Pick Your Own Lobster?? Pfffff - That's Nothing!!

That title will make sense soon.  Please, read on.  Unless you're a member of PETA.  Then, please stop and choose another post!

"I'm getting out of here - I don't want to hear about bunnies for lunch!"

You may have read HERE about when our Uncle S. and Aunt Deborah came to see us last week and we enjoyed a very nice visit with three days full of wonderful food.  Well, the meal we shared on day three was truly blog-worthy!

I don't think S. or Deb knew what to expect when they came; and so they came open for anything.  But since one of their good friends had been to Lake Como some time ago, he mentioned a few top sights and restaurants to consider.  One particular restaurant, Al Veluu appeared to be unbelieveably perfect for us.  Al Veluu sits atop a hillside in the wonderful lake town of Tremezzo, thus extending picturesque views of Lake Como (a town we wanted to show them anyway).  Their well designed and informative website features images of the lake that somehow seem to take second place to the images of their food.  And since I happen to know their referring friend has impeccable taste, it was evidence enough for me!

Hilltop view of Tremezzo

Jen and I discovered the town of Tremezzo whilst exploring the lake at the beginning of our trip, this past January.  We were just out for a drive and promised that we would return to explore further as soon as we could.  One of the main sights of Tremezzo is Villa Carlotta, a stunning villa with impeccable gardens.  Unfortunately, we were three days ahead of the seasonal opening of the villa and thus unable to see.  Expect a blog post about it in the near future.

Villa Carlotta

We allotted plenty of time for a relatively short drive.  We needed to wind our way to the base of the lake and up with western side of the west leg.  In this case, it was as much about the journey as the destination.  While winding through the narrow streets of lake town after lake town, we took in the sites of the water and incredible villas (including that of the local celebrity, George Clooney - no, he wasn't out).

Al Veluu - our intended destination

Timing it perfectly, we arrived at Al Veluu just as they should have been opening for pranzo (lunch).  However, as you know - the best laid plans are always the first to go awry.  The place seemed to have a few too many construction workers and too few diners.  I went up to talk to the proprietors and see what was going on.  Turns out, the only thing on the menu was renovations.  Fortunately, the owner, Luca was very nice and suggested another place, La Fagurida.  He even invited us to stop by on the way back for a limoncello (lemon drink).  He also shared that if we were fans of rabbit (I am), we could do no better than La Fagurida.  

Easy-to-miss sign to La Fagurida

Tight squeeze down the driveway - took it sloooow

La Fagurida - the owners live above

We drove up the hill another 300 meters and found the restaurant (he cautioned us not to drive too quickly, lest we miss the small sign).  We were charmed by the restaurant's exterior and even more amazed to see the menu's pièce de résistance in an open-air cage out front.  There was a large cage of bunnies out front.  They looked so cute and playful, it even made me think twice about ordering one!  While the title jests that I got to pick my own - I assure you, that wasn't the case.  I don't know if I could have handled that (strangely though, when it comes to lobster I have no problems).

Coniglio Gabbia (Rabbit Cage)

As delicious as they are adorable!

S. and Jules playing with the bunnies

We ordered several wonderful primi (first courses) from the menu and settled in for what looked to be a promising meal.  Our table was quickly covered with delectable treats, including the most amazing polenta that any of us had ever had.  In fact, we ordered so much that we couldn't even finish (wanting to save room for our main courses).  We should have known that not finishing your food is not an option in an Italian woman's kitchen and she literally made me and S. finish every plate.

Antipasti della casa
Prosciutto, salami and bresaola

Insalata fagioli borlotti

Insalata gelatina

Cipolle, carciofi e peperoni arrostiti
(Onions, artichokes and roasted peppers)

Polenta uncia e classica

Our secondo (main course) was brought to the table and we each eagerly dove in.

Coniglio arrosto (roasted rabbit) for two

Verdure alla griglia (grilled vegetables)

Spiedino de carne mista (skewer of mixed meats)

Vino della casa in a wonderful bottle

We finished with dessert for Julia and soaked up the view one last time.  We wound our way back into town for some coffee and pastries.

Did I feel a bit guilty about staring my lunch in it's adorable little face?  Perhaps a bit - but my guilt was eased by the memory of the delectable meal.  As it turns out, they serve about 1,000 rabbits a year - so I was just one of many guilty parties.

Sign above the restaurant

All Thing Are Just a Little Different… Part II

When we first moved here, we noted that while many things are very much the same as the States… there are also many, many subtle (and no so subtle) differences.  Early on, I did a quick post about things being different HERE but didn't go into many of the specifics.

