What makes a good Italian coffee bar good?

Given how picky and demanding Italians can be regarding food, furiously sending back a dish if the carbonara has even a hint of heavy cream, it's curious how patient they are when it comes to espresso, sometimes settling for pretty awful brews. Why is that?

Are we Italians just impatient?
Have we gone too long without heavy-duty caffeine, so anything will do?
Do we not want to make a fuss, since a bar is far more public and intimate than a restaurant?
Maybe it's steadfast loyalty to our neighborhood barista—a loyalty that can be deep and wide and sometimes last decades.

Romantic notions aside, no one should ever settle for a bar that fails to cut it, whether because the coffee is mediocre or the morning pastry too dry. A bar holds a crucially important, practical, and cultural role in daily life—in that way at least kin to an American "watering hole." If your local bartender can't mix drinks, there's trouble in Dodge.

But how exactly do you go about rating an Italian bar? What makes a good bar good?

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Italian restauant no-no's

Pet peeves are personal by nature. They make waves at a gut level. Restaurant peeves develop over time and usually stick with you. It pains to report that some Italian restaurants—no matter how fine their food—manage to unhinge diner patience to the point of ruining the experience of guests who don’t know what hit them.

My own patience is limited. To me, a reputation for good food is blunted by an unpleasant atmosphere.

Collected here is a brief list of no-no's that can drive restaurant-lovers away, sometimes for good.

The acchiappino: In tourist-jammed cities (Rome, Florence and Venice) a hawker is often added to the payroll to reel in passers-by. He's known as an acchiappino, a "customer catcher."
You've seen his kind standing outside the entrance waving a menu and flirtatiously trying to lure you in using any means necessary ("Good morning, bonjour, guten tag, hola…pasta-pizza-tiramisu?") Anyplace that needs someone to convince me to enter isn't worth my money. Arrivederci.

Continue reading "Don't you dare" as appeared in The American Magazine in Italia

9 delicious chilled dishes for beating the heat

The sun is high on the zenith, days last longer, there's sand in the car. Besides sporting ridiculous amounts of linen and hitting the rooftops for aperitivo, Italians respond to high summer with an array of refreshing cold dishes that bring lots of flavor to the table.

In addition to an endless search for the best scoop of gelato and the perfect slice of watermelon, the Italian summer menu includes creative pasta and rice salads, chilled soups and cold meat dishes, plus a fine assortment of cold vegetarian options featuring ripe summer produce. Here are a few of my cool summer favorites:

Continue Reading "So totally cool" as appeared in the American Magazine in Italia.

Dinner nostalgia

As a child, I dined out often with my family. The decades have changed the city's dining scene, for better and worse.

Photo Roma Sparita

My earliest childhood memories are sensory. Restaurant meals played a big part in their shaping. For social and financial reasons, dining out, once commonplace, played a big part in my upbringing. Throughout my youth, I heard the words a cena fuori almost daily. 

I also recall the wonderful feeling of falling into slumber at the end of a meal as adults continued their animated conversation. In the background was the gentle hum of the dining room. I'd hear glasses clink, silverware tap bone china, and the "glug glug glug" of wine being poured. I'd rest my head on folded arms and drift securely into dreamland.

I treasured these post-prandial naps. I'm not sure I ever slept more soundly than as a small child in a restaurant.

For better or worse, that romantically lazy side of the Rome dining scene has vanished. Many places I remember from decades ago are gone or have changed ownership and mood. Charm is harder to find. So are quality meals.

Childhood visions are unique, and I've also changed. My taste is more sophisticated, and more demanding. But let me set all that aside for a moment to remember some of the restaurants that shaped my youth. Modern day alternatives are listed after each memory.

Continue Reading → On Viale dei Ricordi, as appeared on The American Magazine

Italian Aphrodisiacs (it's food-related)

Named after Greek love goddess Aphrodite, aphrodisiacs were identified by early civilizations and cultures that associated potency and virility with power and prosperity. Their fascination has lingered over millennia. Though science has yet to prove a link between rumored "romance remedies" and increased sexual performance, aphrodisiacs still thrive.

Sex can drive humans to brutal solutions. The extinction of the northern white rhino is due in part to the fine powder made from its horn which is considered a potent aphrodisiac. Other nonsense includes consuming animal testicles and turtles' eggs. Lack of evidence aside, the massacre continues.

Instead of decimating endangered species, the best way to heighten a romantic experience is simply to browse your pantry. Though science may shrug, some enzymes and vitamins contained in everyday foods do lend varying stimulant effects.

Italians like to think of themselves as fantastic lovers, ascribing their sexual prowess to their mamma’s cooking. If you agree, here's an alphabetical index of Italian aphrodisiac ingredients to include in your next date night menu.
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Northern Italian Recipes

The Alps, Apennines and Dolomites –– to mention a few Italian mountain ranges –– where the temperatures are cold year round, are the home of extraordinary cuisine.

