Rome's Restaurant Week

For the life of me, I can't understand why November isn't considered part of the high travel season in Rome. This is possibly one of the best months to visit Rome.

This is the month when the best festivals take place.  Olives are pressed, the newest wines are uncorked from last year's harvest.  It is easily two of Italy's favorite things.  But then there's also the colder weather.  Sure, it's a little rainy, but the air is crisp. Scarves wrap every neck and people look more than good as they eagerly show off their newest fall purchases.  The air mingles scents of wood-burning fires from each pizzeria with the sweet smokey chestnuts of the street side vendors. Later in the month, lights will be hung down main streets and the Christmas markets will pop up to children's delights everywhere.

Indeed, November is a great time of year. And in Rome, it just got even better, all because this week was Restaurant Week! (Nov. 5-11) Here, have a log with some sweets on it!

More than a month ago, the participating restaurants were announced.  Some were great, others not so much.  The best of the best had their time slots full within days.  This year's list can be found here.

For 25 Euros, most people were offered a three course menu.  Not a bad deal if you chose well.

But then some places had stars next to their name. Some stars were red, others were gold, and one even had two gold stars.  What did this all mean?

It turns out some of the restaurants could "up" their game, something I don't recall seeing during Restaurant Weeks in Philadelphia or New York City.  In my opinion, it's a good idea which benefits both parties.  The restaurant makes more money while the consumer eats a better meal. I just want it to be extra good if I'm going to be paying more, like this meal at Metamorfosi... 

The amuse bouche - perfectly cooked chicken bite with fresh herbs and a light orange sauce, perfect with the complimentary glass of prosecco they gave us.

A modern take on carbonara with a 65 degree Celsius cooked egg, guanciale pieces and a pecorino foam.

Sweet onion risotto with snails in a light pesto at the bottom.

Lamb roulade, herb blend on the inside, outside: fennel, dill, awesome, perfectly cooked.

Pre-dessert lollipop: White chocolate coated gorgonzola pop in a  port sauce.

We had to splurge on real dessert, called Torrefazione 2.0. Dark chocolate shell, hazelnut gelato center, sugary foam at the bottom then they pour hot coffee on top to split open the center.  Then pour on puffed rice to add another level of texture.

And finally, post-dessert dessert. Delicious cookie with real raspberry puree, pineapple gelee with a  passionfruit gel, and a dark chocolate lollipop with a coffee truffle center.

Red stars mean the meal costs 35 Euros.  This is to make up for the use of better ingredients. This meal was the best 35 Euro I have ever spent.  And then of course, I spent more for the extra dessert and the bottle of wine, but wow, Metamorfosi was a stunning experience.  Talk about forward-thinking Italian cuisine!

For more info on the restaurant, go to their website: http://metamorfosiroma.it/

A single gold star means the restaurant has earned a Michelin star.  They charge an extra 15 Euros per person for better ingredients and service.

And two gold stars means the restaurant has earned two Michelin stars.  They charge an extra 30 Euros per person.

Restaurant Week to me always meant a "somewhat" better deal to be able to try a restaurant's offerings.At Metamorfosi in Rome, it was an outstanding deal. The other restaurant I went to earlier this week... not even worth mentioning. A disappointment for the 35 euro.

Have you ever been to a restaurant week dinner? What city was it in and why did you like/dislike it?

Do NOT Eat at Flavio al Velavevodetto

This past week, my little blog celebrated its 50,000th page view within about a year and a few weeks from my original start date. Because there's a chance you have stumbled on my site as a tourist looking for great places to eat in Rome, I recommend that you do NOT eat at Flavio al Velavevodetto! 

This place has received too much attention from the foodie blogs of Rome and perhaps they've become too popular for the staff to handle a heavy workload.  My wife and I used to go there because it had a good name for the food, and because it used to be a Best Budget Eat in Rome with surprisingly good and affordable dishes. But things have changed. We are locals in Rome and we will never go back and neither should you.  There are much better restaurants in Rome that will be more attentive and serve better food than Flavio al Velavevodetto.

My wife and I brought our two friends there a week ago because this had always been our go-to place for great Cucina Romana, the authentic Roman pasta dishes. We honestly went about once a month for the past nine months. The past few times before, especially in August, we noticed the food was becoming less satisfactory than the beginning experiences. Portion sizes were dramatically smaller than usual, taste of food was just ok, pasta wasn't as al dente as usual, in our eyes, it began to fail in general. We remembered the food tasting much better.

