Category Archives: de cibo

Best meals 2012: Le Logge (Siena), first visit

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homemade pizza orange texas

Looking back on the best meals of 2012 (a mnemonic indulgence to which I treat myself every year between the Christmas holiday and New Year’s Eve), I can’t help but think about how the standouts were marked as much by the people with whom I shared them as much as the foods we ate and the wines we drank. Isn’t that what it’s all about?

That’s Georgia P, above, eating her first pizza (homemade, by Tracie P, of course), a few nights before Christmas. Whether Parisi eggs and birth-year Barolo or mushroom and peperoni pizza, 2012 delivered some of the most memorable meals of my lifetime. Buona lettura e buon appetito!

Best Meals 2012: Osteria Le Logge (Siena, March).

Alfonso and I met up in Siena yesterday afternoon and joined good friends Laura and Francesco at Laura’s restaurant Osteria Le Logge for dinner.

As I prepare to head up to Friuli today, there’s not enough time to post properly on the brilliant meal and stunning flight of wines. But here’s a “taste” of the “intellectual provocation”… THANK YOU, again, dear friends, Laura and Francesco, for opening your hearts to two weary Americans traveling along the wine trail in Italy…

Atlantic croaker sausage with mineral-water-macerated lettuces sous-vide

veal tongue Carpaccio in salsa verde

vitello tonnato with seaweed and ポン酢醤油 (ponzu jōyu)

Parisi egg with potato foam and marzolino truffles

fusilli with chicken livers and eggplant

Marcarini 1967 Barolo Brunate

Lake fish & Franciacorta at the “dispensary”

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Marinated coregone (Coregonus lavaretus, European white fish) served with an “ice cream marinade.”

When you really get down to the thick and thin of it, “there’s really nothing unique about the terroir of Franciacorta,” as one prominent producer told me when I was visiting there over the Thanksgiving weekend.

With its marittime influence (thanks to Lake Iseo) and its alternance of morainic (glacial-era) and calcareous subsoils, it is indeed an ideal place to grow acidity- and minearl-driven Pinot Nero and Chardonnay. But in fact, those conditions can be found in many spots of the pre-Alps.

italian perch

Gently fried perch (Perca fluviatilis) served over a potato “millefoglie.”

The tradition of sparkling wine there is owed to a small group of wealthy, industrialist landowners who began making classic-method wines in the 1960s (Franco Ziliani of the Guido Berlucchi winery was the first).

In my view, the thing that really sets Franciacorta apart as a producer of fine bubbles is the local, fresh-water cuisine there.

European white fish

Vittorio called this superb however simple dish “bread and salt” coregone fillets.

And there is no one who can rival the fresh-water fish mastery of chef Vittorio Fusari at his amazing Dispensa Pani e Vini (“Bread and Wine Dispensary”) in the village of Torbiato di Adro (in the province of Brescia).

The restaurant is a temple to locally sourced lake fish and sparkling wine (including many French labels).

Especially when Franciacorta is made in a mineral-dominant style, the pairing can be sublime.

barone pizzini brut nature franciacorta

We paired with Barone-Pizzini Franciacorta Nature. In my notes I wrote: incredible balance, very nuanced nose, some tropical fruit, some red fruit, extreme freshness in the mouth, great balance here.

I had the great fortune of being treated to lunch at the “dispensary” by colleague Silvano Brescianini of the Barone Pizzini winery during my recent and very short trip to Italy.

I love the intelligence and elegance of Vittorio’s cooking (I ate there once before, in 2008, with Franco and Giovanni).

And he expresses his devotion to local fisherman through the eloquence of his menu.

I can’t recommend his restaurant highly enough. This meal alone would have made the trip worthwhile…

Pizza dough recipe by Tracie P

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To borrow a phrase from my good friend Charles Sicolone (whose wife, Michele Scicolone, happens to be one of the best cooks in New York City and one of our nation’s leading cookbook authors), I am truly blessed: my wife, Tracie P, is an amazing home chef. Last night, at Mrs. & Rev. B’s house in Orange, Texas, she made us all pizza for dinner. Here’s her recipe.

best pizza recipe

Tracie P notes that “the great thing about this recipe is the short rising time and [the fact that] you can also freeze the dough” to use later with great results.

Be sure to have your toppings ready beforehand so that you can quickly top the dough after heating the pizza stones.

Makes 2 large pizzas or 4 small. These quantities can also be used to make 4-6 calzoni.