Now that we've been here a while, it makes sense to go a bit deeper.  You know, the kind of "hard-hitting journalism" you've come to expect here at Sipping Espresso.  For this post we've focused on some of the differences that we find particularly charming, beneficial or just plain better.

So here we go, with "All Things Are A Little Different"… PARTE DUE (Part Two)

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Let's start with the food.  If you've been a follower of this blog for a while (or read more than one post), you'll notice that many things here are cuisine related.  This in itself is something amazing, but not an entry.  Regarding food/eating, I'm referring to:

Get it while it's hot!  In the States, it is polite to eat only when all the food has arrived at the table.  This means most of your dishes have been baking under a heat lamp anywhere from 5 - 10 minutes while your buddy-with-no-taste-bud's extra well-done steak continues to char.  Here, the food arrives at the table just after it's been cooked - and it's meant to be enjoyed that way.  You can eat when the food arrives - in fact, people might think your pazzo (crazy) if you sit and let your food get cold.  Admittedly, this takes some getting used to - but it makes all the sense in the world.

Gnocci Castelmagno and Papparadelle Cinghiale
This dish would lose texture/flavor quickly if allowed to get cold

Help decide for me!  Most restaurants (from the ordinary to the high-end) feature a pre-fix lunch menu, or Menu di Giorno (Menu of the Day).  They are usually between $10 - $12 and often feature a first course, a second course, a half-liter of wine, sparkling water and a coffee.  Not a bad deal!

Menu of the Day at Il Solito Posto

Waiter - where's the bill?!  Since waiters are paid fair wages here, tipping is not necessary and usually only for service above and beyond.  This should probably stand alone as an entry - but there's an extra benefit.  There is no pressure to "turn over" a table.  If you want to sit and enjoy your espresso, your gelato or just your conversation - feel free to stay put.  In fact, most places don't even "drop the bill".  Rather, you get up when you are ready and pay on your way out.  

Where's the Burger King?  You can ask in English or Italian - you'll get the same confused look.  Fast food joints are not prevalent, in fact - they're almost nonexistent.  McDonalds has made some headway in the past decade (to the pleasure of the younger generation and chagrin of the old-school), but they are few and far between.  In fact, we find it humorous that if you see a sign for a McDonald's - it is not just off the next exit.  It's probably the closest one and still 15 miles away.  This has obvious health benefits on the country as a whole.  Furthermore, it cultivates a healthy relationship with food.  Food is meant to be healthy, fresh and enjoyed slowly.  

Wine, wine and more wine!  Unless you live in wine country, USA - you can't imagine how nice it is to be surrounded by such love of wine.  This means it is readily available, delicious and affordable.  Our grocery stores have huge aisles dedicated only to wine, often on sale at deep discounts.  Just the other day, when I was spending time with Franco and we stopped to talk to a group of his friends.  I thought I understood someone to say that they were "waiting for it to rain wine" which didn't make sense to me.  I was sure I misunderstood until a truck pulled up.  Franco explained that this truck came from Venito, loaded with wine for sale.  These guys were literally buying 100 liter quantities to store in their homes.  I'm presently trying to convince Franco to split 50 liters with me on the next truck that rolls into town!

Some wonderful Italian wines

Our favorite day - WINE MEGA SALE day!
Can you say, "kid in candy store"

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This next section is finance related.  While I'm getting crushed on the exchange from dollars to euro's, and the Italians pay an incredibly high amount of taxes (you think you had it bad?!) - there are a few things that I love here as it relates to their finances.

The price is, what the price is!  OK, the tax is in there somewhere - but restaurants, merchants, stores and everyone else marks a price and lo and beyond… it's final!  There are no extras, taxes or tips (see above) required.  You don't have to calculate the tax or wait for someone to do for you.  You just pull out your fourteen euro's and pay… fourteen euro's (as opposed to $14.84).  Now that's a relief.  

You can't fool me!  At home, we love the .99 cent trick.  Or the $990 dollar trick.  As in, "I only paid $8 bucks for this thing" when in reality it was $8.99 plus tax.  I admit, it has a purpose - but it is a bit deceitful to consumers and can sometimes be annoying when figuring out what you are really paying.  Instead of $8.99 - it will be marked as an honest $9.  I find this very refreshing.

No 9.99 here!

