To start with, I had to go to Florida for pizza al taglio. My friend, Maureen, the brilliant food writer told me about it and I expected to have to traipse somewhere to find it in that large city. I was so fortunate to find that it was exactly a five-minute walk from my hotel and near to the Piazza Fiori di Campo. This meant that I could go there more than once, and it was so good that frankly, I felt cheated on the days when I couldn't make it there for lunch!!
Pizza can be dreadful in Rome with the cracker-like crust and fake tomato sauce that is prevalent. But pizza that is well made is very serious business. A simple viewing of the variety of the pizzas served is but a poor substitue for the delight one has when biting into the chewy, crunchy crust and superb toppings.
It is hard to spend more than 5 euros per person with drinks and I had to stop myself from going behind the counter and hugging the servers. I ate in on a stool and high round table, but most people take out. Florida is open all day but closed on Sunday. I will definitely choose the same hotel next time so that I can get there easily and as often as possible!
In Bologna, I was very happy with two trattorias that I discovered. I went to the first both for lunch and dinner. It is a famous little place called Drogheria della Rosa. Although the owner is not very attractive, he loves the ladies and usually discounts their meals! I learned this the easy way, by drumming up a conversation the first time I went. The next time, he sat with me at the end of my dinner and was horrified when he saw that I had paid the full amount. He said I was his guest, but of course, he couldn't be crass and give me my money back. Anyway, next time I will be slow on the uptake and take some time before I make a gesture to pay.
The restaurant's pride is its Tagliatelle Classiche with perfectly executed Bolognese sauce.
It is wonderful. This is what I had both at lunch and the second time I went, at dinner.
At dinner I followed the pasta dish with a superb grilled beef with rosemary, roasted potatoes, little green chiles (sometimes one can be hot) and baked tomatoes.
They are always handing out things to taste and this time the waitress went around with a large basket of new purple plums. This was followed by an excellent Torta al cioccolato, crema inglese.
It is a cute restaurant.
Bologna is a very serious eating town and I know I'll be back. I went to two other trattorias:
Diana, where I had an excellent example of lasagne verde,
and Antica Trattoria della Gigina. This is a great place. Before ordering, an assortment of antipasti including mortadella, fried vegetables, egg and potato frittata, and little puffs of cheese were placed before me. I then started with another classic of Emilia Romagna: Tortellini in Brodo
the perfect meat tortellini in a flavorful broth. On two separate visits I tried a rich appetizer of Gnocchi con Spinaci in Fonduta di Parmigiano e Tartuffo di Estate,
a dish of roasted Faraona (guinea hen) that had been boned and roasted, and roasted rabbit. The restaurant is a real find in that it is tradtional, inexpensive and excellent. It has a Michelin indication for impressive restaurants at low prices, the "Bib Gourmand". In France, those indications are most reliable but not in Italy (according to Maureen). Nevertheless, in Bologna, it is very hard to go wrong since the inhabitants and chefs are so proud of their foods and tradition.
No comments:
Post a Comment