The Amatriciana at Flavio al Velavevodetto used to be so good... used to be.

Every Italian takes holiday in August so I looked over the most recent negative experience thinking the usual chefs were on vacation, that the next time would be better. September rolled around, it was a Friday night so you know the normal chefs were there and we had our worst experience yet, so bad in fact that we will never again patron this restaurant while we live in Rome and will forever recommend that people skip it if they are considering it.

It was a mix of the service and food this night. Our server forgot to bring us menus. After 10 minutes of waiting, we asked him for menus. After 10 more minutes, we asked him again. Keep in mind, he saw us often as he ran past serving food or taking other orders. Eventually, we gave up and just took them from a nearby empty table.

Next came the water and wine request. We ordered white for our friends, red for us and a bottle of water while we looked over the menu. The water came out in 5 minutes, not bad. The white wine took an additional 10 or 15 minutes and he completely forgot to bring the other carafe of red wine that we requested. And don't worry, we definitely asked at least twice for our red wine. So, more waiting and more asking where it was, and more of his saying "just a moment" in italian. 

Then the food came out.  The fried food antipasti tasted good.  That much, I was at least pleased with. Once we finished, we waited about 30 minutes for the next part of our meal which was much too long. When the primi arrived, the pasta plates, it continued going down hill. Portions were average to small, the taste was just average bordering too salty, overcooked pasta instead of al dente, nothing too pleasing.  Then the secondi came out, well, one of them, because he said he only heard us order the one meatball plate. So ten more minutes wait while we watched our friend eat her secondi, then ours came out and it was another slap in the face: a severely reduced portion of potatoes than what our friend received.  Why serve six total pieces at all when most plates serve a pile of at least twenty. The person opposite with the same plate just laughed. We ordered this dish every time we went there and knew what it usually looked like and this was not up to their standard. So we decided to talk to the staff about the terrible service that night.

Eventually we voiced all of our complaints, told them we were frequent visitors of the restaurant and he added an extra half liter of wine which when he asked if we wanted it, we said no. But he didn't comp the first half-liter, he just went and refilled it even though we didn't want it.

Then we asked for the bill. By this time, we assumed he would want us out of there too, but no, he wanted us to sit there for another 15 or 20 minutes. Awful.  So he brought out the bill and he noted that  he gave our secondi as free. We thanked him and waited for him to come back several minutes later to pick up our money. 

But when we paid the bill and he came back with our change, which was supposed to be 2 euro, he brought back only a 1 euro coin, set it on the table and walked away immediately. We looked down at it trying to remember if we read the bill incorrectly. Nope, the whole table agreed we were owed 2 euro. All we could do was laugh at the terrible experience and how spiteful the server was for questioning his terrible service and the kitchen's issues. By that time, though, we'd had enough of the battle and left without asking for our extra euro back. Enjoy the tip, pal.

I hope Flavio al Velovevodetto does something to change its ways because it has supremely become worse over the last few months. HEED MY WORDS, visitors of Rome, go someplace else if want a good Roman food experience.

Best Places in Rome for Craft Beer

There are a lot of places in Rome to buy yourself a bottle of birra artigianale. The grocery store, the wine store (called the enoteca), a handful of those late night liquor store types called alimentari, and quite a few restaurants stock the delicious brews.  But what about great quality craft beer straight from the tap?

Really, they can be found at a great many pub and restaurant in Rome. Plenty of places keep one, maybe two on draught.  But that's not what you want, is it?  You're looking for variety.  You want the pub that has more than a handful of different types of good beer.  You pine for artisanal beer, the kind of brew that is hand crafted by small teams and brewed in Italy.

Look no further and trust in Vasgo's beer knowledge. The four must-visit Rome locations for quality craft beer, most of them Italian and with more taps than most pubs and restaurants, are as follows:

1. Open Baladin

Neighborhood: Campo Dei Fiori

http://www.openbaladinroma.it/

When I first went to Open Baladin, I had no idea I was going the one night of the year that they had Autumn Beer Festival.  Angels looked down on me that evening and they said, "Vasgo, you've had a rough day. We'd like to reward you." The place is fairly large and the taps, well, let's just say, to the craft beer connoisseur, anything over 20 taps is epic. This should put it into perspective for you: Open Baladin in Rome employs the use of 43 taps.  They serve a lot of beer from Italy, and plenty more from the rest of the world.  I've never eaten here, but I hear the food is good but a little expensive for the value.

2. Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa

Neighborhood: Trastevere

http://football-pub.com/ (I'll never know why they chose this as their domain name)

Unfortunately, I have no photo to share of my experiences here. I first heard about this hole in the wall pub during my tour of Belgium.  I was in Brussels at one of the best beer pubs in the city, Moeder Lambic. After careful evaluation of their 20+ beers on draught, I told the bartender I was from Rome and he asked me if I'd ever been to Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa.  Once he learned I'd never heard of it, he insisted that I go.  The two pubs sometimes work in cahoots, bringing delicious beers from their respective countries to their various local festivals. 

Every time I enter the tiny pub, Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa, I choose between six stools in the front section and a handful of tables in the back room. It's obviously not designed for large crowds.  It's ideal for beer lovers that want to order and step outside to watch the tourists pass by.  The bartenders are nice, their knowledge of the English language is usually good enough and their beer selection is great with 12+ taps. It's particularly a great spot to go because directly across the street and one store over is their competitor, my number three choice for excellent craft beer on tap, Bir & Fud. 

3. Bir & Fud

Neighborhood: Trastevere

No true website. Found at Via Benedetta, 23, Rome 00153

With about 15 taps on deck, Bir & Fud has a great selection, a small outdoor seating area in front and plenty of inside space for you and your pals to go once you've stood around at Ma Che Siete Venuti A Fa for 30 minutes.  It's been a while since I have been here, but the first time I was there, I wrote about it in better detail.  See my article Ode to Craft Brew for more information about that experience.

4. Eataly

Neighborhood: Ostiense (*Insider Tip*: You will get there fastest by walking through Ostiense train station, under the tracks to the other side.) 

http://www.roma.eataly.it/

If you know Eataly, the worldwide grocery chain offering regional Italian product, you'll know it's an amalgamation of part mall food court, part high-end grocery store and part learning center. In Rome, it's a multi-floor establishment with kitchen classes, art exhibits, restaurants, coffee bars, bakery, every department of a grocer, and the one surprising addition, an onsite microbrewery. If my memory serves right, they operate up to four batches at a time in those large stainless steel vats. In the pub section, they offer a selection of 8 craft beers on draught, at least a couple from their own brewery at any given time. Reader beware: Avoid the fried tortellini happy hour snack.  It sounds and looks good on the advertisement out front, but looks and tastes not so good in reality. Dried out, seemingly stale even after being deep fried, they are not worth the money, and unfortunately, they summarize the experience of all Eataly's fried food offerings.  Don't say I didn't warn you. 

But you're not at their pub for the food court-quality meals. You're there for the air conditioning, and the great selection of Italian craft brew.

Cheers!

Restaurant Review: La Gatta Mangiona

La Gatta Mangiona, meaning the overstuffed female cat, is a fantastic neighborhood restaurant outside the hustle and bustle of central Rome.

It is, possibly, a purveyor of the BEST PIZZA IN ROME. See photo below for proof.

Photo courtesy of Claybrook Digital Enterprises, LLP

This restaurant's walls are loaded with pictures of those darned, cute furballs. Luckily for us consumers, no cats are seen in the dining rooms. They are also not likely to show their whiskered, gremlin-like faces in the kitchens.  

Image Source

I am writing about this restaurant because it's worth writing about. This came highly recommended from other fellow Rome bloggers after I'd done my careful research for the best pizza in Rome. Though it's hard to pinpoint which place in the Eternal City deserves the top honor, it's rather easy to tell if a place should be considered one of the best.  And this place earns its spot. 

Between the suppli (imagine risotto shaped into a ball, then deep fried), the pizza, all made with fresh, high quality ingredients, and one of the best lemon desserts I've ever tasted (the flavor reminded me of lemon cake batter), the food is worth the slightly longer trek away from the center of the city!  I shouldn't forget to mention their Italian craft beer selection is quite good. 


La Gatta Mangiona is farther out of the city than most care to go to.  It's located right near the square called Piazza di San Giovanni di Dio.  It's on the west side of the Tiber River, south of the neighborhood called Trastevere, south of the Janiculum Hill, located in a beautiful and increasingly popular-to-the-foodies area called Monte Verde Vecchio. To get there, your best bet is to take the 8 Tram from the slightly centrally located Largo Argentina, an interesting area where Julius Caesar was supposedly stabbed by Brutus. It's not a terrible walking distance from the Pantheon in one direction, the huge monument that looks like a Greek temple built to honor Vittorio Emmanuele II in Piazza Venezia, and Campo Dei Fiori, another. Best to just copy and paste these names into google maps if you are unfamiliar with what I'm talking about.


