food enthusiast

Gelateria Artigianale: Vernazza, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 12:01:00 +0000

While we were waiting for the pizzeria to heat up our pizza, we ate some gelato at the gelateria nearby.

Chocolate/Picante Hazelnut Decent, not so sweet, not overwhelmingly creamy - flavors come off as more homey.
The chocolate/picante gelato - you could almost taste the slightly bitter chocolate shavings. The slight hot pepper flavor then followed afterward.
The hazelnut was not bad, but it would have benefited from having some actual hazelnut bits in it.

Gelateria Artigianale
Via Roma, Vernazza, Italy

Pizzeria Basso : Vernazza, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 12:01:00 +0000

Vernazza, is probably the most picturesque of the five villages, with its little cape and the view of the village that the hiking trail above offers.

It also has a free public beach. It's small, but if we weren't coming off of our monster hike (and had more of a hike ahead of us), I would have probably bought myself some swim trunks and swum in that beautiful blue warm sea water.

I generally think that there's an inverse relationship between tourism and good food, in that it's usual to have terrible food in highly touristy places. Perhaps we just managed to pick the worst of the bunch in Vernazza, but this one seemed to corroborate my hypothesis.

Prosciutto Crudo
Not so great. Mozzarella so-so, prosciutto tasting like poor quality supermarket offerings and on top of that potentially starting to go a bit bad.

After eating, we started off on the coastal trail to the next village, Corniglia and fired off some abominations of gas bombs from our haunches, as if to re-emphasize our highly dis-satisfactory meal.

Pizzeria Basso Ivo
Via Roma, 1, 19018 Vernazza, Italy (Map)
+39 0187 821042 ‎

Pizzeria Focacceria Raggi Emiliano: Monterosso al Mare, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:01:00 +0000

Monterosso al Mare is the northern most village of Cinque Terre and that was our starting point to do the hike between all 5 villages.

We were originally intending to grab a few focaccia bread pieces for a quick breakfast for our hike without paying much attention to what we picked up. But the focaccia ended up being pretty decent.

It was from a small pizzeria/focacceria on the smaller side street, via Vittorio Emanuele

Vegetarian Focaccia
Tomato, artichoke, spinach - unexpectedly nice. They asked if we wanted it toasted and we ate that piece there. Fresh ingredients and decent focaccia bread.

Mozarella, Potato, Rosemary
A bit on the saltier side due largely to the mozzarella, although the potatoes were also slightly salty as well. Strangely satisfying, especially an hour into our hike.

It was actually quite fortunate we did pick up the food we did.

There are two hiking options for Cinque Terre: the more popular (and direct) trails between villages that go along the sea-side and the less well-traveled trails that first go uphill and inland and then back downhil and towards the sea (think of a greater-than symbol >), which is what we ended up picking for some reason. These trails were not as well marked and even get interrupted by roads (the trail literally stops at the road and there are no signs as to where the trail picks up again.) Getting to the second village, Vernazza, ended up taking over 4 hours. Oof.

Pizzeria Focacceria Raggi Emiliano
Piazza Garibaldi N. 4 Monterosso al Mare, Italy (Map)

Ripa del Sole : Riomaggiore, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 12:03:00 +0000

For those who are unaware (like me before actually going), Cinque Terre is a set of 5 villages, in northwest Italy, which are nestled in cliffs along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The villages are absolutely picturesque and charming in their small-village atmosphere, especially during the non-touristy season. Our hearts were saddened to hear of the recent mud-slides that ravaged some of the villages.

We stayed in Riomaggiore, the southern most of the five villages. We had rented a guest house through xxx, a website like Airbnb, where property owners can rent out their property for vacation-goers. This was our first time renting through such websites for travel and beyond actually living more akin to how locals live, one of the big benefits of renting through such websites, is that the local host can give you the inside scoop on locals' favorite restaurants.

In this case, our host recommended Ripa del Sole, an absolutely wonderful restaurant.

It's located above (altitude-wise) the main street of Riomaggiore, so that you have this view of Riomaggiore from the street that it's on. Btw, they have both indoor and outdoor seating. When we went, it was nice enough in the evening that they only had outdoor seating available.

Umm, here's a random shot of olive oil and balsamic vinegar there to build up some suspense.

Now, let's get onto the food.

Anchoves Cooked 5 Ways
Fabulous.
1) Deep fried, wrapped in ham
2) Plain deep fried - very simply, but nicely done. Fresh anchovies, freshly fried and lightly salted. You really can't go wrong with this.
3) Anchovies in pesto/olive oil
4) Salted anchovy (as in preserved in salt) - We're not really used to the salted preserved flavor and found this overwhelmingly salty, but it paired well with the bread and lemon oil.
5) Anchovies with carrot and celery slivers in white vinegar and lemon - our favorite of the five. Just a nice pair of fish and the vinegar/lemon flavor.

