A cappuccino at Blue Bottle Coffee, San Francisco Ferry Terminal. Beautiful, and authentically Italian in flavor. These folks know what they’re doing.
Tag Archives: Italian food
Al Cenacolo: A “Last Supper” in Chiavenna
Yesterday we had our family holiday big meal out at Al Cenacolo (“at the Last Supper”) in Chiavenna. Having gone that far from home, it was a big decision not to go to our beloved Lanterna Verde, but, because this place had been recommended to us by Dr. Maulé, we decided to take a chance – and were not disappointed.
Al Cenacolo is located in central Chiavenna, very easy to find. Just go through the gate shown above, and you’ll find it a few doors down on the left.
The menu is brief (there are probably seasonal changes) and totally without fish (smoked salmon appetizer doesn’t count!).
Four of us opted for the paté di fagiano (pheasant paté). We should have stuck to the restaurant critic’s rule – everyone get something different and share – because the paté was not that interesting.
It just didn’t have much flavor, and would have been better if served a little warmer and with toast, although the restaurant’s bread was excellent.
The house wine was a very good Grumello riserva (a local wine made from Nebbiolo grapes), made especially for Al Cenacolo by the Nino Negri winery, a bargain at 9 euros per half-liter, served in a very attractive carafe – I want one of these!
Ingvild and I opted to skip the first (pasta) course. Bruno and Enrico both had the tortelli d’anatra glassati (stuffed with duck breast), which were very good (I managed to get a bite of Enrico’s).
Graziella had Al Cenacolo’s version of pizzoccheri, in which the pasta was more like gnocchi, and very tastily drowned in butter and garlic. She couldn’t possibly finish it, so we all got to clean up the serving bowl.
For secondo, I had wanted the duck breast all’amarena (sour cherries), but they would not make it for fewer than two people – very disappointing as that was not specified on the menu! I hate when I make my mind up for a particular dish and then can’t have it.
So Ingvild and I both had carré di cervo (venison) served with an insufficient portion of salsa ai mirtilli neri (berry sauce). The meat itself was luscious, rich, and tender, though the presentation was unimaginative and the polenta squares boring. Roasted potatoes would have been a better accompaniment to this wonderful meat.
Enrico had a (small) leg of pork smothered in porcini, Bruno had kidney with mushrooms, and Graziella had lamb; they all said their dishes were good, but I didn’t taste them.
The dessert menu was not particularly exciting. We had two kinds of sorbet: plum drowned in Calvados, and mandarin with “two kinds of liquor” (which kinds wasn’t specified).
The total for the five of us, including one and a half liters of wine and lots of water, was about 260 euros. Altogether a worthwhile meal, even at that price, though not quite as spectacular as I would have liked.
Ristorante Al Cenacolo, via Pedretti 16, Chiavenna – closed Tuesday evening and all Wednesday – phone 0343 32123
Favorite Restaurants, in Italy and Elsewhere
Note: All prices may be severely out of date. Quality not likely to have changed.
Lake Como Area
These are full reviews – also see brief listings below for some more restaurants.
Elsewhere
Vegetarian Restaurants
Some tips for eating in restaurants in Italy.
Don’t want to eat out all the time? It’s also possible to eat cheaply in Italy.
Opinions
Some More of Our Favorite Restaurants
NB: My data on prices may not be entirely reliable; costs refer to a full meal (antipasto, primo, secondo, dessert) with wine, per person. You can of course save money by eating less! (By 2010, these prices are likely out of date! I have not eaten at any of these places in at least two years.)
But you don’t always have to go to restaurants; it’s also possible to eat cheaply in Italy.
Milan
via Cassala 59
near the Romolo metro stop
tel 02 5811 1957
Fresh mozzarella from Naples daily, amazing seafood of all kinds. Pizza is also good. ~ euro 20-30
Vecchia Napoli pizzeria
via Chavez 4
tel 02 2619056
Fantastic pizza. Closed Mondays. Pizzas cost euro 7-12.
Osteria Grand Hotel
via Ascanio Sforza 75 (naviglio Pavese)
tel 02 89511586
Fabrizio, the owner, is head of one of Milan’s Slow Food groups. Excellent food, great wine list. euro 30-40
La Veneta
via G. Giusti 14
tel 02 342881
Antique recipes from the Veneto. Don’t miss the pasta e fagioli with radicchio, but everything else is wonderful as well. The owner is idiosyncratic and sometimes perceived as rude, but really he just has strong opinions on what should be eaten (and drunk) with what, and he’s probably right. Leave room for amazing desserts. euro 30-50
Ristorante da Bruno
via Gonzaga 6 (Duomo metro stop)
tel 02 804364
An old family favorite. Everything’s good. ~ euro 25-40
Gatto’
via Castel Morrone 10
tel 02 70006870
Mon 17:30-23:30, Tue-Sat 12:00-23:30
A brief but excellent Neapolitan-influenced menu, with an emphasis on top-quality ingredients. Possibly the best tuna steak I’ve ever eaten, lightly seared with a Japanese-style dipping sauce. Don’t miss the desserts.
near Menaggio
Locanda San Martino
Santa Maria Rezzonico and then way up the hill
tel 0344 50167 – reservations recommended
Excellent regional specialties including boar and polenta uncia (with cheese, garlic, butter, and sage), very cheap. euro 15-20
Lecco
Osteria del Viaggiatore
Corso Promessi Sposi
see my review
Taverna ai Poggi
via ai Poggi 14
phone: 0341 497126
Large selection of salumi and wines. Especially try the lake fish carpaccio and of course the local specialty, pizzoccheri (buckwheat pasta cooked with vegetables, cheese, garlic, butter, and sage). euro 25-35 at night, much cheaper at lunchtime (weekdays).
l’Azzeccagarbugli
Piazza XX Settembre
tel 0341 288063
A little pricey, but the servings are large by Italian standards. Particularly good meat, and an excellent selection of wines.