Anyway, you take the 8 tram twelve (12) stops if my count is correct, to the stop called S. Giovanni di Dio and the restaurant is down a side street very much nearby.

What a fantastic restaurant!  Tracking their daily specials used to be the beat of a hungry detective: the only option being to hoof it to the restaurant and see what they had that day. With the advent of the wonderful tool called the Internet, savvy aficionados of technology can download the La Gatta Mangiona app, updated every day they change their daily specials. It's in Italian though, so be prepared to translate lots of food items. Or you can always go to their website, http://www.lagattamangiona.com/.

Daily specials are always recommended.  If what they offer doesn't sound good, I can attest to their suppli beinng excellent.  The plain suppli (with marinara sauce and a nugget of mozzarella) is good.  Even better is their asparagus and saffron variety.  My favorite was a special seafood one that had squid ink sauce around the rice and of course chunks of seafood in the middle.  Outstanding! Their other antipasti might be good, same as their primi piatti, but I could never stomach more than that and the huge personal pizza that follows.

Photo courtesy of Claybrook Digital Enterprises, LLP

Pizza recommendations? The ones with potato on it - in Italian, it's called patate. Those are my favorites.  They have only a few that include the buttery starch, and they are all delicious.  Of course, you can't go wrong with the Margharita Semplice, a standard to compare all the other pizzerias you try. And really, I haven't found a variety I haven't enjoyed.

Photo courtesy of Claybrook Digital Enterprises, LLP

A special of the night: Asparagus, Speck and Red Peppercorn

Salami piccante with olives.

And the dessert.  Oh, the dessert.  Spuma di Limoncello di Capri.  Mousse made from Limoncello made in Capri. Exquisite!

Photo by yours truly.

For one of the best Roman pizza experiences, go to La Gatta Mangiona.

Restaurant Review: Pastificio

For those who are familiar with the Spanish Steps, you very likely know already that the area is easily one of the most expensive parts of Rome. Adjacent to the steps is a tea room where it costs 10 Euro for tea ($13.00!). Going there for high tea to get the extra sandwiches, fruit salad and pastries that come with your afternoon tea? That will knock you back 31 Euro. Some of the biggest names in the clothing industry have their own stores located right next to this touristy Spanish square known as Piazza di Spagna. Prada, Bulgari, Gucci. They are just a few examples setting expectations of real estate value and consumer price points.

Thankfully, a couple streets down towards Piazza del Popolo (the one with the huge obelisk north of the Spanish square), people looking for a high quality lunch at extremely affordable rates need look no further.

Pastificio is a fresh pasta maker. It's actually the generic name for a pasta shop, the same way forno is the generic name for a bread bakery. How you know they make pasta is because their neon sign above the serving counter says Pasta Fresca,  Fresh Pasta. Can't miss it. From what I know, every week day starting at 1:00pm, they offer the area's best budget eats for lunch.

4 Euro for a plate of their fresh made pasta and a plastic cup for Chianti wine and/or water at the counters.

Pastificio lines their small establishment with bottles of cold water. The wine bottle is up near the register where you purchase the lunch. If you are lucky enough to find a seat, cram yourself in, make friends with your neighbor and don't bother stopping yourself from raving about how good the fresh pasta is.  It's likely your new friend will gladly agree with you.

Or take it to go and eat it on the Spanish Steps. But guard yourself well! Those other tourists hanging out in the Roman sun will spot your doughy treasure and likely trick you into looking the other way as they sneak a hand into your dish as if it were the classic french fry steal.

It's worth mentioning that I had already eaten at least half of my portion before I took the picture... Indeed the quantity/price/quality ratios are through the roof at Pastificio!

It seems each week day they offer this lunch special. So far, I have found that they make two varieties of pasta that day. For example, I went yesterday which was a Thursday. In Italy, Thursdays are traditionally gnocchi days so you would find many restaurants offering that product that day. The same holds for Monday through Wednesday, each having a traditional pasta made that particular day.

Pastificio offered the traditional Thursday Roman pasta, gnocchi in tomato sauce with a meatball, and then they offered their version of Gricia using their fresh slightly-thicker-than-spaghetti pasta combined with olive oil, pepper, and pecorino romano cheese. Simple but delicious.