Shrimp Ravioli
Nicely done. Cooked al dente, the shrimp inside tasting like a seafood bisque.

Local Fish
Five types of different fish, deep fried. Again, simple but very nicely done, each fish giving a distinctively unique flavor. It may not look like it, but this was actually quite a massive portion. The largest fish were about 5 inches long.

All in all, this was the priciest of the meals we have had so far this trip, but far and away our most satisfying.

Ripa del Sole
Via De Gasperi, 4, 19017 Riomaggiore La Spezia, Italy (Map)
0187 920143
ripadelsole.it‎

Impero : Bologna, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 12:02:00 +0000

We picked up our second sandwich from Impero, a few doors down from Saveria.

This seemed more popular for its pastries and coffee (and later on in the trip, we'd return here just to try those out).

Foccaccia w/ Olives - Some cured meat, mozzarella, + arugula.
Mozzarella and the salty olives were the prevalent and quite satisfying flavor. The arugula lended a complementary flavor and made me think that I should be using arugula more often in sandwiches back home.

Impero
Via dell'Indipendenza, 39, 40018 Bologna, Italy (Map)
+39 051 232337
workingbo.it

Gelateria Saveria : Bologna, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 12:01:00 +0000

We were actually on our way to Cinque Terre, but had a train connection in Bologna for a few hours, so we jumped out and grabbed a few sandwiches, one from Gelateria Saveria and one from Impero Bar a few doors down).

Gigliato (sp?)
Seemingly simple sandwich, but actually quite nicely done. A relatively denser bread with salted/salty cured meat that melted in your mouth. Yes it was simple, but the ingredients were quality and we enjoyed the heck out of this, especially given our spotty meals in Venice.

Gelateria Saveria
Via dell'Indipendenza, 40018 imperio bologna, italy (Map - a few doors down from Impero Bar)

Gelateria Paolin S. Stefano : Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 12:02:00 +0000

As an fyi, we miraculously re-found Caffe Brasilia and ate there again in between trying Laguna Bar Gelateria and Gelateria Paolin S. Stefano. I didn't want you thinking we were so gluttonous as to hit up two gelaterias in a row.

We saved that for later in the trip.

Pistachio
Tampoco (?)
Both flavors overly sweet throughout, which really surprised us, given the number of people enjoying themselves outside the place. The tampico had bits of berry (cherry or loganberry?) was especially guilty of being too sweet, but the pistachio, containing bits of wafer or pistachio paste throughout, also was not really what we were looking for.

Sigh. I guess we can see why Venice is not exactly known as a foodie town.

Gelateria Paolin
San Marco 2962, Campo Santo Stefano, Venice, Italy (Map)
+39 041 522 5576

Laguna Bar Gelateria : Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 12:00:00 +0000

Laguna Bar Gelateria was the first gelateria we came across while strolling around Dorsoduro, so naturally we had to try some of it.

Blueberry
Ick. ick. Zero for two today. Strangely had that sweet umm flavor, if you could call it that, that's found in a lot of sodas.

Laguna Bar Gelateria
Sestiere Dorsoduro, 794, 30123 Venezia, Italy (Map)
+39 041 528 3619

Chat Qui Rit : Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 12:01:00 +0000

The only way that I can explain it is that being in another country, jet-lagged, our foodie spidey sense must have been off. With the menu outside appearing to offer relatively reasonable prices and it being somewhat close to our hotel, we convinced ourselves that it was acceptable to eat at a self-service buffet line type place.

i.e. this was a pre-meditated egregious choice.

It was our worst meal the entire trip, bar none.

It's like a cafeteria-style line, where you get a tray and point at pre-dished servings. The bored staff-members then take your pick and nuke it in a microwave in plain sight. I kid you not.

Pasta is nuked, chicken is nuked. They even nuke the fish. Oh the horror.

This "seafood" salad was a cold salad, somewhat fortunately. (Later on in our trip on a food tour, we were told we were lucky and that it's generally not recommended to get seafood in Venice. One couple who was supposed to go on the tour got massive food poisoning from seafood.)

Seeing the buffet alone, we should have fled. Topping it with the microwave deal, we should have run out screaming. Strangely, we passively trudged along and got to the cashier, where we were shocked with a terrifically high charge.

As for the food, well.