1½ cup water, about 100°
1 package baker’s yeast
4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus extra for flouring
1½ tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Heat your oven with the pizza stone to 500° for an hour. If you don’t have a pizza stone, use a pan and simply preheat the oven without the pan.

In a mixing bowl, dissolve the yeast in the water, stirring with a spoon. Let it sit until it becomes foamy.

Combine the flour and salt in a food processor and, then, with the blade running, slowly add the water in a thin, even stream and then add the olive oil. Pulse until the dough comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured pastry board and knead for approx. 2-3 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and less tacky.

At this point, you can freeze the dough balls that you don’t want to use. Just put the unrisen dough into a plastic freezer bag. When you want to use it, take it out in the morning and place it in an oiled bowl and place it on the counter. It’ll be ready and risen by the afternoon.

Grease 2 medium-sized mixing bowls with olive oil. For 2 large pizzas, divide the dough into 2 balls and transfer to the mixing bowls. (Divide into 4 for 4 smaller and slightly thinner pizzas.) Cover each with a dish towel and then set aside until the dough has risen, doubling in size (about 45 minutes).

Remove the stones from the oven, distribute the dough on the stones and top quickly (using whatever toppings you like).

Bake the at 500° F. for 7-10 minutes or until the crust becomes golden brown.

We paired last night with a salty Santorini Thalassitis by Gaia. Utterly delicious…

beautiful baby texas

Georgia P’s had a great time visiting with her nanna and pawpaw while her daddy was in Italy and on the road here in Texas. But now it’s time to head back to the River City (that’s Austin, for all you folks who ain’t never been to Texas)…

Buon weekend, yall!

The stars came out for Piero Selvaggio’s 40th at Valentino

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Above: When Piero Selvaggio finally sat down to dinner last night at my table, he couldn’t wait to dig into the schiacciata alla siciliana (front, center), one of the forty dishes his chefs and guest chefs created to celebrate his fortieth anniversary last night. “This is one of the dishes of my childhood,” he said.

What a thrill for me to be asked to speak last night at the fortieth anniversary celebration of Piero Selvaggio’s landmark restaurant Valentino in Los Angeles!

I first met Piero long before I ever dreamed of writing about Italian wine and food.

One of the top benefactors of the Italian department at U.C.L.A. was a close friend of Piero’s. When I was a graduate student there in the 1990s, I had the great fortune to dine in his restaurants thanks to his generosity to the department and his support of Italian cultural events.

Above: Piero is from Sicily and his executive chef Nicola Chessa is from Sardinia. The enogastronomic theme of the evening was wines and cuisine from their resepctive regions.

I’ve followed Piero’s career ever since. He’s one of the earliest pioneers of regional Italian cuisine in the U.S. and he was among the first to open a fine-dining establishment devoted exclusively to Italian cooking.

darrell corti

Above: Piero, left, with Darrell Corti, my friend and inspiration for my own career in the scholarship of Italian wine.

Of course, the other thrill was the chance to catch up and taste with the Darrell Corti, one of the great wine and food personalities of our generation.

Darrell was the event’s keynote speaker and it was great to watch as he and Piero, along with the many wine and food professionals in attendance, reminisced and reflected on how Americans’ perceptions and appreciation of Italian gastronomy has changed over the arc of their lives.

In my world, they are giants — generous of spirit and ever ready to share their trésor of knowledge with the curious and enthusiastic (like me).

Above: Woflgang Puck was just of the many LA food celebrities who stopped by to pay homage to Piero. He arrived late in the evening and Piero promptly presented him with a doggy bag.

Chef Steve Samson, co-owner of Sotto (where I curate the wine list), began working with Piero in the 1990s and he ultimately became the executive chef at the flagship Valentino before launching his own restaurant. (Steve and I met in 1987 on our junior year abroad in Italy and have remained close friends ever since; he’s a daddy now, too!)

Piero had asked him to prepare some of the dishes and he had asked me to speak about Natural wines from Sicily (Cornelissen) and Sardinia (Dettori).

Above: There was a lot of great wine poured last night but my top wine of the evening was the 2008 Etna by Passopisciaro. What a stunning wine!

At the end of the night, when it came time for hugs and goodbyes, I thanked Piero again for asking me to be part of such an extraordinary event. And I thanked him for his generosity. I couldn’t help but think to myself how Piero — one of just handful of Italian wine and food pioneers in our country — literally made my career possible.

For that, I can’t thank him enough.