Italian mountains have strong cultural identity. Traditions and economy are based on farming, cheese making, and woodworking. Tourism began growing in the early 20th century and expanded after World War II to become the dominant industry. But in montagna, sumptuous traditional cooking can be just as important as ski slopes.

While olive oil is a staple throughout Italy, butter takes on greater importance in the mountain uplands. Local cuisine has Hapsburg and French influences. Climate, politics and geography all contribute to a lesser-known but rich array of food. Here are just a few Alpine specialties.

Continue Reading → Go North, food lover as appeared in The American Magazine

If I had a restaurant...

This is what it would be like.

My latest contribution to The American Magazine is a glimpse into a fantasy world in which I am the cook and owner of a small neighborhood restaurant in Rome.

illustration by Suzanne Dunaway

My heavy blue canvas apron has a white torchon tucked at my waist, it is wet. I have just finished cleaning the kitchen after dinner service, and my bones ache a little. The metal surfaces shine and the air is redolent of duck ragout and brown butter.

When it rains in Rome, people come into the restaurant mainly seeking shelter. Aficionados growl at these walk-ins who unknowingly steal their customary tables. Take Signor Roberto, for example. He comes in, like clockwork, every evening at 7:30 p.m...

Continue Reading → Notes from da Lola as appeared on The American Magazine in Italia

Food writer on a diet

Working as a food professional, whether be it a home cook, food guide, journalist or food show host – coincidentally, my job description – poses nutrition challenges.

The anatomy of a food writer is always put up against a grumbling stomach. The occupational hazard has to do with constantly testing recipes, cooking many dishes and visiting restaurants (for research!), plates upon plates that need to be described, photographed and ultimately eaten. All this concurs to an ever-expanding waistline.

Personally, the weight was always an issue. Even before I worked in the food world. Even before pregnancy. I was overweight before I stopped smoking, imagine after. 

I blame the quantity of gelato I downed to overcome broken hearts. 

I blame having been educated to clean my plate. 

I blame my slow metabolism. 

I now can blame pre-menopause.

What I never did was take responsibility and blame myself. My sublime ability to procrastinate was never the problem, it was something else.

Continue Reading → Food writer on a diet as appeared on The American Magazine in Italia.

Anti-blues comfort food

Yes, it's the first day of spring.

But the grey blanket shrouding the sky, and the scarf wrapped around my neck as I type this suggests otherwise. This weather plays tricks on my mood.

When – despite what the calendar says – I need something warm to comfort me, I can always rely on these anti-blues winter recipes.

There are dishes that perform miracles, triggering memories. We ritually feed on tried and tested recipes that work as a Linus blanket. Others simply heal. Chunky soups, velvety pureed creams, court bouillon-based fish stews, consommés...

I have my own set of comfort food classics. They warm and pacify, and help me ward off the melancholy that nightfall brings on.

I once nursed a broken heart on a strict diet of passatelli in brodo, a cheesy-eggy dough that's forced through a ricer and then simmered in chicken broth. It worked wonders.

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Madeleine moment

Children pottering in the kitchen is not uncommon in Italy.

The vibrant core of every Italian household is the stovetop. Both 18th century peasant hearth and sleek modern design cooking areas are where Italian families gather, share, truly talk and where relationships are made. These relationships are cultivated early on, and leave deep, important memories on young children.

My earliest recollection of food-making is tied to my Nonna, my maternal grandmother Giuditta Rissone. Titta, as everyone in the family called her, was not the average nana...

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Italian beverages you probably never heard of

As late summer heat continues pummeling the boot-shaped peninsula, Italians run to their fridges to grab their favorite beverages.

Forget Coke.

Many of these drinks are vintage classics, others postwar staples. None are universally known or widely sold beyond Italy.

Here's a little Italian beverage companion to have handy when offered Italian mystery drinks, as published on The American Magazine in Italia.

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And then there was cheese

I think an apology is in order.

I update this blog irregularly.

The occasional posts I have been publishing are for the most part links to other sites to which I have contributed my writing.

It's not that I've been lazy, though.

Designing, developing and leading food, wine and cooking adventures in Rome, Florence, Sicily Naples & Amalfi for Casa Mia Italy Food & Wine, the company I co-founded, has definitely kept me busy.

And then there was cheese.

Another reason for not being consistent with blogging is that I've been all over Italy filming a cheese show called ABCheese. I wrote a few posts on this topic and an article for my column on The American. The show airs on Italian cable TV, with plans to hopefully sell internationally soon. I will keep you posted when that happens.

In the meantime, if you're interested in learning what the show is about, and watch me make silly faces when I taste amazing Italian cheese, you can click on the link to enjoy episode 1 of season 1 (uploaded in Italian with no subtitles).