Pastificio is located in the first block of Via della Croce, a bordering street of Piazza di Spagna. Lunch only is served at 13:00/1:00pm. If you want to buy their fresh pasta, they are also open Saturdays, Sundays and Holidays.

Pastificio
Via della Croce, number 8
Roma, Italia, 00187
Near the Spanish Steps, take the metro A line to the stop: Spagna

Crepes in Paris

Finding the best crepes in Paris is like finding the best pizza in Rome.  So many places offer them, yet only a few stand out.

On my foodie adventure in Paris, one of the required "must-eats" was a crepe.  While we strolled a Christmas Market looking at all the foods and goodies offered, my expert and I realized we should start our first night out right: eat a Crepes Suzette. We saw this brightly lit vendor ready to create thin pancake deliciousness so we gave them a try.

 She expertly ladled the batter onto the griddle.

 A few circles and the crepe was properly spread out for even cooking.

 When it finished cooking, she moved it to the practice pile and added a little bit of sugar.

Then a little bit of Grand Marnier on the sugar.

 After a couple folds and a powdered sugar dusting on top, we were off with our order.

I must say.  It was absolutely TERRIBLE.  The picture at the top of the post suggests it might be good.  And it DID look good. But I am accustomed to Crepes Suzette being served flambee'd. Thankfully, no one tried to light it on fire while it was in my wife's hands!

I thought it was flambee'd for a reason. Perhaps burning off some of the alcohol is what makes the usually delicious crepe more mellow.  But this one, with its orange flavored alcohol at full power, was overwhelmed.  How sad.

The rest of our trip was dedicated to other foodie adventures so we didn't get a chance to experience any other creperies that were recommended by expert bloggers of the Paris food scene... except for one.

Enter: Breizh Cafe.

As always, we did our research to find one of the, if not the, best creperie in Paris.  And though we couldn't compare it to the other recommendations, our single experience easily stood out as our best meal in Paris.  And we ate pretty well during our three night trip! The staff was courteous and pleasant.  There was no hint of snootiness that I spoke french at the level of a 2-year-old.  Yes.  No. Thank you. More cider please.  You know, stuff a 2-year-old would say.

And the food itself, to die for.  Everything was clearly made with excellent ingredients.  How do you know?  Well, the kitchen is right there in the open next to the front door.  Can't miss it.  As you'll see later, I couldn't help but watch the chef in action.

 So what did we have?

 To start off, we had a bottle of hard cider instead of wine. Apparently in Brittany, France, where this cuisine presides, that is the most common beverage to accompany your crepe.  We prefer the dry kind of cider over the sweet kind, so they showed us the massive list and we chose the Sehedic.  Dry and ultra complex.  The yeast used for fermentation added some sort of unique flavor that reminded me of roquefort bleu cheese. Fascinating choice for the evening and complimented our foods well enough.

 Then came the fresh oysters.  Best I've ever had.  Easily.

Three each just wasn't enough.  Too bad oysters = $$$.

 Then, for the main entrees, Galettes.  Authentic galettes are made with buckwheat flour: darker and nuttier in flavor than normal wheat flour. This galette had egg, bacon, creme fraiche and emmenthaler cheese if I remember correctly.

This galette had egg, ham, gruyere cheese and caramelized onion.

And for dessert: Crepe Suzette - Breizh style!  Although this one had orange wedges on it, an amazing house made salted-butter caramel, AND it came out on fire.  The way it was meant to be made. Unfortunately, the picture didn't come out so well so please imagine it.

And for your entertainment, the management was kind enough to allow me to shoot a little kitchen entertainment.  Enjoy! As always, my apologies for the poor craftsmanship in videography as well as my inability to lower the volume!  Every video is loud loud loud!

When in Paris, or for that matter, their other locations in Tokyo or Cancale, visit Breizh Cafe for an unforgettable crepe experience.

Restaurant Review: Fa Bio

Sandwich aficionados, eat your heart out!  I'm here to plug a hole-in-the-wall sandwich shop in the heart of Prati, so close to the Vatican City that one of its tall walls is only a one minute walk away.  It's not because I was asked to do it or get any kind of kickback from it.  It's because the place deserves it.

Say hello to Fa Bio!  Tucked into one of the side streets just north of the Vatican, this store will be, if it isn't already, a cult eatery known for using the freshest of ingredients, all while charging very fair prices for its sandwiches, wraps, salads, other dishes and smoothies.