Pasta
Some of the other pasta was at least fresher (as potentially hand-made at some point, but sitting around for an hour), but the lasagna had that crusty hardened cheese, so often found in pastas in a cafeteria setting that had been under a heat-lamp.

Olves/Artichoke hearts
Better than what you'd get at a regular grocery market/restaurant in the States, but I suspect what you could get in a grocery store in Italy.

Fish
Oh my my. Overcooked to hell. Dry and dry. Flavorful, but dry as a German joke in the desert.

Seafood Salad
Considering the other dishes, not as bad as could be. Covered with light vinegar, which does help things. But my concern was: is langostine supposed to the have the texture of fish balls?

Ick. Do not come here.

Chat Qui Rit
Sestiere di San Marco, 1131 30124 Venezia, Italia (Map)
041 522 9086
chatquirit.it

We want answers!

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 12:02:00 +0000

I've been really fascinated by some of the in-depth responses occurring on website: Quora

Why is Dinner Often More Expensive than Lunch?

What role do donuts play in American Culture?
(Btw, love the following)

The fact that the history is so closely tied to tales of entrepreneurship and innovation (from the Krispy Kreme 'Ring King' automated machines, to the association with Mom-and-pop franchises) give the donut patriotic, all-American free-market street cred.

Can I bring dough on an Airplane?

How do Japanese people describe food?

Grom : Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

The first of our many, many gelatos during our trip was at Grom, a chain with locations across Italy and in select other cities (NY, Paris, Tokyo, Osaka, Malibu). It offers a modern warm interior with seats and strangely tables that bounce when you push on them. (Maybe you can put them in a suped up car with mega shocks?)

Hazelnut / Ricotta with Almond / Raspberry Sorbet
Hazelnut - caramel-like flavor, followed by hazelnut flavor.
Ricotta with Almond - pretty subtle flavor, almost like vanilla
Raspberry Sorbet - A little less tart than usual

The cone itself, like many other cones has much less sugar than the cones in the U.S., to the point where if there was any less sugar, we could have been eating a crunchy cardboard cone for all that I knew.

This was not bad. The gelato was slightly creamier in texture than an ice cream and more true to the flavors of the original ingredient than an ice cream generally tend to be, but if my one experience with Gelato was this one, I'd ask what's the big deal with gelato? (In hindsite I get it, but this isn't the place to intro a gelato newbie to.)

Grom
Sestiere Cannaregio, 3844 30121 Venezia, Italia (Map)
Multiple Locations
www.grom.it

Egg molds!

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

If your kid (or kid at heart) is just sick of the same ol boring ovoid-shaped boiled egg, brace yourself, because there are egg molds that transmogrify your boiled eggs into cute shapes:

Btw, in case you were wondering, you boil the egg first and then put them into the mold while they're still hot.

Then, if they get bored with those (geez, what kind of picky little kids are you raising?), you can take it to the next step and mold the yolk (!)

(This requires you to separate the yolk from the white before cooking)

Who knows what mind-bending technological wonder lies next on the horizon?

Will they have a mold where you can shape both the egg white and the egg yolk? Like a car-shaped egg white on the outside with a driver-dude-shaped egg yolk on the inside?

Arte della Pizza : Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

We had our first pizza in Italy at Arte de la Pizza, a small shop, a somewhat short walk away from the Venice train station, but up a small alleyway, such that it came across as off the beaten path.

There were a total of 5 stools inside. It seemed more like a place to grab a slice, stand at the window and be on your way.

Here's a photo of a bunch of their pizzas. Despite nearly every pizza shop having that variation, I still got a kick out of seeing that combination. Sadly, I never got a chance to try it out.

Cappriccosa Pizza - Here's what we did order: Artichoke hearts, mushrooms and prosciutto. A solid combination of ingredients, although I did get the feeling, the ingredients weren't the absolute best available. That being said, with a 6€ price point (yes for the entire 9'ish inch pizza), perhaps going for better ingredients would be suicide. Thin crust, had a nice crunch, especially being right out of the oven.

Certainly I would have no hesitation to stop here again, but not sure I'd make a point to go out of my way to visit.

Arte della Pizza
1896, Cannaregio, Venezia, VE 30121 30121, Italia (Map) 041 5246520

MuroVenezia Rialto: Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 12:00:00 +0000

MuroVenezia is located in Sestiere San Polo, a plaza near the picturesque Rialto Bridge. After a bit of bumbling confusion, wandering inside MuroVenezia, we were told that only outside seating was available, so we got a chance to sit outside in the plaza. It was quite a lovely day out: sunny, mid-seventies, so we certainly did not mind:

We were served bread and were provided Balsamic vinegar, only when we asked (this seemed to be a common occurrence on our trip. So strange how our expectations for Italian restaurants differs so much from this.)