Support New York City restaurants (lunch at SD26)

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Above: The signature dish at SD26, a large raviolo stuffed with cheese and a gently poached egg yolk. Prix fixe lunch at SD26 is just $28.

As my friends and I ate our way through Manhattan last week, I heard a lot of people say that the restaurant scene there has begun to “pick up” again in the wake of the financial crisis “reset.”

I left the city on Friday: on Monday, Manhattan saw its worst flooding in a generation, a catastrophe that has already impacted New York’s struggling restaurateurs.

Above: The wine list at SD26 is presented on an iPad. I was thrilled to discover that the restaurant has an open network and that I could get online at the bar as I waited for my good friends Michele and Charles Scicolone who treated me to lunch.

Gastronomic culture in Manhattan and Brooklyn plays such an important role in our country: many of our nation’s best chefs and top sommeliers pay their dues and make their names there. When restaurants in New York thrive, restaurateurship throughout our country prospers as well.

Now, more than ever, the New York restaurant scene needs our support.

the best shrimp and grits I’ve ever had

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Today at Charivari in Houston, lunch with the inimitable Bear Dalton (who told me they’re his favorite shrimp and grits “in town”).

The grits weren’t overly buttered and their mouthfeel was even and substantive without seeming heavy.

Just enough spice on the shrimp and fried okra in the middle took it over the top.

Thanks again, Bear!

Celebrity sighting at Barney Greengrass

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No trip to New York is complete without a visit to the “Sturgeon King” Barney Greengrass (come to think of it, no Woody Allen movie is complete without a visit to Barney Greengrass either).

Yesterday morning’s visit also brought a celebrity sighting. No, I’m not talking about my good friend Edoardo Ballerini (whom you’ve seen in countless movies and shows, like The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire, and whom you’ll remember from the 2000 Giraldi film Dinner Rush).

No, I’m talking about his beautiful eight-month old, Lorenzo.

Edo and I go way back and it’s so great that we’ve become fathers at the same time.

Edo is also partly to thank for the name of the blog, which was conceived many years ago (long before there were blogs) as “Edoardo ‘Do’ Bianchi”.

It was so great to see them… and the white fish was great, as always…

Garganega pairs well with Vietnamese (Thank you! @Femme_Foodie & @TonyVallone)

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Above: Writer Mai Pham and restaurateur Tony Vallone, two of my favorite people on the Houston food and wine scene.

When the occasion is BYOB at an Asian restaurant, my friends expect me to bring something Natural and stinky, crunchy and funky — a delight for those who like the adventurous and unexpected and a conversation piece for the more conventional among us.

But unforeseen events last night made it impossible for me to dip into our cellar before joining my friends Mai Pham, her wonderful husband Michael, and my good friend and client Tony Vallone and his top staff for dinner at the amazing Jasmine restaurant in Chinatown, Houston.

There aren’t a lot of retail wine options on Sunday in Texas (where wine is not sold until after 12 p.m. on Sundays). And so I figured my best bet was an upscale supermarket, the Kroger on Buffalo Speedway (Kroger is actually a large commercial chain, but it’s Buffalo Speedway location is a “flagship” outpost).

Above: Real wine for under $15? Pieropan delivers.

Honestly, there’s not a lot of wine at Kroger that I can palate. And the European selections are limited to the usual suspects.

But what a fantastic surprise to find Pieropan — Garganega with a smaller amount of Trebbiano di Soave — for $13.99! And they had it already chilled…

The wine — with its zinging acidity and that unmistakable volcanic minerality of classic Soave — was ideal with the fattiness of fried whole catfish.

Above: Mai and Michael showed us how to roll the catfish with carrots, cucumber stalks, and mint in large rice wafers that had been softened in warm water. Catfish doesn’t have a much nutritional value, noted Michael, but it’s delicious.

Great value and great flavor in this wine… and great versatility (the saltiness and fattiness of the catfish reminded me how well this wine would pair with whole fried goby from the Venetian lagoon).

BTW, if you’re having issues with the pronunciation of Garganega, you’ll find it among the grape varieties in the Italian Grape Name and Appellation Pronunciation Project.

Mai and Michael, thanks again for turning us on to Jasmine.

And Tony, thanks for treating us to a great dinner.

first Alba truffles of the year @TonyVallone

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I snapped this photo today at lunch at Tony’s in Houston, the first Alba truffles I’ve seen this year.

Tony — my friend and client — talked about how the truffles are arriving early this year because of drought conditions over the summer in Italy.

There is no food in the world with a greater aura. (Does anyone get my Latin paronomasia?)