It's located at Via Germanico, 43, Roma, Italia.  Or here:


View Larger Map

The location is small and it has a single door to get in.  You might overlook it if you aren't paying close attention.  Then again, at lunch, it was easy to spot because of the line to order extending outside.

Once inside, there is enough space for 2 people to stand side-by-side between the serving counter and the wall allowing for a dozen or so standing clients to fit the length of the room.  The close proximity means you have excellent views to watch your neighbor's smoothie being made as the whole apple and pear, as well as the piece of ginger, are all pushed through the juicer.  I was one of the lucky ones near the front who received a sample of someone's leftover fresh juice order.

Fresh juice is the best juice.

It also means you can see them make your sandwich.  To order that, you need to look up.  On the wall boards, you can see what options there are to order in terms of meats, cheeses, vegetables, spreads, condiments, etc.  In the display case in front of you sits 4 loaves, among other things, of that day's freshly baked bread from their supplier.  Focaccia, a nut bread, a wheat bread, a white bread was what I had to choose from that day.

I asked one of the owners, Claudio, what his bread of choice was and that day, his supplier said the best loaf was the nut bread.  Sold.  I'll take that to start.

So he grabs the loaf, cuts two fresh slices and sets it back in the display case.

"What would you like on it?" he asked.
"I think I'll have the prosciutto crudo, fresh mozzarella, lettuce, tomato, black olive spread and some oil and vinegar."

So he grabs the hunk of prosciutto and walks it to the slicer.  When he's done with that I watch him take the fresh ball of mozzarella and slice that.  Then he grabs a whole tomato out of a bowl in the display case and slices that right in front of me.  The lettuce leaves were the only things currently ready for use and they looked as fresh as could be.  No brownish red spots from commercial cutting machines or from sitting out too long.  We are talking super green.

Then he grabbed the jar of black olive spread, slathered some on the bread, a little olive oil and balsamic and my sandwich was ready to go.

Whoops!  Too early.  It needs to be pressed and toasted first.  Good move.

This made-to-order sandwich only cost me 4 EURO!

YUM!  It was delicious.

The owners, Fabio and Claudio, are extremely nice, are multilingual from what I can tell and know how to serve up a mean sandwich and drink.  Stop by if you are near there!

P.S.  This place is so good, a fellow blogger wrote about it yesterday!  See her experience here as well as excellent photos of the place, at The Pines of Rome.

Seriously Good Drinks

The other day my expert and I were invited to have an aperitivo, a pre-dinner drink if you aren't familiar with the term, to try out a bar in a lovely Rome neighborhood called Prati.  It's called Sorpasso Vin Cafe' E Cucina and it's very close to the Vatican City.  A 10 minute walk from the Pope's nearest tall brick surrounding walls and I found myself in a much less retail-centric environment from even a few blocks before.

As would be expected, the Vatican City draws several thousand visitors each day.  In fact I just googled it to see what a more exact figure would be and my friends at wiki told me that in 2007, they had 4.3 million visitors to the Vatican Museum of Rome.

St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican City and the daily long line to get in if you don't go early.

And where there's a ton of people, there's a ton of opportunity for enterprising young lads and lasses to sell trinkets, goods and Vatican-related paraphernalia and make a little coin from it.

Though I love to people-watch, and massive crowds at the Vatican easily satisfy those desires, it was great to be at a place a little removed from such heavily walked paths.

If a map gives you a better idea, it's right here:


View Larger Map

I find Sorpasso Vin Cafe' E Cucina extremely VASGO-worthy because of the outstanding drinks the bartender there made for us.  Not only were they tasty, but this guy knew how to carve his fruits.  One of my friends had an apple cinnamon martini.  Tasted like a delicious pie, and along the rim of the glass were the thinnest slices of apple shaped into a fan.  So pretty.

Someone else had one of his specialties, a Moscow Mule.  Different because it was served in a tall mug made of stainless steel, I could see the foliage of what I assumed to be vegetables coming out of the rim because a fountain of green leaves seemed to be exploding from it.  I'm pretty sure I also spotted a torpedo-shaped piece of ginger at the bottom of the mug when I was given a sip.  And of course, the vodka, lime and ginger beer mixture was delightful and refreshing.

My drink, well, I like to try new things.  I also like to see what a mixologist has up his or sleeves, to put them to the test.  So I laid the menu down on the bar top and I said, "I like everything.  What can you make for me that is spicy?"

