Italian food comments
 

Ok, I have THE biggest weakness for Italian food, as my waist line will attest to,:lol: but one thing I've never gotten is Pesto. I dont know what it is, but maybe it's the whole green color. The boyfriend and I ate the other day at this place here in Minneapolis called Buca, which serves family style southern Italian food, and mmmmm. A little Veal Parmigiana here, some baked Ziti there, HEAVEN!!!!:nod: Some others thoughts on good italian places youve eaten at or good dishes you prepare at home would be welcome!!!:)

I share your weakness for Italian food. Basically, I love anything that is loaded with cheese. :eek: :lol: And, I love Buca. Their caesar salad is delish. :nod:

Yeah, and anything you order there could feed like a whole stable of horses....:nod:

Now I want Buca, and there's none around here. :distress: Thanks a lot, David. :mad: :lol:

Oh man, I'm sorry. Hey but I have a tip for you to make up for it. Next time you're in St.Louis, check out this place that's near Busch stadium called Charlie Gitto's. I think it's still there. It's quite famous and alot of sports figures have eaten there. I love it!!

I will; thanks for the recommendation. :xoxo:

When I was home for Thanksgiving, one of my friends and I were going to drive over to St. Louis to see what's left of Busch, but we didn't get to. They auctioned off almost everything from there.......even trash cans. :eek:

So how much has been torn down now? I heard they couldnt do the big implosion thing cause it's so close to the new place.

You know, I'm not really sure. I think it's over half gone a this point. :(

There are some great Italian places in Chicago, especially around the near South Side. There's a place called Gennaro's on Taylor Street, I believe, that boasts some amazing veal dishes. Their gnocchi is very good, too.

I'll say this, Italian placea that are truly authentic are a treat like no other!!! I will remember forever when I was in Italy back in 2002 and the tour group I was with ate at this rustic place outside Florence... WOW a true Tuscan delight!!!!:nod:

I love all Italian food.
Pasta, could live on it. Load it with garlic and parmesan and fresh tomatoes.
If I make some at home, I use fresh basil, truckloads of garlic, roma tomatoes, and imported parmesan. This, however, happens rarely. If I ate Italian as much as I would like - big as a house. New wardrobe. I have it maybe once a month.:distress:

Anyone can get cannoli - the read North End deal - here http://www.mikespastry.com/. Don't hate me because I spread the pastry love! :lol:

There is a place called Lucca that is divine. They have fantastic service, ambiance, and the menu is amazing. It is just a bit short. They serve Italian with a modern flair, the food is creative. There are plenty of places for the "regular" fare as well. I'm too cheap to eat out much though so somehow I am not a cow! I am also a fan of the cheese. I love chicken Marsala too, or even bracculatini (sp?) (rolled chicken/veal with fontina cheese and prosciutto in marsala wine sauce). I love the fresh tomato, basil, fresh mozzarella salads. Pizza, I am a complete addict when it comes to pizza. There's a place that makes 18" subs for $7 and they are so good, especially the Italian. They put richly red, ripe tomatoes on it and finish it of with balsamic vinegar. Oh it is so good. For dessert I like cannoli, my favorite has the ends dipped in chocolate. Mike's now has a new one though that is all chocolate. The shell is dipped in chocolate, the inside is filled with chocolate mousse and the ends are dipped in mini chocolate chips. That is the most amazing chocolate dessert I have ever eaten! And I love the dense breads with infused olive oil for dipping. Shall I go on? :lol:

I also enjoy Italian food...and I do love anything pesto (This is made of fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, and parmesan cheese. Some versions will also add parsley and walnuts or pine nuts. The ingredients are ground into a paste and moistened with the olive oil).

I also love gnocchi when made properly. North Beach area of San Francisco has some amazing italian restaurants...my fav is Michelangelo's. Heaven.

Since I have been married to an Italian ~ my new last name is Tuliano ~ I have become a very good Italian food conasore. My favorite dish is egg plant parmesan. I just learned to make it myself. My husband makes the best sauce ever. We made cheesecake from scratch last Saturday. It’s fun to stay in the kitchen and cook with him all day. But the next morning I know I had put on atleast 5 pounds. :nod:

I'm not really fond of Italian food and especially hate Pesto, but then again I don't like pizza and am not fond of spaghetti. I don't know what it is about Italian food, but it just isn't pleasant to me. And it gives me the runs...:eek:

Pizza and spaghetti as we know it isn't really authentic Italian food anyway.

I wasn't really saying it was Italian, just showing how my taste doesn't really lean that way.

But I didn't know that, so, thanks.

The best Chinese food I've ever had was in Italy. :shrug:

You have amazing taste anyway...at least what I know of you here. So who needs italian food. Maybe for you just a italian will do.

Actually I have waves with Italian food. I can go years without it. I much prefer Mediterranean style food or more specifically, greek. Yum.

my my my Mr. Butler, flattery will get you everywhere...err, I mean nowhere. :lol:

That's probably me too. There are times when I have a craving for certain foods. I love Greek food from a good Greek restaurant.

