Jump to content

The Italy Thread


sidis

Recommended Posts

2 hours ago, KingBobo81 said:

but we stumbled into a Michelin Star restaurant (Ponte Pietra)

One of the great things about Italy (and France).  You can walk into this tiny little town in the middle of nowhere and find a Michelin restaurant and have a fantastic meal.

It happened to us in Radda.  The chef/owner greeted us, took our orders, cooked our food and served it.  Wonderful meal.  Sadly, that little restaurant was a victim on Covid.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, KingBobo81 said:

So this fucking ruled - I am staying at Massimo Bottura’s B&B in Modena and did their Osteria Francescana dinner tonight (photos of the property to come later)

158d61b7a97ec086d7c3704f02c2cb84.jpg
b43c4fc21660d0db420963e7f6c7c196.jpg
fe579483d26e21ba4d440b7847ebc233.jpg
701a575ab6f7f3d1879dd3a1ed7b8ae1.jpg
1a0bd7595089a778531b6d8b8e4b4df1.jpg
a5524966e9995cad678bb1ca62720744.jpg
71b127a4f5f3d789e6bb75c4465fddc9.jpg
8a4e2ab31a3cce142c392833581d142b.jpg
1b344c55457bda472cab828ea9c5ffdc.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That’s incredible dude. Fabulous. 

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Some pics of Casa Maria Luigia - the highlight is the “playground” - Massimo’s collection of Ferraris and Ducatis (there are even more than the ones I posted below). This place is well worth splurging on!

We have one more day here so will be taking advantage of the well-stocked kitchen and pool for most of the morning and afternoon.
e9d72d4cbca682a9667173e69c1a7da2.jpg
6279a049234abf6340f1d873ac8a8fa6.jpg
2a1a33fb8632b42bb552d92e5c3932be.jpg
c403b461528b7ec1c0c9eb137a290c02.jpg
4de8e391ed40913c856f80873b42b6a0.jpg
23eacfd0d3e5b71d7536de211ee11cc5.jpg
8b09164ecce7d1af3025547b49f5a238.jpg
9de8b17c503e285b3a99cb0373387c7b.jpg
dd52bf3e86e2f3354b4eb7bb66343e77.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Hook 'Em 6
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tonight we went down the road to Antica Moka, where a 75-year-old woman made us a fucking badass five course meal. Oh yeah, and then we got back to Casa Maria Luigia to find Massimo chilling outside in between Frascencana courses, so I got to chat with him for a few minutes. I never want to leave this place (I am leaving for Como tomorrow).

6314462462bda28e02b4523a319b8421.jpg


2de967ca8d60b483972dc65910134f48.jpg
d3d4e4f3b68da3089e1b4dd90b1c3212.jpg
b0f1e051b3a05c74246f63fa2c9f8684.jpg
7cb2f7e13cbeadd2c5e346c7658c378a.jpg
66ce6285030a552293c94cc1785de53c.jpg
cd2d4b25301047c8bf592dc766f42e85.jpeg
5971e9fef0fc83e64fa551765959e98d.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Hook 'Em 4
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Triple and you’ll love it mister!
 

Seriously, you can also eat at any number of restaurants up and down Italy and eat amazing food with an 8 euro bottle of vino dell casa and have a great time.  Food capital of the world as far as I’m concerned with no disrespect intended towards France.  Great Italian food is my happy place. 

  • Hook 'Em 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going to a wedding in Como that goes from tomorrow-Sunday so this is probably the last of “my” itinerary (the wedding itinerary is as ridiculously great as the rest of our trip has been, so not complaining)… checked out Kitchen (that is the actual name)…did the tasting menu/wine pairing and would highly recommend.
433faf595a9840801a38147af8296dd1.jpg
71757ebc5eba529041d12dfa76710647.jpg
8a3cdf6ab59cd58e6470830bddb3e8e1.jpg
bbb95a85802c3d6fe8299cc8fbe07773.jpg
70a42dc3cd9fd773b2d8d4bd1449dc6a.jpg
0b8886501c39155b9083701f1bcb48c2.jpg
47560b9d5ec8c0a328ecd27b6994ab37.jpg
7e0677f92f127b53cb74d472ac9f0b29.jpg
a7ace94e6e624b5a485b3b1b9de65203.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

What's interesting about that food and I bet its amazing and delicious is that approach to eating is almost like the culinary opposite of eating in Italy and the approach towards simplicity and certainly towards not starving your customers.  I guess one upside if you won't have to find yourself struggling to eat an entire meal to avoid the "you didn't like it?  It wasn't good?" interrogation followed by dirty looks.

This summer we were grilled by our waiter at a restaurant in Numana when our boys didn't finish their pasta.  

Edited by texasdago
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, texasdago said:

What's interesting about that food and I bet its amazing and delicious is that approach to eating is almost like the culinary opposite of eating in Italy and the approach towards simplicity and certainly towards not starving your customers.  I guess one upside if you won't have to find yourself struggling to eat an entire meal to avoid the "you didn't like it?  It wasn't good?" interrogation followed by dirty looks.

This summer we were grilled by our waiter at a restaurant in Numana when our boys didn't finish their pasta.  

Agreed.  I really like the slow food movement in Northern Italy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 minute ago, VABuckeye said:

Agreed.  I really like the slow food movement in Northern Italy.

I would say I'm just happy eating typical local dishes when traveling and I found that visiting agriturismi is one of the best ways to experience great local cooking that truly focuses on the km 0 approach.  Found so many great meals in the countryside this past trip.  Always do.  Its where Google Maps can sometimes really excel in allowing you to poke and prod on maps to see what you an find.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

32 minutes ago, texasdago said:

This summer we were grilled by our waiter at a restaurant in Numana when our boys didn't finish their pasta.  

Oh man, I felt so bad, but we were on our way from Tuscany to the Rome airport and made a quick stop to get this cacio e pepe dish in some small town in Umbria.  My wife had gone there last time, but I was sick and couldn't go, so wanted to try it this time.  

We ordered the cacio e pepe and then my MIL ordered a pork chop on top of it.  They came out with the pasta and it was HUGE.  I knew immediately there was NO WAY that pork chop was getting eaten and we were also in a time crunch to get to our flight on time.

I had to call the waiter over and tell him to 86 the pork chop and you'd have thought I stabbed one of his kids.  I felt so bad and just wanted to get out of there.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, texasdago said:

What's interesting about that food and I bet its amazing and delicious is that approach to eating is almost like the culinary opposite of eating in Italy and the approach towards simplicity and certainly towards not starving your customers.  I guess one upside if you won't have to find yourself struggling to eat an entire meal to avoid the "you didn't like it?  It wasn't good?" interrogation followed by dirty looks.

This summer we were grilled by our waiter at a restaurant in Numana when our boys didn't finish their pasta.  

places like osteria francescana, kitchen, and da vittorio are about haute cuisine which is its own categorization of dining.  i can tell you having eaten at all three (two of them in the last couple of weeks) that they are all intensely focused and dedicated to predicating their dishes on the local context within which they exist but, at the end of the day, they are haute cuisine.  it would be like saying that eating at the french laundry is the opposite of eating in california because a lot more people eat at in and out or that eleven madison park isn't new york eating because it's not a michael scott sbarro slice.  they are attempting to accomplish something different.  may not be everyone's bag and certainly it's not a practical daily approach to food but that's the whole point.

there is certainly no starving of customers...one would never leave the experience hungry.

the upside is experiencing the world's absolute best artisans at creating unique and extraordinary tasting dishes with incredibly refined ingredients that you both find everywhere and nowhere.  

it is no better or worse than eating at some back alley trattoria in some rural town in basilicata that is extraordinary in its own right due to its incredible flavors that stem from its simplicity and generations of refinement.  it's just different.  one can enjoy and appreciate both.