"Piccante?"
"Si."
"Do you like ginger?"
"Si."
"Ok."

And that's all it took to order the Veritable VASGO Libation (genuine VASGO drink).

I saw intense slicing behind the bar.  Yum.  He had a chili pepper in his hand.  Now that's the type of spicy I'm talking about.  I saw him holding ginger.  He added a little this in the shaker, add a little of that.  Was that gin he just put in there?  What was that other bottle?  My excitement was building.  I couldn't wait much longer to see what it turned out to be.  The sound of ice cubes smashed against the stainless steel shaker and then he poured the concoction through a strainer into the empty martini glass.

I thought it was ready, until he added a creative chili pepper and ginger toothpick design into the glass, which brought imagery of a Samurai Sashimono War Flag in mind.

The taste: Outstanding! Big and bold ginger hit the palate first cleansing even the back of the thoat as it went down.  Then it transitioned into a spiciness which I love but is not for everyone.  I noticed that my lips were tingling a little and that's when I realized the expert mixologist cut open the chili pepper and ran its open flesh along the rim.  I know I saw him use gin but it's taste wasn't very noticeable because the ginger overpowered and only the master knew what else was in there.

With a complementary plate of fresh focaccia bread slices and chunks of hard, salty italian sheep's milk cheese, the drink went down easy.

Other than the free plates that come with buying a drink, I still haven't tried the food at Sorpasso Vin Cafe' E Cucina.  However, the menu looks very good, fair priced, and some day I'll be back to enjoy one of their beverages with a great meal.

Have a great dinner and weekend everybody!  Buon Appetito!

The Master, in action.

Ode to Craft Brew

If you ever get the chance to go to Italy in the near future and you enjoy a craft brew every now and then, keep your eyes peeled because from my experience they are quite the rarity.  When I lived in Philadelphia, finding a craft beer was relatively easy.  With the two dozen or so companies in the South New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware areas ranging from single person operation to rather large microbrewery, good draft beer was and still is abundant.

Our beer culture as we knew it used to be commercial big name companies offering you their lagers.  That was the standard beer for all of America.  Light, crisp lagers with nuances of hops and malts... and taste.

In the 1980s, home brewers began to open their own companies because they realized their own home brews tasted better than the major corporations.  I consider these people to be the founding fathers of the microbrew/craft beer industry.  Over the next 25 years, the commercial brands lost their tight grip on the market because of the flavor explosions people experienced. Craft beers went from unheard-of to sought-after.  

Recently, the craft beer express dug a tunnel under the Atlantic Ocean and made its way to Europe!

I can't speak for the rest of the European countries, but Italy seems to be on a good path toward craft brew mania.  I've only heard of a few places in all of Rome that serve these types of beers so far, but all it takes is one good place to get the ball rolling... or perhaps more appropriate for this post, get the keg rolling.

Here's one of the local places specializing in craft beer. Say hello to Bir & Fud.  You would say it as if it were spelled Beer & Food.

How do I know they specialize in craft beers?  See below.

The key words are SOLO BIRRA ARTIGIANALE ITALIANA!!!  Translation: Only Italian Artisan Beer!!!

There are 16 kinds on tap, 8 different brands, all Italian.  As a home brewer who demands very good beer, it makes me very happy to see this many companies in Italy.  And I assume there are many more.

The moral of this post is when in Italy, don't just drink wine!  Try the beer too!

Time for a drink.  Cin Cin everyone!  (Raise your glass and say Cheers in Italian)

Today we will try the following from left to right: 

• Rurale's Terzo Miglio - An American Pale Ale at 5.5% alcohol by volume.  It had a good hoppy nose to it, quite floral.  The taste was surprisingly bitter at first with notes of grapefruit from the hops, but then it mellowed out into a honey-like malty taste.  A few sips of these and you no longer question if you made the right choice or not.

• Borgo's Prunus - A Special Ale made with Cherries at 5% alcohol by volume.  This is actually a sour beer, only slightly sour, and the cherry flavor is intense making me think I was tasting more of a sour cherry candy than a beer.  They either used a ton of fresh cherries in the brewing process, or very healthy dose of cherry extract.  The sourness is created by using a particular yeast strain which I could not begin to identify from tasting it.  If you aren't a beer lover, this is the ideal beer for you when visiting since Bir & Fud does not serve wine or cocktails.