I love the rolled grape leaves. Yummy.

I found a little hole-in-the-wall in the town I live in called Sal's Famous Pizzaria... I love this place. I had stuffed shells... can't remember exactly what it was called. It was cheese stuffed and had a alfredo sauce over it. OMG!!! Sara had chicken alfredo... so good!!! I think I know where Sara and I will be going tonight!

I know - it is strange that the best Thai food I have ever had was in Cardiff Wales - go figure :laugh:

Why not? I'm Italian and we consider them so.

Romy

I read it originated in Greece.
Pizza History

And this about pasta, true or not?:

History Of Pasta

It is said that Marco Polo introduced pasta to Italy after his journeys in China. Perhaps this is due to the similarity between pasta and noodles, as the Chinese had perfected the long, thin noodle many centuries before.

There is another legend that an Italian sailor persuaded his Chinese mistress to show him how to make noodles. then with Italian flair, he rolled the dough into bigger and wider rolls, and pasta was born.

Spaghetti's popularity in the United States dates back only fifty years. It arrived here in the 1920s with the immigration from southern Italy. It is said that this dish was greatly assisted by Prohibition. This is because the only place where a glass of wine could be drunk, more or less legally, were the Italian speakeasies that all served spaghetti. There are about 150 major varieties of pasta, cut in every imaginable shape.

I'm all about Italian.
Every summer, I spend one night in Boston (before taking the ferry to P-town) specifically to have dinner in the North End.
When at home, we have a gem of a place called Piccolo's. I've been eating dinner there at least once a month for over 13 years. Their veal dishes are astonishing and their shrimp scampi is to die for. A recent newpaper review claimed that they have the BEST spaghetti sauce in town. Their salads are divine, their bread maker is a true craftsman...I could go on and on.
I've turned all of my friends on to Piccolo's...and now, at 2:30 in the morning, I'm craving Italian. :shrug:

rbs

One word...
 

Fazolli's!!! Holy **** their Italian food is awesome, Love eating there as often as possible (Best breadsticks EVER!!!!)

STOP!!. I dont know what makes my mouth water more:lol: , youre food talk or that sig pic...:)

I remember 2 places in the North End I ate at that were truly fantastic!! I think one was called Piccolo Venezia, and the other Pagluicia's. I hope I'm spelling those right. SUZE u know if those placesa are still there?

You must let me know the next time you are here. All I need is an excuse to indulge. :laugh:

First one yes, second one I am not sure. You know there are over 100 restaurants in the North End? So many for such a little nook of a place. Ahh the smells...

About the pizza, flat buns seasoned with herbs where even present in Old Egypt, those were definitely the archetypes, that we still do too and call them "focacce". But the classic pizza was born in Naples during XVII century, and in XIX Pizza Margherita (made with mozzarella and tomato)the basis for all our pizzas was invented in honour of the Queen who was visiting Naples. Now of course we put everything on our pizzas too, but they are still very different from yours, especially for the way it's baked.

About pasta, it's still an open debate; what we know for sure is that in Ancient Rome there was already prepared a pasta very similar to lasagna, called lagane (there 's also a latin recipe book). And for the first time something similar to maccheroni was descripted in a book in Sicily in 1154, before Marco polo's trip to China. By the way, as for pizza, the main difference it's the way it's prepared and cooked, I think. You have to eat in here to understand the difference, IMO.

Romy

Well, if you are ever in the Providence area there a section called Federal Hill that is filled with Italian restaurants. I really don't like the eateries there too much but my friend loves a place called Angelo's Civitta Farnese.

I really like a place in Johnston, RI called Luigi's. I love the chicken parm.:nod:

That's so cool. Off to Italy I should go. I've only been to Rome, and briefly at that. Fascinating. Belive me, I'm no expert, but I know a few hardcore Italians who think the American way of cooking Italian is not so great. Who knows? It all tastes good.

Ever see that movie Big Night? The soundtrack is really good as well.

all this typing of buns
and sloppysauce...
makes me want some...
id even wrestle for it ;)

There is this great family restaurant in NYC, it's very famous and has a couple locations, it's called Carmine's. The great thing about it is you can order an appetizer and share your entree with a friend/family member. Not because the amount they give you is big, the food is huge. I had chicken parmigiana and the chicken was like 5 ft. long. The menu is on the wall and they have the greatest cheesecake I've ever tasted! For those who like imported cheese, There is a place in Greenwich Village(NY) called Murray's. It was featured on a show on Food Network. You can get any cheese from all over the world and a lot of other things too!

Yes, it's really good, and it shows very familiar atmospheres for me, because they're from Abruzzo, the same region where I was born. It's very precise on the cooking routine, and it's always fun to hear Louis Prima's music.

Romy

U mean Ragu isnt authentic?:lol:

You love Boston.:) A person after my own heart. You deifintely know whats goin on there!:nod:

No but, "It's in there!" Newman's pasta sauces are very good and all organic!

Clear your PM's dear. we gotta TAWK, as Linda Richman says...:lol: