Above: “As good as Fiumicino.” That’s what Chef Andrew Weissman told me this morning when he made me an espresso at his new Italian restaurant Il Sogno in San Antonio, meaning that it tastes as good as that first espresso you crave and drink as soon as you get off the plane in Rome. He wasn’t kidding.
This morning found the San Diego Kid leading an Italian wine seminar and tasting for the staff at Il Sogno in San Antonio, Chef Andrew Weissman’s new Italian restaurant, slated to open July 25 in the old Pearl Brewery complex in downtown.
The wine list will have about 100 wines and lot of great values. I was really liking the 2007 Barbera by Giacosa (despite the current “fatwa,” as Franco has called it, that the winery has issued on the 2006) and the 2007 Produttori del Barbaresco Langhe Nebbiolo, which they told me would be about $35 on the list.
Above: Kinda looks like a Pink Floyd album cover, doesn’t it? The old Pearl Brewery complex in San Antonio is about to become one of the hottest food and wine destinations in central Texas.
Beyond the guided tasting I led and the “as good as Fiumicino” espresso Andrew made me, I didn’t get to taste any food but judging the from the cheese expert who followed me, Il Sogno is going to be as good as Andrew’s flagship restaurant, Le Rêve (click to read about the night we I ate there). Tracie B and I are entirely and totally geeked…
Do Bianchi 
“As good as Fiumicino”: very nice and very true. We usually land at Linate or Malpensa, but the concept is the same. For me, it is cappuccino, while for my husband it is espresso.
Though I suppose it tastes better after having been out of the country, airport espresso is not the best advertisement for Italian coffee. I don’t recall ever having a coffee at Fiumicino but I once spent the entire 24-hour day before Christmas Eve at Ciampino (not recommended), where my espresso was served in a tiny plastic cup. Call me a purist, but when I arrive in Italy I generally wait to get into town, where I can enjoy an espresso as God intended: in a proper porcelain cup, on a marble counter-top, and preferably with a crisp Gazzetta.
Yeah, I’ve had my share of good coffee all over Europe… but the best I’ve ever tasted is the cappuccino from the Esso station in Albrook, Panama.
La Vucciria was my entry point. There was a roasting place and they made the stuff on the spot. Unforgettable.
Thanks for all the comments… The notion of that first coffee is a very powerful one, isn’t it? Great comments… Might have to add a category at Do Bianchi on “best coffee ever”!
I’ve had some good expresso at the Autogrill. IF ONLY, our American 7 Elevens were like Autogrills.
You would think expresso would be a formula, not like wine that is so subjective. But expresso also has context…just like the dubious quality of that consumed at the airport. After a 9 hour flight, it tastes mighty fine.
I think I liked the expresso at Autogrills so much because I loved being on the road in Italy. I felt like a puppy dog at the car window – panting and taking it all in!
Also, the expresso gave me the stamina to handle drivers on the Autostrada….I remember fondly the word “Imbecile!” being uttered quite frequently.
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good stuff Maynard
people were standing in front of the door waiting for the place to open @ 11:30