How do you say Fort Knox in Italian?!  Their security for banking is unlike anything I've ever seen.  After I opened my account, I was given an online security key fob.  This device generates one of my three pin codes I need to login online.  You press the button and it generates a random code that you have limited time to enter, thus guaranteeing the utmost in online security.  Furthermore, if you wish to make a purchase online - you can enter the amount you wish to authorize and even the merchant you plan to do business with.  You will be given an randomly generated 16-digit number that can be entered one time (for the amount specified) as opposed to entering your actual card number.  So internet thieves, go right ahead and steal my credit card number - it won't be good ever again.

Can't hack into my online account!

Stay away Western Union - I go where I want!  Because the Euro is adopted as the central currency for the European Union, we can cross the border into France, Spain, Germany and many more without having to worry about changing bills and getting killed on commissions.*  Incidentally, please use Western Union… for some stupid reason, I'm a stockholder.

I have more change than an 80 year old woman!

*I promised this would be a positive post - but I do have to add one additional note here.  I'm not crazy about the actual currency itself (blame the E.U… not Italy).  Their monopoly money consists of bills of different sizes and tons of coins ($1 coin, $2 coin, etc).  This results in many bills falling on the floor as I rush through the checkout line and a pocket that sounds like a Mexican mariachi band as I chink-chink down the street.

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I've got many more to go, but this already turned out to be longer than I realized.  I feel it is a good time to break in the series and continue with a "All Things Are a Little Different… Parte Tre (Part Three) soon.  Ciao for now!

Eating On Top Of The World

Last week, we received a visit from our Uncle S. and Aunt Deborah who were traveling through Europe on business.  They had planned a stop over visit us before traveling by train to their next destination.  We had also coordinated with Jen's mom, who was departing on the same day they arrived, which saved us a trip to the airport and allowed us to spend the day in Milano (never a bad thing).  Whoever said planning is overrated never had traffic and a two year old to contend with.

Julia with her great-uncle S.

Julia was sad to see her Nonna leave, but excited to have new visitors to play with.  She instantly recognized S. and Deb as they arrived through customs.  Since it was early evening when they landed, we took them back to our condo and had a "light" dinner of bread, salami, salami piccante (spicy salami) prosciutto, cheese, a cannelloni bean salad, acciughe in salsa verde (anchovies in green sauce), insalata finocchio (fennel salad) and insalata caprese with some wonderful buffalo mozzarella.  Franco and Claudia came downstairs to join the party and brought some additional goodies of their own.  Of course, we had more than a bottle or two of some good vino along with grappa and limoncello to wash it all down.

Julia found a left-handed drinking buddy

We had a long list of activities we wanted to accomplish while they were here, but the three days we had wasn't enough time to do it all.  The only thing to do… plan our lunches and work backwards from there!  Since most restaurants are closed one day a week (either Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday depending on the restaurant) and the weather predicted to change dramatically over those three days - I spent a good 30 minutes figuring out the rubik's-cube that was their trip.

We spent the first day in Lecco (the other "leg" of the lake), the second day eating sopra (above) with Franco and Claudia (who live above us) and the final day in Tremezzo (another lake town).  Since both S. and Deb had read the blog post HERE about a wonderful restaurant we discovered who's cuisine is matched only by the adventure you must undertake to arrive - that was pre-penciled in.

Julia was excited to return to Osteria Montalbano

A quick summary of the restaurant, Osteria Belvedere Montalbano in Lecco (or click the link above); Lake Como has two "legs" with Como at the "foot" of the west leg and Lecco at the foot of the east leg.  Lecco has stunning mountains that surround the lake.  In order to find the restaurant, you must drive through the town, into a residential area on one of the mountains, enter a private road and continue to wind your way up the mountain.  As you approach the end of the road, you'll find a dirt path that is covered with stones and trees.  Turn on your all wheel drive and wind your way up the path for 20 minutes before finding this jewel.

Everyone in front of one of our favorite restaurants

On our first trip, we were lucky enough to make it up this tiny/dangerous road unscathed.  This time everything appeared to be going well, when suddenly we came across an obstacle.  The road was closed half-way up because a local farmer was chopping trees and one laid clear across the "road", blocking our path.  There is NO turning around or backing down - our only option was to push forward.  I hopped out of the car and asked him when he would be done.  He said that it would be about 20-30 minutes.  I volunteered to help and S and I became his gofers while he continued to skillfully wield his chainsaw.  He jokingly said, avete fame (you must be hungry)!  We were on our way in less than 10 minutes!

Nothing is going to keep us from getting there!

The food was as spectacular as the first visit and the quantity could have fed a small army, let alone four travelers.  Since the menu is seasonal, many of the dishes were repeats for Jen and myself - but we had a couple new dishes, pictured below.