Morbegno
Ristorante Vecchio Fiume
Contrada di Cima alle Case
Nouveau twist on regional specialties. euro 30-40
Chiavenna
La Lanterna Verde
Fraz. SAN BARNABA, 7
VILLA DI CHIAVENNA 23029 SO (on the road going to St. Moritz)
Our absolute favorite, well worth the trip. During the day, eat outside and enjoy the amazing view of forests and waterfalls. euro 40-50 (cheap at the price!). See my review liked above.
Crotasc
via D.P. Lucchinetti 67
23020 Mese (SO)
Restaurant associated with the Mamete Prevostini winery.Specializes in salumi and insaccati (dried meats) and wild game. Five-course menus euro 25 and 30.
Il Capriolo
Subiale, Tel. 0341 875.017 – Cell. 328 749500
See my review; closed Thursdays.
Chianti
I Tre Castelli
Loc. Cintoia Bassa
Strada in Chianti
tel 055 8572227
Open for lunch and dinner, except Wednesdays.
Rita and Lino took us here. Excellent and unusual dishes such as a very spicy boar goulash.
Rome
Osteria Le Mani in Pasta
via dei Genovesi 37, Trastevere
via Monte Giordano, 12
via Banchi Nuovi 14
An old-fashioned Roman osteria. Get there while you can – places like this won’t last much longer. euro 15-20Also go here
Mantova
Outside Italy
London
(locations in Brussels, Copenhagen, Paris, Delhi, Dubai, and Beirut
as well)
Indian-French cuisine based on recipes from the old French colony of Pondicherry. I have had a lot of Indian food (lived there 5 years), but never anything like this. Amazing. Expensive.
Virginia/Suburban DC
Some of the best Thai food I’ve eaten outside of Thailand.
France
Barcelona
Guests of Conti Sertoli Salis: Fine Food and Wine in Valtellina
Part 1: Lunch!
Many moons ago, spurred by a question on Fodors.com, I wandered the Internets, looking up wineries in the nearby region of Valtellina. Several had sites, some gorgeously produced. Sertoli Salis particularly caught my eye because the site was so very beautiful, and I knew the wines to be good, but the English translation was laughable.
Desperate for extra income, I wrote them, hoping to be offered the job of re-translating the site. They replied that, having just spent a lot of money to redo the site, they couldn’t pay cash, but there might be some wine in it for me.
They sent me the files, I translated a small piece and sent it to them, then my life got busy, I changed computers and lost some of the subsequent work I had done. The winery must have liked what they saw: they wrote asking if I could do the rest. Eventually I found the time (and some new wine-related vocabulary) to finish this not-small job and send it off.
NB: The English on the site today is not mine! It will be quite a job to replace the text on the site as it’s mostly embedded in the Flash – an unfortunate mistake made by many Italian web designers. The site is still well worth visiting for the beautiful photos.
I therefore had a standing invitation to visit the palazzo and winery for a tasting and a gift of “our very best wines”. Finally, last Saturday, we were able to make good on this offer.
Enrico and I set out with Pancrazio (a TVBLOB colleague) and Emanuela. Between bad weather and traffic we were an hour late for our lunch reservation at Ristorante Jim, which meant that we had to rush, while this fine establishment deserved more leisurely attention! Jim offers very interesting seasonal menus (in addition to a far-from-boring regular menu); this time the specialty was mushrooms and wild game.
Emanuela and I started with a vellutata di porcini (wild boletus mushroom soup). Oh, my. That was special. I want to go back and eat more of that.
The boys had tagliatelle al sugo di lepre – home-made egg pasta with wild hare sauce. Very gamey, very tasty.
For secondo, Emanuela had bocconcini di capriolo (“bites” of roebuck), which she said were tender enough to melt in your mouth. I had breast of wild duck in a balsamic vinegar reduction – I love duck, and this was even more flavorful than usual. Umm… don’t remember what Enrico and Pancrazio had, except that they both managed to squeeze in dessert afterwards!
Then we headed off to the object of our visit, the winery.
High Water (Not Hell) in Venice, part 6
Venice’s Bad Karma
On Saturday morning, I learned what a macchiatone (“big spotted one”) is: it’s basically a caffé macchiato (coffee “spotted” with steamed milk), with a bit more milk – so, somewhere between a macchiato and a cappuccino, served in a cappuccino cup. I had it with a delicious little torta di riso (rice cake).
Then Enrico and I explored some more.
^ “In this antique home of the Dario family, Henri de Regnier, poet of France, Venetianly lived and wrote in 1988 and 1901.” Venetianly?
^ This was a mystery. Was the pigeon already dead when someone gored it with an umbrella?
The apartment we were staying in was owned by a Jewish family. On the wall near the kitchen was a framed edict of 1777, issued by a prince of Venice on the orders of an “Inquisitor of the Arts”, detailing horrifying restrictions on Venice’s Jewish community. Sobering reading. The Venetians invented the concept of ghetto, apparently.
Venice is indeed a beautiful city, but it has many centuries of bad karma to pay off.
