Potential Gold

An Update from Dublin

Ciao Tutti,


I am writing in from the Avalon in Dublin.  So far this city has been a good time.  Nothing like the beauty and richness I felt in Edinburgh but the Guinness here is great!


I have been eating well here.  Some good Thai food, some excellent fish and chips and some good food from The Tea Room, in U2's hotel.


On Sunday I will be in London, and on May 4th is the final day...I can't wait already...


I am still trying to get rid of this sore throat so not much beer for me now...anyone have any good cures??


Till next time...cheers!

...Newcastle

Ciao,


Paris was a great time.  I spent more time with my family then I planned, but I had a great time.  Max, a relative, took me around Belleville where I had great North African food before Passover came in.  On Friday evening I met with a friend from Israel and his family and had an amazing meal at Tang, a one star restaurant with Chinese, Vietnamese and French influences.  Very nice!


I left Paris with a very sore throat and it is only today getting better.  I haven't had a beer yet in England and today arrived in Edinburgh. 


Newcastle was awesome and a good time.  I stayed two nights at the YHA and ate an amazing English Breakfast this morning.


One guy in my room last night snored so loud I think even the Queen in London had trouble sleeping.  I still question if I slepped at all last night because of the snorring.


Pictures will follow once I get home.


Ciao,


Ore

Last 20 minutes...

Ciao...




It's my last day in Italy.  The last few days were an adventure.


I am writing now from the airport in Napoli, getting ready for my flight to Paris on Easy Jet.


I can't wait to get home and put some pictures up.  Lunch was great at Le Calandre.  The food was wonderful, and at 150 Euro for the tasting menu, it was my last expensive eating experience in Italy.


I met with Gianluca in Bassano del Grappa after Le Calandre and had a great time with Ari and their friends.  We ate dinner at a really rugged and original Osteria and the drunk elder clients that sang seemed to place me in a dream!


Uh Oh...boarding...




Ciao For Now!!!

'Say It Aint So'

My last sunset over Parma.


22.49 - Friday, April 15


Starting with "Say It Aint So" by Weezer, I sit and write.  Parma, more specifically Vedole, was a wonderful experience.  My time here at Al Vedel was life changing.  Without a doubt I have noticed and realized so much more about the world - even by only making salumi, I learned how generations preserved meat using the simplest ingredients.  Sure, that was only the knowledge at the front, what you would expect to learn after spending three months at a salumeria, but it goes much further than that.

VINITALY

First off, thanks to Ronald and Katia of Love Sicily for hosting this months WBW.  This is my second in participation and I hope it wont be my last!

With the perfect timing of VinItaly in Verona, and the perfect timing of WBW, I decided to put the two together and report on a special few wines from the Sicily section of the show.

A warning: We arrived at VinItaly at noon and left at 17.30 - in five and a half hours we might have visited fifteen booths.  This show is immense, not nearly comparable to the Vinexpo in NYC.

It was a lot of fun!

Biondi Santi

At VinItaly, yesterday, I met with two old friends.  It's been two years since I last saw them, and they remembered me - Francesca and Jacopo Biondi Santi.  Once we (I and the sommelier from Al Vedel) arrived my first goal was to meet up with the Biondi Santis, catch up, and find out how I can get my bottle of Schidione '97 from Castello di Montepo to my house in LA!  That will need some more work but the meeting reminded me of what a good time I spent with the Tuscan family two years ago.

Almost Gone

One week and counting...till I am off on my two feet.

Beautiful Jesi ...what a great city...soo very relaxed...I love that place.

I just returned from Jesi yesterday.  I went down to pick up some things I left there, at the school, before I went on my first stage to Nusco.  When I opened the two bags I was glad to see a pair of shorts, and other stuff I can really use now that the weather is almost summerish.

Italian Blogosphere

Alberto over at Il Forno just wrote up a great report on Italy and the food blogs written in Italian, by both natives and foreigners.  The links are great and my favorite of the bunch has to be the anonimous stories from kitchenstories or the writings of Cenzina at Cavoletto di Bruxelles (Brussel Sprout in Italian).

Although these sites are in Italian, the second, of Cenzina has great photos and is somewhat easier to understand of the two.

The first, kitchenstories, is really the rants and waves of running a kitchen.  The writer is trully anonimous but mentions that the restaurant is in the North.  Thanks...that really helps! 

The post I liked most recently went on about a chef's refrigerator and how the only thing normally in it is beer, vodka and orange juice.

Sure, I also had my time where that really was the only thing in the box, but in the freezer there were always frozen bagel pizzas and some good ice cream.

Thanks Alberto for the links!

Spring Showers

Well into April, I have to get back to posting regularly.  A lot has been happening.  I am preparing for my departure from Al Vedel and the Parma area.  Colorno and Vedole will be greatly missed.  I am off to the Slow Food School in Jesi for Thursday and Friday where I will meet up with Antonio Pisaniello, my chef from La Locanda di Bu.  He will be teaching at the school, representing the Campania region for two days.

I am going so I can gather some of my long left belongings.

When I left Jesi in August, I left my short pants, summer clothes and lots of recipes in paper there so as not to shlep them around Italy on my journeys.