Category Archives: de rebus familiaribus

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…

Georgia P lands in Venice

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I can’t begin to describe the wave of emotion that Tracie P felt as we landed in Venice with Georgia P… Her first trip to Italy!

Georgia P’s first trip to Italy

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Tracie P continues to document parenthood over at My Little Sugarpie, where today she posted a letter to Georgia P on the eve of her first trip to Italy.

Italy is so child-friendly and we’ve traveled with Georgia P before. So we’re not overly anxious about the trip (for both Tracie P and me, going to Italy is like going anywhere, since we both lived there for so long and we both speak Italian).

Of course, Georgia P doesn’t really know that we’re leaving for Europe tomorrow. She just knows that mommy and daddy are really excited.

We have a great trip ahead of us and we’ll be posting every day about our adventures.

But as I look into Georgia P’s eyes and her smiles and laughter make me melt, I remember the first time I went to Italy when I was nineteen years old. I remember the excitement and the adventure. I remember seeing the Alps from the plane for the first time in my life. I remember getting on a bus at Malpensa and thinking to myself: look around you and remember every detail, every aroma, every flavor, every color, every word…

In the more than twenty-five years that have passed since then, I must have traveled to Europe twenty or thirty times — I lost count many years ago.

But tomorrow is Georgia P’s first trip and even though she won’t remember it, it feels like the very first time…

See you on the other side!

First kiss: Georgia P at the La Jolla Cove

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Yesterday afternoon, we took Georgia P down to the La Jolla Cove so that she could dip her little toes into the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

If you haven’t ever been and don’t know what a special place the Cove is, check out the Wiki entry.

06 Barolo Garblèt Sué, birthday fiorentina & the aeration condom

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This year’s birthday celebration centered around a porterhouse cooked alla fiorentina: the steak is cooked upright so that the T in the t-bone release its flavor and the entire steak heats through without cooking the sirloin and tenderloin. This year, Tracie P bought me the steak three days before my birthday and we dry-aged it in the fridge (you just put it on a plate, uncovered, and let it dry out). It’s the simplest thing but it makes such a big difference in the tenderness and flavor of the beef.

When you see the marrow begin to bubble in the bone, quickly grill the steak on either side at high heat.

We paired with a bottle of 2006 Barolo Garblèt Sué by Brovia, one of my all-time favorite Nebbiolo growers and bottlers.

The Garblèt Sué vineyard is on the Bricco Fiasco and its name comes from the name of the farm that lies below, Garbelletto Superiore. (The dialectal inflection of the toponym, Garblèt Sué, was authorized in new legislation that went into effect in 2010 allowing for added geographical mentions, as they are called in red-tape jargon.)

Honestly, the wine was still very tight, even though I had opened it early in the day to let it aerate. But that didn’t diminish our enjoyment of this classic expression of Barolo from Castiglione Falletto, the township that lies virtually in the center of the appellation and is known for its balance of elegance and fruit (imparted by the more generous Tortonian soils to the west of the Barolo-Alba road) and opulence and tannic structure (delivered by the austere Helvetian soils to the east). Even though this wine wasn’t anywhere near its peak, a Saturday night with a Barolo by Brovia is always an undeniable and unforgettable treat for me (thanks again, Tracie P!). This was the second 2006 by Brovia that I’ve tasted this year and I’ve been impressed with how fresh and bright the vintage is showing from Langa.

Beyond the new flip flops (much needed) and the gorgeous brown agate cufflinks (much appreciated) that Tracie P gave me for my birthday this year, she has given me the greatest gift that anyone ever could: our little Georgia P, whose smile could light an entire city block and whose sweetness can wash away even the bluest blues.

We have so much to be grateful for and this year’s celebration of my birthday (my forty-fifth year!) reminded me of how rich our lives have been in the last year and a half. I love both of them so very much…

In other news…

Over at the Houston Press this morning, I explain why I don’t decant wines like the Garblèt Sué and offered a trick for allowing wine to breath over the course of the entire day: the “aeration condom,” I call it.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the birthday wishes on the Facebook and the Twitter! :)