 

19 hours ago, KingBobo81 said:

Going to a wedding in Como that goes from tomorrow-Sunday so this is probably the last of “my” itinerary (the wedding itinerary is as ridiculously great as the rest of our trip has been, so not complaining)… checked out Kitchen (that is the actual name)…did the tasting menu/wine pairing and would highly recommend.
433faf595a9840801a38147af8296dd1.jpg
71757ebc5eba529041d12dfa76710647.jpg
8a3cdf6ab59cd58e6470830bddb3e8e1.jpg
bbb95a85802c3d6fe8299cc8fbe07773.jpg
70a42dc3cd9fd773b2d8d4bd1449dc6a.jpg
0b8886501c39155b9083701f1bcb48c2.jpg
47560b9d5ec8c0a328ecd27b6994ab37.jpg
7e0677f92f127b53cb74d472ac9f0b29.jpg
a7ace94e6e624b5a485b3b1b9de65203.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

absolutely fantastic.  my wife an i ate there a couple of weeks ago...the hotel that restaurant resides in is the sister property of grand hotel tremezzo.

Edited by sidis
  • Hook 'Em 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Three of the francescana recipes I have tried from Bobo’s dinner are the five ages of permigiano, the crunchy part of the lasagna, and the oops I dropped the lemon tart. Actually trying to execute them gives one an even greater appreciation for what goes into generating that dish. Below are the recipes. Simplicity certainly not at the forefront, no doubt about that. 

D977B0E8-C881-4384-B816-48A3EED55520.thumb.jpeg.890090fb8b35e5558182ed27e742dd28.jpeg

831C1F19-28E8-48F7-A584-B6BF70F2C01D.thumb.jpeg.374c3988541349d2fd77db921185acda.jpeg

A463D129-5C52-4C48-86B5-8220ED44AE3E.thumb.jpeg.bec4486c4d08b40915752db5c03e8fcb.jpeg
 

Edited by sidis
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

No doubt.  In fact, one of the greatest meals I ever had was when the three chefs who started Pass and Provisions and Oxheart did a pop-up in Houston... it lasted for one month and it was absolutely amazing.  More akin to these experiences.  I certainly appreciate it.  

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah…I understand new vs old argument - this is my first time in Italy and I wanted to do it all - I’ve had the best of both worlds and am extremely happy with all my food choices.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yeah…I understand new vs old argument - this is my first time in Italy and I wanted to do it all - I’ve had the best of both worlds and am extremely happy with all my food choices.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't think there's an argument going on here.  You can get Michelin starred very fancy meals as you portrayed or you can get a simple pasta dish with wild boar sauce in Tuscany and have a great eating experience at either place.

I should rephrase to say discussion. We went to Bellagio yesterday and posted up at Enoteca Cava Turacciolo for a couple hours before the festivities. Didn’t have a lot of time, so I think we will go back on Monday (our last day of the trip) to explore more.

d2295f335c1a3d967a21cb3f9a4cd193.jpg
7ae8d519be9cc6425a6a5aa1ecd43a0f.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2015 Domino's announced they were coming to Italy - https://www.thedailybeast.com/dominos-pizza-comes-to-italy-and-is-doomed-to-fail

2020 "We're going to have more than 880 locations!!!!" - https://www.wantedinmilan.com/news/dominos-pizza-to-open-850-outlets-in-italy.html

2022 - All existing Domino's locations (27 total) shutter - https://www.scattidigusto.it/2022/08/05/pizza-domino-s-fallimento/

 

Domino's in Italy... 

Намръщване напълни Пенсионирам bad idea jeans картоф разнебитен четливост

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/31/2022 at 3:28 PM, KingBobo81 said:

601b8d16eb422de1b6f8f4319a553cde.jpg

I climbed the Asinelli Tower in Bologna to get a nice view of the city shortly before sunset tonight


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Loved Bologna! And yes, you would really have to try to screw up to eat poorly there.

Interestingly enough, my FIL's favorite food of the entire two weeks in Italy was a chunk of focaccia from a storefront across from the Bologna train station.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...

Just finished reading this entire thread.

I just booked a last minute flight to Italy over Thanksgiving. I'm flying out on Sunday the 20th to Florence and will return on Nov 30th, but my return flight isn't booked yet.

All I have booked so far for accommodations is 3 nights in Florence and then one night in Siena. I have a rental car booked to drive from Florence to Siena and then was going to continue down to Naples/Sorrento/Salerno area, drop the car off in Naples and fly home from there.

After reading through the thread I think I may scratch driving down to the Naples area, spend another night in Siena, and spend more time in Tuscany. Driving around the countryside hitting up wineries and restaurants in small villages sounds appealing to me. I could then fly back from Florence.