Buona visione!

Forget the kid's menu

My boy is a bizarre alimentary wunderkind, but it's not all his doing. As a child, I was a picky eater who whined a lot. I didn't eat tomatoes, fish bones scared me, and I ironically dreaded cheese. I didn't want him to be like me.

So I encouraged him to try different flavors and foods. I never forced him.

He's partial to bold flavors and has always loved fish. These are my gourmand son's top 10 dishes.

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In defense of the fish

Italy is for the most part surrounded by sea, with the peninsula and its two large islands lapping up against various parts of the jagged Mediterranean. This makes most of us Italians very familiar with fish. Given such extended coastal real estate, it's hardly surprising that most Italians are raised catching, cooking and eating fish.

As a child I loved the act of fishing but hardly ever ate fish with bones. I was one of those kids parents dreaded, the ones too freaked out by le spine — bone or cartilage — to fully enjoy a meal of aquatic edibles. But mine wasn't a total embargo: I was simply more of a polipi kind of kid...

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Image courtesy of Massimo Capodanno

Healing with food, Italian style

Whether to treat minor issues like the colpo d'aria (stiffness or a cold from a draft, basically) or to attack more serious conditions, Italians have an entire protocol when it comes to eating the sickness away that goes way beyond the old maxim,"Feed a cold, starve a fever."

When you are sick in Italy there is never starvation involved but Italians are remarkable when it comes to what you should and should not eat when sick. While Americans just plow through ailments or hide in bed – and not eating if they don’t feel like it – in Italy not having at least a bowl of mamma’s chicken soup is punishable by a lengthy jail term, so imagine fasting. Heresy! Continue Reading ➔

Essential kitchen tools for cooking Italian food

Just like any cuisine uses its indigenous cookware – think anything from Asian stacked bamboo steamer baskets and woks, to Spanish paella pans and French crèpe skillets – Italian cookery also demands its own set of specific tools and implements.

Check out this list of 12 essential kitchen tools for cooking Italian food.  Continue Reading ☛

My blue (cheese) heaven

I love anything inoculated with spores. I could talk about (and eat) blue cheeses all day long. Lots of ink has been spilled on the crumbly Roquefort and the creamy Gorgonzola, and how these–and all their variations–can be paired, matched and used in recipes.

Researching the blue world, and why opinions are so divided and discussions heated on the topic, it became clear that blue cheese is a religion. You either hate it, and need to plug your nose with a clothespin every time you come near it, or you adore it (I belong in this camp). There is no, "Meh" when taking a position in regards to blue cheese.

For non-nerds, blue cheese falls under the erborinati, or blue veined, cheese category. These possess varying degrees of texture, sharpness and flavors depending on milk, spores and age. I particularly like Italian blues with unconventional roots, particularly those made by small family-run dairies in remote pasturelands. Some of these producers create intriguing twists. Fore example...

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Wine-pairing tips (non-Sommelier version)

As a cook and a diner who writes about food I'm often asked about wine pairings. While my sommelier friends tell me I have a decent nose — I can recognize the aromas in a glass — that doesn't qualify me to go around dispensing serious wine-drinking advice.

What I can do is share some partisan views on which wines tend to work with the dishes I make and enjoy. Here's my layman's guide on what to drink when served Italian mealtime classics.

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Mal d'Africa

I cried the first time I flew out of Africa. I sat numbly gazing down as the plane pulled away from the thick gum tree foliage and the red dirt roads I'd gotten to know intimately. That moment taught me mal d'Afrique, the inexplicable sense of loss and heartache rooted above all in a place. When it bites hard, the Africa bug leaves you bittersweet and charged with mysterious longing and nostalgia.

A similar kind of irrational, romantic attachment enters American journalistic essays on the Italian experience. The angle? Very often it's food. Long-form articles promoting Italy speak less of Stendhal Syndrome and the Bel Paese's world-famous artistic attractions, natural wonders and historic treasures than of the eating experience. These enraptured pieces, a mainstay in newspapers and magazine, prompt a mal d'Afrique-style question: What it is about the Italian mood (and the food) that sweeps Americans off their feet and leads them to write unbridled love stories and food-forward reportages?

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The best granita & cremolato in Rome

Granita and other ice-inspired refreshments provide ideal relief from torrid Italian summers. I won't be in Sicily for another month, but I'm already dreaming of granita smeared in a French style brioche.

The best granita I've ever tasted was bought for pennies in a little gelateria run by a grumpy woman in Santa Maria la Scala, near Catania. Her pistachio, almond and mulberry granita flavors have forever spoiled me.

While I pine for Sicily, here's my shortlist of where to score the best granita and cremolato in Rome, and what signature flavors shine in each.

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