In my notes, I note "bread is dry and pretty crumbly. The balsamic vinegar is interesting, almost like the flavor of a tart grope [sic]." I think I meant grape, but to amp up the interest level of my writing, let's go with tart grope, shall we?

In hindsight, I view my note with even more sardonicism, since we went on a highly educational food tour while in Bologna later in the trip and got to taste the real deal Aceto Balsamico. Needless to say, this and most Balsamic vinegars are cheaper, commercial versions (as comforting as I still find them).

Risotto with tomatoes, white fish - Not bad at all. Risotto, more on the mushier side, but its flavor was mainly that of the fish, reminiscent of a flavors of comfort-food stew.

Tagliolini con granchio fresco - Hrmm. I thought this was what I ordered, but translating that (Noodles with fresh crab), that's not quite right. It's close though - there were artichoke hearts, tomatoes and scallops on top of noodles. The egg noodles tasted strangely similar to the Cantonese egg noodles, except much much fresher and instilled with the flavor of the scallops. The scallops were nicely cooked and tender and the artichoke hearts were served cooked as well.

Venice is not known to be a foodie city; in fact, it's more known for restaurants that overprice mediocre food. So in light of that, we found this to be a pretty satisfying meal.

Muro Venezia Rialto
Campo Bella Vienna, Rialto, San Polo 222, 30125 Venezia, Italia (Map)
041 24 12 339
murovinoecucina.it‎

Ketchup bot aka Automato aka The Catsup Crapper

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 04:08:00 +0000

Hilarious! I wish I had one of these guys The original Automato

And here it is, teaching the little one:

Invented by two MIT grads/students.

[via mefi]

Carl Sagan's Cosmos: The Meat Planet

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:10:00 +0000

Carl Sagan describes the misunderstood "Meat Planet" in a lost episode of Cosmos:

I'll be quoting this one for quite some time.

[via mefi]

Reader, I marinated it

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 04:43:00 +0000

I fully admit to being ignorant of those authors referenced besides Virginia Woolf, but I gotta say this Independent's What if famous authors were food bloggers? bit is spot-on and would making reading food blogs much more fascinating if it were true.

[via mefi]

Bar Pasticceria Chiusso : Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Wed, 23 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

For those who have never visited, the first thing people generally envision of Venice is the grand canal and sure, it is definitely picturesque and unique. But in reality, the heart of the personality of Venice seems to draw from the pedestrian-only, labyrinthine, narrow, meandering streets that intermittently cross with the smaller canals. It's bedevillingly charming to take an early mornign stroll through these passageways and push out into the quieter, less tourist-laden areas, where day-to-day life occurs.

That's how we started the morning and we ended up randomly stopping in Bar Pasticceria Chiusso.

It's a small, friendly cafe, serving up a small selection of pastries. You drink coffee/eat standing at the counter. When we entered, a fellow traveler, who seemed to have a basic grasp of Italian, seemed to be practicing her Italian with the friendly barista.

I'm not a coffee guy, but I figured we were in Italy...

Cappucino - pretty darn black, without much creme and no sugar. When I do drink coffee, this is how I prefer it.

Almond pastry w/ almond paste

Croissant w/ Apricot Jam

Well, given that our last trip was to France, a small random pasticceria is not going to quite compare in terms of quality of pastries. But given that, these pastries satisfied us that morning. They were not overly sweet and had a decent lightness to them.

I don't think of this being a foodie stop per se, but it certainly was a nice way to get a taste of the normal life here.

Bar Pasticceria Chiusso

3306, Castello, Venezia, VE 30122 Italia (Map)

Cajun Stuff Pork with Bacon, BOY!

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Sat, 19 Nov 2011 04:45:00 +0000

18 mins long, but definitely worth a watch. Informative, personable and slightly profane.

It says to put a quarter cup of spread.

Spread? Ehhh. We ain't doing that sh*t.

Why can't the Food Network have guys like this on it?

007bondjb's Channel

[via and more links on Mefi]

Osteria da Bacco : Venice, Itally

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

Despite such a light meal at Caffe Brasilia, we did not find ourselves all that hungry for dinner. As a result, we ended up just stopping again at a random cafe for a sandwich snack, this time at a bar called Osteria da Baco.

The place seemed fairly lively, though it was tough to really tell with it being so close to the main tourism plaza, Piazza San Marco.