Filet with radicchio and a gorgonzola cream sauce

Roasted rabbit with a white wine reduction

Pan fried polenta

Half pear / half blubbery torte with custard

As we were leaving, we noticed a bocce-ball court that looked like it will be a lot of fun when the weather warms.  S. made an astute and funny observation that there wasn't a flat patch of earth anywhere to be seen for miles, yet they had a perfectly manicured surface to play bocce-ball on the top of a mountain!

Anyone up for a game?

This is my bench… don't even think about it!

Deb and Julia sharing a laugh

We're looking forward to visiting Osteria Belvedere Montalbano again when our next adventurous visitors come to see us!

Homemade Pizza - Sorry Mr. Delivery Man

Here is something my Mom, Greg and I all have in common…we love pizza.  And pizza in Italy is the best!  Pizza originated in Italy and they have continued to perfect the art ever since.  When my Mom was in town we decided to make our own versions of our favorite pizza’s at home. We had so much fun and Julia even got in on the action.

Rolling out her dough

When I told my uncle our plan to try to duplicate our favorite pizza’s at home he gave us a brief history lesson on the pizza.  As it turns out, pizza started as a flatbread consumed by many people in Europe.  In 16^th century this was a common meal sold on the streets to the poor throughout Naples.  It was an inexpensive dish that offered many different types of toppings.  Credit for the first Margherita pizza is given to pizza maker Raffaele Esposito of Naples.  The story is that in June of 1889 to honor the Queen consort of Italy, Margherita of Savoy, he created a “Pizza Margherita” for the Queen (I had to get that from Wiki - History of Pizza) .  This pizza consisted of tomatoes, mozzarella cheese and basil to represent the colors of the Italian flag.  Thank you Raffaele!  Today people around the world enjoy this simple but delicious pizza. 

Our own Pizza Margherita

After our history lesson we were ready to prepare dinner.  On the menu were our three favorite dishes.  Diane’s favorite, Pizza Margarita; Greg’s, a Napoli Pizza;  and my go to, Quattro Formaggi (four cheese).

Pizza Napoli

Quattro formaggio

We wanted dinner to be “easy” so we opted for store bought pizza dough.  We will try making the dough another day.  We also don’t have any fancy pizza stones or brick ovens here but we managed to create a crispy crust and pretty darn good pizza.  Here is what we did:

All of the pizza’s started off with the same crust.  Coat the baking pan with a little bit of olive oil so that the dough doesn’t stick.  Instead of rolling out the dough we used our hands to stretch it and work it into a circle for the baking sheet.  Once on the baking sheet we used a fork to poke a few holes in the dough (to prevent bubbles).  Next we drizzled some olive oil and added some sea salt. Below is how to make the different types of pizza. 

Drizzle olive oil on the dough

Pizza Margarita

For the sauce use a can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes. Simple is always best!  Next you need to add slices of mozzarella cheese and fresh basil.  Or, you can also choose to add the basil to the pizza after it comes out of the oven.  It’s totally up to you!   Either way you end up with a beautiful red, white and green pizza.

Crushed tomatoes as the sauce

Next, add your toppings

Pizza Napoli

Again, for the sauce simply use a can of crushed San Marzano tomatoes. Next, add slices of mozzarella, provolone and grated parmigiano reggiano cheese.  What makes this a Napoli Pizza is adding acciughe (anchovies) as the final step.  Feel comfortable to arrange them in any pattern you like.

The acciughe (anchovies) - Greg's favorite

Pizza Quattro Formaggi

There is no need for sauce when making this pizza.  Since the pizza is a four cheese, it does not need any sauce as a base.  Instead, use some olive oil and crushed garlic on the dough.  Our four cheese pizza consisted of mozzarella, provolone, grated parmigiano reggiano and gorgonzola cheese.  Feel free to substitute any or all of the cheeses for your favorite (and if you’re feeling really crazy, make it a five or even six cheese pizza!).

Give spacing for your gorgonzola - it will melt over a large surface

All three pizza’s will cook in under 10 minutes at 425 degrees Fahrenheit.  The trick is to watch the pizza and look for the crust to brown and the cheese to start to bubble.   Once the crust is crispy enough to transfer, remove the pizza from the baking sheet and finish cooking it directly on the oven rack.  This will give it a crispy crust without the brick oven.  When you remove the pizza’s allow the cheese to cool for a few minutes before you cut and serve.

Julia and her Nonna

Jen and her Mom

Julia "rolling" on her own!

I hope you enjoy making pizza at your home.  You can try these or invent one of your own with your favorite toppings. 

Buon Appetito!