not far off the road but miles away in spirit. We slept 9 hours on Friday night and Saturday night thanks to the absence of 1) AMA trucks picking up trash, 2) seagulls screaming at 3:00AM, and 3) motorini. We feasted on a terrific breakfast spread every morning, a great start to a day in the country.
Le Ragnaie is also a producer of organic wines, with grapes hand-picked and sorted. Guests are welcome to sample and discuss the wines in an intimate setting, which we did with out host, Augustino, and a lovely couple visiting from Sweden. We saw very few North Americans, by the way, anywhere in the area.  I guess most are intent on seeing Venice, Florence and Rome, but really, two or three days out of the mainstream would do any traveler good.
Goat family eyes us warily as we hike along their country road.
Goat family eyes us warily as we hike along their country road.
Planning to eat those hearty Tuscan meals and to taste our share of Brunello, we started each day with a long walk, in the cool of the morning. As early risers we were rewarded with soft light and encountered only a few locals starting their days. From Le Ragnaie, just across the road is a country lane leading to Villa a Tolli, another agriturismo. We walked past fields of sheep, goats and a donkey, as well as vineyards. Then we turned around and hiked the 2.8 km back to breakfast.
Another morning we parked in Montalcino well before the town was awake, and walked through deserted streets in search of coffee. [The only problem with an agriturismo, B&B, or small hotel is the absence of coffee when we roll out at dawn.] The morning light shined softly on golden Tuscan walls and the empty streets belied the busyness of Monday-to-come. Luckily in Piazza del Popolo we found coffee and fresh pastry at 07:00 to sustain us until our agriturismo breakfast would be ready.
Color added by seasonal flowers really perks up the town, Pienza.
Color added by seasonal flowers really perks up the town, Pienza.
With two days in the area, we spent one taking the magnificent drive to Pienza and Montepulciano. Classic Tuscan scenes unfolded: villas at the end of drives lined by Italian cypress, fields of grain and hay bales, and vast tracts of vines. In Pienza the tempting scent of pecorino wafting out of the shops enticed us to pick up some of the famed cheese, one with pepe nero and the other wrapped in olive leaves. Stop by and we’ll share.
Montepulciano gave our legs a workout. We parked at the bottom of the town and worked our way up to Piazza Grande. Montepulciano makes a fine lunch stop and there are many tempting shops. Since we had the luxury of a car and did not have to worry about handling luggage, we indulged in some gift buying. Now I only have to find those things and remember to pack them when we go to the States in October.
My Italian friend Eleonora told me about a wine she liked from Montalcino, a Brunello from Ventolaio. We found Ventolaio was only a bit beyond our morning walk to Villa a Tolli, so I called late Saturday afternoon to see if we could visit. In my hesitant Italian I asked and was told certainly they were open, please come! Maria Assunta welcomed us with four of her excellent wines accompanied by cheeses, bread with her own fine olive oil, and a big heart. Maria and her son Baldassare told us about their wines, property, history, and family. The entire operation on 89 hectares is run by mom, dad, and two sons. We could not have asked for a better aperitivo! We returned with the boot full of 36 bottles of wine, six of olive oil, and one excellent grappa. The Barton household will be having several dinners planned around Maria Assunta’s fine wines in the months to come. She says the 2010 is going to be one of the very best years for Brunello, so we need to stop by in January for the release. Feel free to place your orders; my handling charge is small.
Wonderful detail on a pillar of the Abbey.
Wonderful detail on a pillar of the Abbey.
Since we were driving, I had to watch my wine consumption and not have to drive too far from restaurant to lodging. (No such problem for Ric who chooses to be the navigator.) Fortunately, there are many fine restaurants in Montalcino. We are fond of Taverna Grappolo Blu. For four years I held a taste memory of their polenta vegetariana and I was not disappointed in the replay. The wine list is a heavy binder; One almost needs to order a glass of wine and an antipasto to sustain one while reading. Another favorite is Ristorante San Giorgio. While many of the restaurants in the more touristy streets and piazzas were almost devoid of patrons, the convivial, family friendly atmosphere of San Giorgio attracted many locals. It boasts a menu ranging from Tuscan favorites to fine pizza and the prices were a terrific relief from what we face in Rome.
Abbey of Sant'Antimo, near Montalcino
Abbey of Sant’Antimo, near Montalcino
Sunday we ventured beyond Montalcino, to Locanda Sant’Antimo in Castelnuovo dell’Abate.  Sunday lunch – or any lunch – under the arbor in the garden is a special experience.  One can drive here in 10 minutes as we did this trip, or one can feast here after walking about two-and-a-half hours from Montalcino to the nearby abbey, as we did four years ago on our first trip to Italy. That hike was our first Italian hiking adventure and while it was fun, we decided once was enough. Still, I would recommend it to anyone who craves a little country experience that borders on orienteering. You can take a bus back to Montalcino from Castelnuovo dell’Abate avoiding a two-way hike.
Speaking of the abbey, Abbazia Sant’Antimo is not-to-be missed. Dating to 1118, it is still an active community of monks today. We popped in at 14:45 to hear the monks chant, which they do six times each day. Much to our surprise, the community is apparently only 4 or 5 monks strong!  I guess the monastic life just doesn’t attract men like it did a few hundred years ago.
Rome’s weather has been great this year: not nearly as hot (yet) as the past two summers. We have hardly used the A/C and the mosquitoes have not been a problem so we have been sleeping with windows open. The downside is the noise. As much as we love Rome, escaping to the country is truly restful, even if I have to drive to get there.
We took about 400 pictures, and I know I am trying to share too many, but if you are motivated to do so, click on any picture below for a slide show.

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