A Few Meals Out and About

I have to say, I really enjoy cooking at home here in Italy, but having some meals out is a true delight. This post is about some of the meals we've had out since we arrived in March...it's sort of a lot, but I hope you enjoy!

We have our favorite spots that we'll go back to time and time again, but it's always great to have a new place introduced to us. We're lucky to have so may old favorites, actually, and we look forward to returning every time we're here.

Case in point, our favorite pizza spot in the world...Pizzeria Remo in Rome. Always our first meal upon arriving.

If you follow this blog, you already know how much we look forward to this local joint.

Where's my pizza!?!

24 hours to get here door to door? Where's my pizza!?!
Jeez, I look exhausted...

Roman thin crust at its best. Well, at least in our opinion.

Just getting treats with a glass of wine is a tasty delight...salty, too.

Bar snacks at a place in Rome.

Since we were staying two nights in Rome, instead of just heading to Umbria right away, we decided to try a place I've read about in every food blog or article about Rome. Yes, we went out of our normal box and tried a new spot.

Trattoria Da Enzo al 29 is known for it's cacio e pepe, a delightful Roman pasta that we love. We've had really good cacio e pepe in Rome and I've even made it, but we wanted to try a new spot that featured this "mac and cheese" for grownups. 

Going in, we knew they didn't take reservations, and that there is always a line by opening time. We arrived about forty five minutes early, and there was already a substantial amount of folks waiting. Jeez...and this was early March! Most in line seemed to be young Americans and Brits. We were worried we wouldn't make the first seating, and have to wait in line until tables cleared, but we sat outside and it was fine. The later seating was more the Italian locals, of course. They eat much later than us.

The staff was attentive and good natured, considering the place was full within ten minutes of opening. We ordered what we knew we would....carciofi alla giudia, the famous double fried artichokes special to the Jewish quarter here, as a first course and pasta cacio e pepe. 

Though it wasn't on the wine list, we asked if they had a house wine, and we ordered a half litre. Like always, it was just fine.

The artichokes were ok. We've had better.
They seemed like they had been sitting around awhile.

I wish the color was better in this shot....sorry. I tried!
The cacio e pepe was one of the best we've ever had. I get the hype.

We also had some very mediocre grilled vegetables. Da Enzo was fine, and I'm glad we tried it, but I bet we don't return. 

On the other hand, here's a couple of places we return too almost too often!

We had a day trip to Florence to buy art supplies, so we stopped for a mid day snack at a favorite spot, Il Volpi e L'uva. We shared their wonderful crostoni with olives, tomatoes and melted cheese, and fllowed it with a decadent Italian cheese platter. We never do the cheese platter! It was great.

We'll do this again, for sure.

As I write this in mid April, we've been to our fave local pizza place three times already...and yes, we'll go several more times before we head home!

This was on our first visit, right after we got to Umbria...

Me: Onion pizza.

Mr. J: Arugula pizza

We had a really nice lunch at a favorite local bar, Il Caffe della Piazza on a sunny day a few weeks back. Thanks Elena!! Thanks, Stefano! Thanks, Lorenzo!

Elena makes the best vegetarian salads...ever.

On this day, we also shared a veggie sandwich. Yum!

On a trip to Perugia with pals we had an excellent Sunday lunch after viewing an amazing exhibition of paintings by local artist, Perugino. I posted about that show here.

Our friends knew of a nice place to eat, and we were able to get a table right as they opened the doors. It filled up quickly! I'm so glad we had the chance to eat here. They had interesting vegetarian dishes...

Il Cantinone is right off the main piazza with the fountain in the historical center of this large and lovely hill town, Perugia. We are inspired to go for more day trips ...it's a short drive from home, and Perugia is the capitol of Umbria.

Back to the lunch....which was very good, indeed.

One of our starters, a stack of very this slices of cooked potato on
a nice splash of parmesan cream, with crispy red Cannara onion bits.
A perfect match up of flavor and texture.

We would revisit Il Cantinone again, when we find ourselves back in Perugia. I would make a reservation if it's Sunday lunch.

