Super fun lunch yesterday at the very old-school Osteria della Villetta in Palazzolo sull’Oglio, which lies on the very western edge of Franciacorta.
That’s the thinly sliced and delicately dressed tongue, above.
The tripe was tender and rich with flavor.
I didn’t get a good photo of the cabbage stuffed with finely ground pork but it was another highlight.
The aged stracchino (with the dark rind in the middle) was off-the-charts good.
Really blown away by Riccardo Camanini’s cooking last night at Lido 84 on Lake Garda just outside Salò.
Those are cheese-stuffed pasta “buttons” (above) swimming in eel garum (the fermented fish sauce adored by the ancient Romans).
Warm cardoon purée with shaved salt-cured anchovy.
Giant leek (I believe cooked sous-vide) with snails. One of my top dishes of the year.
Loved the presentation of this giant cannolo.
Riccardo’s cooking is brilliant. And his staff world-class.
Gotta run. Thanks for being here…
I really loved our long Sunday lunch yesterday at Genuisì on Monte Orfano, which overlooks Franciacorta (you can see the village of Erbusco in the foreground in the photo above and Lake Iseo beyond). Here’s what we ate…
Casoncelli stuffed with prosciutto and herbs.
Orecchiette with broccoli florets and Bagòss, a local crumbly cheese, a “north-south” fusion dish.
Risotto with radicchio and sausage. The cinnamon in the sausage really took this dish over the top.
Always a thrill for me to settle in with a new vintage of Produttori del Barbaresco. It was my second chance to taste this wine. I think it’s going to be a great one for the winery.
Horse steak dressed with olive oil, flatleaf parsley, and lemon.
From the department of “so much time and so little to eat”…
Posting in a super hurry today from the road in Franciacorta…
Just had to have a burger and beer at Bar Torre d’Ercole in Brescia on Saturday night.
Here’s the thing: they’re now making there burgers with dry-aged Chianina and roughly 10 percent ground uncured pork belly in the mix.
Definitely one of the best burgers I’ve ever had.
Italians are hamburger-crazy these days and I wasn’t surprised when I was wowed, once again, by the burger at Torre d’Ercole. Brescia province has always been an epicenter for beef, I’ve learned.
As fate would have it, my friends, the Brothers Pontiak, were playing Brescia that night and so we caught their super-packed show.
I don’t know how they do it but they tour with Steve Albini’s backline while in Europe. How cool is that?
They have a huge following in Italy and the show was awesome.
That’s all I have time for this morning. Stay tuned…
Posting on the fly this morning on my way to mxp: check out my client Luca Ferraro’s response to a col fondo detractor, including my translation of the comment that sparked the debate.
Above: Innsbruck, Tryol (Austria) as seen from the air. When I was in my twenties, the view would have thrilled me. Today, it makes me pine for my family.
The unbridled curiosity of youth took me to Europe in my twenties when I spent a decade alternating school years between Los Angeles, Padua, Pisa, and Rome. There was always a scholarship or fellowship (including the Fulbright) that delivered me across the Atlantic and there was always a summer gig in Proseccoland that fed me when the grant money ran out.
A decade in New York followed and so did the yearly trips to the old world. Those were years, too, when I regularly hit the road with rock bands. Back then, I’d drive to Cleveland or even Detroit from the east coast in a straight shot with a van-load of drums and guitar amps.
Today, the thought of departing for Europe fills me with unease.
Thanks to everyone who came out to my Bele Casel tastings in California! And special thanks to Jill at DomaineLA in Los Angeles and Jayne and Jon at Jaynes in San Diego for hosting.
Prosecco Colfòndo is always a great excuse to get together and reconnect. It was super fun to taste with you.
Of course, I tasted a lot of wines while out in California. Here are some of the highlights.
The 1998 Praesidium Montepulciano d’Abruzzo was stunning, fresh and bright in the glass with evolved tannin. So glad to see these compelling wines in California.
It was also great to see that Carolina Gatti’s Prosecco Col Fondo is now available in my home state. There are now a handful of Col Fondo wines in the U.S. and the number continues to grow. Hers fall on the crunchier side of the category and I love them (she’s also the sweetest lady and very active on social media).
San Diegans, please come out and taste with me tomorrow at Jaynes Gastropub, where I’ll be pouring five wines, including Bele Casel Prosecco Colfòndo. Click here for details.
I’m not the first or the only to be entirely wowed by Walter Manzke’s cooking. But HOLY CRAP this was good at République in LA last night!
That’s “yellow fin tuna, celery root hummus, blood orange oil, pomegranate, pistachio, mint, and purslane.”
It was like tasting Sicily, the Middle East, and Greece all in one plate. The purslane took it over the top for me.
I was also very geeked to finally taste the Massica Annia, a wine that so many people are talking about these days.
It’s not hard to understand why it’s been such a hit among the “in” crowd: freshness, clarity of fruit, zinging but balanced acidity, and restrained food-friendly alcohol.
Beverage director Taylor Parsons, one of the top wine people is LA in my book, is now managing the restaurant as well and man, it continues to thrill me each time I visit.
Chapeau bas, Taylor! You’re at the top of your game and I’m loving every minute of it.
Ok, gotta run now and taste some more wine. Thanks for being here. Come out and taste with me tomorrow in San Diego if you’re in town!
Above: the new Lou, the amazing Lou Amdur’s newly opened wine shop in Los Feliz (Los Angeles).
Yesterday, I braved two hours in grid-lock traffic to get from the westside of Los Angeles to Los Feliz to see Lou Amdur’s new wine shop. It’s getting tougher to get around in LA these days but I just had to make the pilgrimage.
Lou and his now closed and sorely missed wine bar/restaurant, Lou on Vine, have played a vital and vibrant role in the U.S. wine community and wine discourse (not to mention my own wine life).
And so, however pressed for time on this trip to California, I wasn’t going to miss a visit to the new shop, where the focus is on “natural and unusual” and value-driven, wholesome wines (I picked up a bottle of 2012 Nosiola by Castel Noarna for under $25).
The thing about Lou is that not only is he one of our community’s leading and most meticulous tasters and taste-makers, he is also one of the most tender-hearted human beings I have ever met.
During the short time we visited yesterday, he told his co-worker and me a story about a guest at the old Lou on Vine that brought us both to bittersweet-tasting tears with the narrative’s denouement.
I wish I had more time today to share our conversation and my impressions of his wonderful new shop. But I’m so slammed with work that I’ll just point you to his site and blog where it’s easy to get lost in the rabbit hole of his curious mind and sensitive palate.
Now it’s time for me to get back to the fleur de sel mine. Thanks for reading. Check out Lou’s shop next time you’re in LA.
Posting in a flurry this morning from the road in LA, where I poured my client Bele Casel’s Prosecco Colfòndo last night at DomaineLA.
After the tasting, which was super fun, a group of us — food and wine professionals and music trade folks — headed to the newish Chi Spacca across the street on Melrose (at Highland).
I really liked this latest Silverton-Batali-Bastianich concept, a pseudo-butchershop and salumeria affair: there were no celebrities, you could hear your dining companions speak, and the food was simple, pure, and wholesome.
I was geeked to find Ca’ Lojera Lugana del Lupo (from Turbiana or Trebbiano di Lugana) on the list at a reasonable price. Paired nicely with the delicious focaccia di Recco, a favorite dish among restaurant trade people, I learned.
Ok, gotta run and taste… Thanks for being here.
Do Bianchi 