All posts tagged italian food

Our Favorite Local Pizzeria

Ciao Readers!

I have talked about a pizza-review post for a while, but have failed to deliver. I think the reason is, there are some things that they just do right here (like gelato, olive oil, wine, pasta….), making it really hard to pick the “best.” What it really comes down to is that there are several places that do things very well, and you end up picking the one where the folks are the nicest. Such is the case in our pizza quest. (But in case you’re wondering, we both prefer thin-crust pizzas, more crispy than not.)

Now don’t get me wrong – not everyone does pizza well. There are tons of pre-made pizza places in town where you just pick the kind you want from the display case and they heat it up for you (barely). In my humble opinion, these pizzas are really inferior (not only due to being tepid in temperature, but also in flavor), and with so much good pizza in town, why eat this stuff?! (Okay, one answer is real pizza places don’t open till 7:30 at night, while these heat-and-eat places may be open all day, but still…) “Fast-food” pizza:

“Real” pizza is made on-the-spot in a super-hot brick oven – it only takes about 90 seconds for one to cook, so it’s worth the “wait” for the real deal. We’ve only tried places in our neighborhood so far, as ya want the pizza hot when you get it home. The two runners-up in our neighborhood are La Luna (pictured first) and Le Stagioni (pictured next). La Luna actually makes pretty yummy pizza, but they are the most expensive and least friendly (not unfriendly, just comparatively less so), so lose for subjective, non-taste-related reasons. The folks at Le Stagioni are very friendly and their pizza is good, but just a little undercooked for my taste (notice the crust color), so they come in a close second (sorry for the pics – sorta like apples and oranges as the first was a specialty pizza and the second was a plain margherita):

Our “winner” is…… Fuori Piazza Restaurant (nope, not a type-o, piazza, not pizza). Their pizza tastes great (and is nice and crispy) and they are super friendly. The restaurant itself looks like a cozy local joint and next time (if we can wait that late), we’ll probably actually sit down instead of ordering pizza to go (they also have pasta and risotto dishes). Here are both their margherita pizza as well as one with ham and zucchini:

Thanks for coming along for our pizza-taste-testing! Bon appetit!

17 Comments

by Newmexicotoitaly on December 3, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Food

Tagged Fuori Piazza Restaurant, italian food, La Staggione, margherita pizza, pizza

Posted by Newmexicotoitaly on December 3, 2012

https://newmexicotoitaly.com/2012/12/03/our-favorite-local-pizzeria/

Lunch & “Spontaneous” Art

Ciao Readers!

So, when we first arrived here we had lunch at our local osteria – Cocotrippone; I mentioned that I didn’t take photos as it was the first time we were eating there and I knew we’d be back. This is a real “mom & pop” place – simple tuscan food (complete with tripe and rabbit if ya want it) at affordable prices, with a complete staff of 2 (the husband does the cooking while the wife does everything else). We decided to go back a couple of Sundays ago.

I love eating outside in Italy (and everywhere, really) – somehow it makes it even more of an “event” to me and I can spend all afternoon people watching and relaxing. The weird thing was, the entire street on which Cocotrippone sits was blocked off and deserted (notice the street behind Steve in the picture), as were several other streets in the neighborhood. We couldn’t figure out what was going on – maybe Sunday street cleaning? In any case, while it cut down on the people-watching factor, it was really nice to have some quiet for a change (neither of us has ever lived in the middle of a city and still haven’t adjusted to the constant level of noise). I ordered the same bruschetta with fagioli and lardo I described last time (but this time you get to see photos!). I had a simple but yummy salad with that and Steve had the fresh pasta with radicchio and bacon (pictured below).

While we were eating, someone moved the street barrier and drove their vehicle into the street and parked – at first we thought nothing of it as we have learned that street signs, signals, barriers, etc. don’t mean much here (one day I’ll have to post a photo of the cars parked all over the street downstairs). But it kept happening. Finally, we saw the reason – the folks who parked started taking out easels and tables and ART from their vehicles – they were setting up for an art festival! We hadn’t read anything about this and were totally surprised. By the time we finished our lunch, the deserted streets had turned into a HUGE crowd (pictured below). In addition to folks selling art, they had rolls of paper on the ground on which kids could draw – pretty cool! (A few photos, below). As I have mentioned before, at times (times you are not in line at a government office) Italy does feel like one ongoing festival… I wonder what will pop up this weekend…

5 Comments

by Newmexicotoitaly on November 2, 2012 • Permalink

Posted in Art, Food, Italy, here we come!

Tagged art festival, bruschetta with fagioli and lardo, Cocotrippone, Festivals in Italy, italian food, tuscan food

Posted by Newmexicotoitaly on November 2, 2012

https://newmexicotoitaly.com/2012/11/02/lunch-spontaneous-art/

McDonald’s (and other “restaurants”)

I had no idea having a blog was going to feel like such a responsibility! I don’t want to waste your time with trivial posts, but at the same time, I can only be profound part of the time. Today, we talk about McDonald’s, next time something more substantive…

Somehow the Europeans have managed to make even McDonald’s chyc…

Last time we were in Bologna there was a McDonald’s (much to our surprise) – now there are two! But the more interesting thing is how chyc they are – there is an outdoor patio that looks like every other cafe in Italy and well-dressed people spending an hour+ eating their McDonald’s tiramisu and sipping their McDonald’s cafe macchiatos (yes, they also have hamburgers and fries). The McDonald’s usually manage to be in the swankiest places and make for the least expensive opportunity to sit in a cafe and people-watch.

Okay, I have to admit, though don’t tell anyone (oh, yeah, public blog…) I actually grabbed some fries from a McDonald’s late one night on my way back from apartment hunting (audible GASPS go here). Seriously, though, if our McDonald’s looked like this we might feel differently about them:

Lest you worry about my culinary sensibilities, I also had the MOST magnificent seafood risotto here (see photos at bottom): http://www.ristorantemichelemma.it/la-cucina

And enjoyed a tasting plate of seafood crudo and handmade pasta with vongole (clams) and mussels here: http://www.ristorantescaccomatto.com/

Finally, I must add that the stereo-type of Italians eating late is very true – went to dinner at 8:00 one night and we were the VERY first people there! Since I couldn’t get used to people saying we should meet at 9:00 to GO to dinner, I mostly ate lunch. Buon Appetito!