Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Italy - It's not all about the food.


Well, ok it is ALOT about the food, but that's just a bonus to the fascinating sites.

We found the main difference in the food in Italy and the food in the US is that Italy has not succumbed to the chain restaurants that dominate the US. Virtually every single place is a small individually owned restaurant and they care about what they put on your plate. Not all the food was great by any means, but by and large the food was superior to American chain restaurants.

The agriturismo we stayed in Tuscany wins the best food. Seven course meals every night, which means salad 4th or 5th. Weird to eat salad after your meal. The Spaghetti Carbonara was out of this world and though we tried, we found no where else in Italy tasted as wonderful. I wish I had taken a picture of it now.

Best pizza was in Cinque Terre when we hiked to Corniglia and is the picture above.

Best soup was in Manrola (Cinque Terre). It was minestrone but nothing like I had ever seen or tasted. Completely different than ours and anywhere else we found in Italy. The second night I ate it I DID take a picture of it. Believe me it tastes a million time better than it looked.

Best breakfast. Anna Manieri in her amazing B & B at the very top of the Spanish Steps.

Best gelato. Bar Orchidea in Rome. A sweetheart of a guy makes his own gelato. I think he also gets the most memorable character we met. Loved him. I'll post a pic of us with him when I get a copy from Brian. His pizza was also great. When Helen ordered a hamburger, he came out of the back and explained, "Our hambooger isn't your hambooger." He continued to warn her so much so that she finally asked him if it was beef. He laughed. Of course it was. It was good too. The only difference is that he didn't put it on a bun. He served like a hamburger steak. If you're ever in Rome, find Bar Orchidea. It doesn't look like it would have good food, but it does.

I have many more random thoughts, so stay tuned.

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