A few questions to the Surly Italian Mafia:

Should I skip picking up the car in Florence and just take the train/bus to Siena and get a car there? Sounds like driving in Florence kind of sucks and the rental car place I'm booked at is in downtown Florence.

Are any of the coastal cities around the Tuscany area worth driving to and visiting? Any other recommendations for things to do in the Tuscany area?

Any specific recommendations for an Agriturismo to stay at in Tuscany? Should I just book one as a base and then day trip to other villages/wineries or should I stay at different ones?

For context, I went to Italy once back in 2012, but only visited Rome. I spent 5-6 days there, so don't feel the need to go back on this trip.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

39 minutes ago, Southland said:

Should I skip picking up the car in Florence and just take the train/bus to Siena and get a car there? Sounds like driving in Florence kind of sucks and the rental car place I'm booked at is in downtown Florence.

I would keep the car (make SURE you get GPS) because driving around Tuscany is fucking awesome.  You could take the train to Siena, or you can drive and just park outside the city walls and walk in.  Don't try and drive into Siena or really Florence either.

 

41 minutes ago, Southland said:

Are any of the coastal cities around the Tuscany area worth driving to and visiting? Any other recommendations for things to do in the Tuscany area?

Eh.  Not really for the coast, but @texasdago might have some recs.  Drive through Panzano, Greve, Castellina, etc.  That whole area is awesome.  Stop and walk around the cities and you'll find amazing food and wine.

Sounds like you should have time to drive down to Montalcino and Montepulciano as well.  I would do that too.  

 

41 minutes ago, Southland said:

Any specific recommendations for an Agriturismo to stay at in Tuscany? Should I just book one as a base and then day trip to other villages/wineries or should I stay at different ones?

This is my go to place to stay in Tuscany.  No idea if they'll have availability this close in though.  

https://www.borgosanluigi.it/en/index

I would just pick one place in Tuscany as a home base.  Everything is within a couple hours drive at the absolute most.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

22 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

I would keep the car (make SURE you get GPS) because driving around Tuscany is fucking awesome.  You could take the train to Siena, or you can drive and just park outside the city walls and walk in.  Don't try and drive into Siena or really Florence either.

 

Eh.  Not really for the coast, but @texasdago might have some recs.  Drive through Panzano, Greve, Castellina, etc.  That whole area is awesome.  Stop and walk around the cities and you'll find amazing food and wine.

Sounds like you should have time to drive down to Montalcino and Montepulciano as well.  I would do that too.  

 

This is my go to place to stay in Tuscany.  No idea if they'll have availability this close in though.  

https://www.borgosanluigi.it/en/index

I would just pick one place in Tuscany as a home base.  Everything is within a couple hours drive at the absolute most.

I am going to get a car for driving around Tuscany, but was just thinking of changing the reservation to picking it up in Siena vs Florence. My hotel in Siena has free parking, so I can leave it there while I explore the city the day I'm there.

Does Google maps work fine over there for GPS? I will have a data plan on my phone.

Thanks for the recommendation on a place to stay. I'll check that out.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

35 minutes ago, Biff Tannen said:

Are any of the coastal cities around the Tuscany area worth driving to and visiting? Any other recommendations for things to do in the Tuscany area?

Yes.  The great Super Tuscans (Sassicaia, Ornellaia, etc) are made on the Tuscan coast.  Sassicaia doesn't do tours but Ornellaia does as do many others.

Your phone is fine for GPS use.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Southland said:

I am going to get a car for driving around Tuscany, but was just thinking of changing the reservation to picking it up in Siena vs Florence. My hotel in Siena has free parking, so I can leave it there while I explore the city the day I'm there.

Does Google maps work fine over there for GPS? I will have a data plan on my phone.

Thanks for the recommendation on a place to stay. I'll check that out.

Google Maps works like a champ in Europe and if you have T-Mobile, you can rest assured you're not paying out the ass for data.  We always use it in Italy.