• Borgo's Castagnale - A Special Ale made with Chestnuts at 5% alcohol by volume.  This was the beer I ordered for myself, just because I've never had a beer made with Chestnuts.  To my dismay, it was light in body (mouth feel) making it seem almost watered down. Carbonation was fine.  The taste, well, it was more malty than hoppy, and honestly I could not tell what a Chestnut tasted like from this whereas in other nut beers I could distinguish a little bit from it.  For example, Rogue Ales out of Oregon makes a hazelnut beer that I could tell had hazelnut flavor in it.  It's called Hazelnut Brown Nectar. Very tasty by the way.  Anyway, not so thrilled with this one but always glad to try something new.

Arrivederci my friends!  

The Market Scene

Ever been to one of those markets where it’s a bunch of stalls?  Some are outdoor, some are indoor.  When I lived in Colorado, they were called Farmer’s Markets and are probably still called that.  When I lived in Philadelphia, I would sometimes go to a most notable one which many know as Reading Terminal Market.  Even communities across the globe are working with their local grower organizations and “signing up” to get the latest crops each week.  They are all fantastic methods which help you stay away from the fast food joints that sell you ultra-processed foods which can give you ultra-high cholesterol.  Get your fresh fruits and veggies, cook a quality meal at home and smile when you realize your food hasn’t changed several hands, gone through several machines and been adulterated!  Apparently I’m making the commercial food industry sound like a tyrannical beast.

We all WISH we could eat like that every day but the reality is the foods you buy like that are just as expensive if not more.  Why?  That’s an argument for another day.  But being a money conscious consumer, we all want the best quality at the best price.  So I recommend you do as I do.  Or at least what I used to do when I lived in the states.  Every now and then, make the effort to go to that farmer’s market to get enough veggies and fruits for a day or two.  It’s almost always worth it. 

It’s important to note that the larger the venue, the more vendors there will be selling the same product.  This means they will offer more competitive prices to get you to buy from their booth.  BINGO!   Trick numero uno to saving some cash and getting excellent product.

Let’s bring in a real life example.  Something you should know about me – I’m a market junkie.  I needed my fix, man!  It had been too long since I’d seen a market that had vendor booths.  So just a few days ago, I decided to check out what’s considered the largest market of this type in Rome – Trionfale Mercato.  Take a look at what I saw:

I’m pretty sure the broccoli are actually alien eggs.

Forget meat on a stick – Gimme some meat on a whole pig leg!  I count three hooves.  Do you?

If you want it fresh sliced, you will definitely get what you want.

I didn’t have the guts to try these… get it?  Guts.  Trippa = tripe = innards = guts.  It really shouldn’t be this hard to make you laugh.

I need to pause here because the picture above is just too much.  Did you have ANY idea vitello lingua (Veal Tongue) was so large?  If that’s a baby cow’s tongue, then that baby must have been a teenager.  Freakin’ huge!

Wow.  I’m overwhelmed with how cool this place is.  Better take it easy and relax with a coffee.  Un Macchiato per favore.  Thanks Mr. Java-Man!

I think that girl is trying to see if I will walk away so she can drink my coffee too.  The nerve.

Ok, if I don’t leave now, I’ll empty my entire wallet here.  Better go get some lunch.  This market is making me hungry.  I heard there is a cult following for a local hole-in-the-wall pizzeria.  We should go check it out.

Cool, found it!  That wasn’t too far away. Benvenuti a Pizzarium.  Welcome to Pizzarium.

The books that recommended this place weren’t kidding.  It is tiny.

Let’s go inside shall we?.

You buy it by the kilogram.  So you tell them how much of the pizza you want and the guy cuts it, weighs it, and gives you a receipt. 

While they put it back in the oven for a quick reheat, you turn around and pay the lady at the register.

Let’s buy the Margherita pizza.  It’s my baseline which helps me compare every other institution in Pizza City.

Oh yeah, the sauce is flavorful with plenty of herbs.  Excellent balance of salty to sweet to acidic.  Cheese is good, and not skimpy either.  Not the fake mozzarella you get at some chains back in the states.  The dough is great.  I learned they let the dough rise overnight so the yeast has plenty of time to extract all the good flavors from the flours used.

No wonder this place has a cult following.  For the restaurant owner,  I firmly believe that when you go for quality over quantity (profits), word spreads and it turns into a loyal base which guarantees you enormous profits in the long run.  (For all you business majors in college, please take note of that.)

Ciao my friends!