The other starter (Johnny & I always share, if possible) was a pecorino flan
served with onion "jam". I can't tell you how good this was.
Well, I could, but it wouldn't do it justice. It was so good.

For our pasta course, Johnny had ricotta stuffed pasta with artichokes. This was a nice dish.

I had tagliatelle with asparagus.
It was fine, really tasty, but I would have liked a bit more asparagus.
The pasta was well seasoned, perfect texture and cooked just right.

Had enough yet? I hope not, because we're heading to Venice now.

As you know, Dear Readers...we have a love affair with Venice. Ever since our first visit 16 years ago. We fell for her then, and we return as often as we can for as long as we can. We yearn to spend two or three months some day...sigh. So, we have our favorite eating establishments in Venice, of course. It's hard for us to deviate, so we mostly just don't.

All of these spots are places we just read about or stumbled on, fell in love with, and then returned to again and again...except one place that we went to for the first time when we visited a couple of weeks ago.

We always make a reservation at La Bitta. It's only open for dinner, and they have two seatings, 7 and 9pm. They almost always fill up, so plan ahead at least a few days and book it.

On this visit, we just ordered the same starter and pasta, because that was ll they had for the veggie crowd. I don't mind, because it's always good!

We started with artichoke hearts served with a creamy sauce made with a regional cheese I hadn't heard of before, "Formadi-Frant". I'm thinking the hearts were steamed and then baked for a bit. They had a very interesting texture that I like very much. The cheese sauce was just so good. A strong taste, but not a stinky cheese. It paired perfectly with the artichoke hearts.

Our pasta was little gnocchi and zucchini in a subtle creamy buttery sauce, with shards of parmesan on the side. I wasn't prepared for how good potato dumplings and zucchini would be together! So simple, so delightful...This is a dish I would try to make. I'm thinking you just really cook the squash down to a soft, luxurious state in butter and a slight touch of garlic, then toss it with the gnocchi. But what do I know?

I liked the cheese on the side, too. 

I asked about the cheese sauce with the artichokes, and our dear wait person wrote it down for me...

We'll always go back to La Bitta....

We don't do lunch often in Venice because we like to cruise around and have small bites of cicchetti here and there in the various places these tasty little gems are available. We can easily eat more than we should. Always lots of vegetarian options, and they can be a good deal, though everything here is getting more expensive...We have our favorite spots for cicchetti, of course.

We did have a sit down lunch one afternoon, though, at a place we've been to several times over the years, "Trattoria ai Tosi". 

It's a funny little spot in a neighborhood far from the maddening crowds of St. Mark's Square, etc. We found this place while we were visiting the venues for the Biennale one year, and we've eaten here for both lunch and dinner over the years.

Simple, working men's food, served with heart. You can tell that it's a favorite local spot. There are always a few of the 'old boys' hanging around the bar, chatting it up. It gets busy with pizza at night in good weather, but on this late March afternoon, it was just mellow...

We ordered house wine, two vegetable sides, which we shared and we each had a delicious plate of ravioli stuffed with burrata and spinach, and served with smoked cheese. The smoky cheese made it super special.

Super easy, simple carrots in butter, and pan cooked spinach, Johnny's favorite.

The smoked cheese came in a bowl on the side, which I appreciated.

Mmmmmm.

Ok, almost done....

I have to mention the tramezzini! These white bread triangles of love are served all over the place, and especially in Venice. There are lots of varieties, a few 'styles', but mostly they are white bread with the crusts cut off, stuffed with yummy things...and the good ones have lots of mayo, just to make them even more dangerous. 

There are always vegetarian choices, and one of our favorites is made with a mix of cooked spinach, a bit of radicchio, olives and mayo, tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. One half is plenty! It's a great alternative to a sit down lunch, and we will always get one. One a trip. That's all we need.

Doesn't that look yummy?
Soft, too...

There was one other place, but I decided not to add it. Enough is enough, eh?

Stay tuned, I'm trying to post more this time! And please remember to check out the blog I write for Johnny's painting excursions here in Italy:

Johnny painting in Italy bloggy

I think you'll enjoy it, if you haven't seen it yet. Sometimes he does the writing, but mostly I do...

Enjoy, and we'll see you soon!