Coastal towns in Tuscany... you can go down to Maremma as there are places like Talamone, Porto Ercole, Porto Santo Stefano, Orbetello... all near each other.  You can visit the Parco Regionale di Maremma.  You can visit Grosseto (not on the coast but not far and there are little beach towns nearby).  You can go to Piombino and take the ferry to Elba.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Google Maps works like a champ in Europe and if you have T-Mobile, you can rest assured you're not paying out the ass for data.  We always use it in Italy.

Coastal towns in Tuscany... you can go down to Maremma as there are places like Talamone, Porto Ercole, Porto Santo Stefano, Orbetello... all near each other.  You can visit the Parco Regionale di Maremma.  You can visit Grosseto (not on the coast but not far and there are little beach towns nearby).  You can go to Piombino and take the ferry to Elba.

Fuck, can't believe I forgot Maremma.  But that's why I @'d you.  Same to you @VABuckeye

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Southland said:

I am going to get a car for driving around Tuscany, but was just thinking of changing the reservation to picking it up in Siena vs Florence. My hotel in Siena has free parking, so I can leave it there while I explore the city the day I'm there.

Does Google maps work fine over there for GPS? I will have a data plan on my phone.

Thanks for the recommendation on a place to stay. I'll check that out.

 

42 minutes ago, texasdago said:

Google Maps works like a champ in Europe and if you have T-Mobile, you can rest assured you're not paying out the ass for data.  We always use it in Italy.

Coastal towns in Tuscany... you can go down to Maremma as there are places like Talamone, Porto Ercole, Porto Santo Stefano, Orbetello... all near each other.  You can visit the Parco Regionale di Maremma.  You can visit Grosseto (not on the coast but not far and there are little beach towns nearby).  You can go to Piombino and take the ferry to Elba.

We used maps.me when we drove in Italy. You can download the map and then it works even if you're in an area where you can't get a signal. That's probably rare, but you never know. Just another option. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

 

We used maps.me when we drove in Italy. You can download the map and then it works even if you're in an area where you can't get a signal. That's probably rare, but you never know. Just another option. 

Not as rare as you think in remote hill areas which there are plenty 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 hours ago, Mo Horn said:

 

We used maps.me when we drove in Italy. You can download the map and then it works even if you're in an area where you can't get a signal. That's probably rare, but you never know. Just another option. 

You can just download an offline map in google maps before you go, and it works fine

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone for the recommendations.

Here's what I've got booked:

Arrive in Florence on Monday and spend the first 3 nights there

Take the bus to Siena and stay one night, before picking up rental car in the morning.

Staying 3 nights at Borgo San Luigi. Booked dinner there for the first night.

Plan to hit up Montalcino/Montepulciano, Panzano/Greve/Radda, and Piombino/Maremma/Porto Ercole on the three days I'm in Tuscany

Drop rental car back off in Siena and bus/train back to Florence before flying home the next day

 

A couple more questions: Do I need reservations at any of the wineries or can you just show up? Do I need to book reservations for restaurants around Borgo San Luigi for dinners or is it pretty easy to just walk in?

<36 hrs until I'm on my way. I'm getting pumped.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 minutes ago, Southland said:

Do I need to book reservations for restaurants around Borgo San Luigi for dinners or is it pretty easy to just walk in?

Probably fine to walk in, especially this time of year.  I would probably get reservations for wineries, but will defer to the others on that one.

The food at Borgo is really good too.  Really nice place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Going on our 4th week in Italy. We work remotely Monday thru Wednesday and explore the rest. Google Maps offline has been working great. My Verizon plan gave me 9 days of their travel pass free so I have been using that. Down to 1 free day left. Just bought an E-Sim card for 7 days for $5 since we came to Malta for the weekend. It too has been working great. I will be getting the monthly ones after this since we will have two more months in Europe. Before coming I was worried about what to do for phone plans but has turned out to be no problem.

  • Hook 'Em 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, po elvis said:

Going on our 4th week in Italy. We work remotely Monday thru Wednesday and explore the rest. Google Maps offline has been working great. My Verizon plan gave me 9 days of their travel pass free so I have been using that. Down to 1 free day left. Just bought an E-Sim card for 7 days for $5 since we came to Malta for the weekend. It too has been working great. I will be getting the monthly ones after this since we will have two more months in Europe. Before coming I was worried about what to do for phone plans but has turned out to be no problem.

Well that’s badass. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...