Focaccia with arugula, brie and prosciutto
Decent ingredients, with the arugula being particular prevalent in the flavor (it made me want to use arugula more in my own sandwiches) and satisfying bread. But I got the feeling a lot of this was just due to the higher availability of better quality ingredients in Italy, rather than anything these guys did.

Yes, it's a small data point, but chances are if we were to return to Venice, I'd want us to seek out other places to try out.
.

Osteria da Bacco
Di Angiolin Franco Castello 4620 Venezia IT
041/5222887

Caffe Brasilia : Venice, Italy

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Mon, 14 Nov 2011 12:00:00 +0000

I'm kicking off my return from my hiatus with what I'm most excited to write-up: our trip to Italy.

Our first meal was a small, out-of-the-way cafe in Venice that we were passing by and happened to stop in.

Like other cafes there, this was also a wine bar / deli / juice bar in one. And since it was off-the-beaten path away from the more crowded plazas of Venice, we figured this might be a more local favorite of sorts.

We went for a light meal, eating at the tables just outside of the cafe. There wasn't much for scenery, per se, with the exception of peering down the unique, narrow Venetian streets:

As mentioned before, the place was off the beaten path, so it was wonderfully quiet and a much, much needed breather of a relaxed meal here. We were served by a friendly, charming older gentleman, who seemed a bit bemused by our initial indecision of what to order.

Beef sandwich on dark bread w/ Arugula & Mayo

Ham, hot peppers, red peppers cooked in oil, mayo

Both sandwiches were simple and extremely light, but satisfying with fresh ingredients. Pretty much all that you'd hope for and expect out of a local cafe.

We also ordered a couple of juices out of curiosity:

Carrot, Ginger, Orange & Lemon

Pineapples, kiwi, lemon

The drinks taste were just those particular ingredients blended up: fresh and without much if any sugar. The carrot, ginger, orange and lemon had a particularly and refreshingly tart flavor to it.

Certainly, this was a simple and nice way to kick the trip off.

Cafe Brasilia
Near Campo Stefano (I believe it was 3 blocks north and 1 block east of Campo Stefano. Hate to add to the vague address that seem to plague Venice tourbooks, but I'm not sure I'd be able to find this again if I had to)
Venice Italy

Amazingly Speedy Cake Bagger

noreply@blogger.com (Comradechu) — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 04:39:00 +0000

Amazingly fast cake bagger.

[via buzzfeed]

Apologies for the lack of posts in the last few months. Been busy getting married and going on our honeymoon. ;)

I'll be resuming more regular posting going forward.

A cookie baking robot

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 10:02:00 +0000

The parts where it mixes the dough is like someone trying to write with their opposite hand:

[via NYTimes]

Farmers Atlanta Road Market : Smyrna

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Wed, 20 Jul 2011 11:01:00 +0000

The Farmers Atlanta Road Market (F.A.R.M) in Smyrna made me feel like I've finally have started to see Atlanta for the first time.

I loved this market.

Yes, this is small. When we got there at 6:30pm, there was 12 or so stands, a few of which had sold out and were in the midst of packing up.

But size doesn't matter, when you bat 1000. All of the produce, fruit and baked goods that we tried there, were flat out fantastic and we ended up buying. I'll post an individual breakdown of the vendors, which we purchased from, shortly. Here's some photos of some of our purchases in the meantime:

Com Vietnamese Grill : Atlanta

noreply@blogger.com (Jonathan) — Mon, 18 Jul 2011 11:02:00 +0000

I had read a few good comments about Com Vietnamese Grill on Chamblee Dunwoody Rd, so decided to check it out while I was in the area. It's tucked in the corner of a small strip mall building. Apologies for the terrible cell phone picture, which makes this look more like an adult-entertainment store than a restaurant.

Grilled pork.
Decent meal for $8. The grilled pork ribs had slightly sweetened, charred flavor. I was expecting the rectangle in the lower right corner to be some sort of a steamed egg concoction, but it surprised me in being more like a steamed ground-pork, almost meatball tasting thing.

The plate was refreshing in that the flavors did not hold back. They were not ones that you would usually taste at a restaurant catering to Americanized palates and ones I would not even know where to start if I was to try figuring this out, cooking at home. The real sticking point I had, however, was that a lot of the plate was only luke-warm; the fried egg, the pork square and the rice, just tasted like they had been waiting for some time.

Coffee cake
There was a surprise dessert (or perhaps I just missed the note on the menu that said dessert was included.) Certainly a nice touch, if not really anything special.

Perhaps I owe this place another go, but the temperature of the food was kind of a turn-off.

Com Vietnamese Grill
5486 Chamblee Dunwoody Road Dunwoody GA 30338
www.comgrill.com