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Ronchedone
2007-03-02 15:50:00
Ronchedone is a red wine we discovered at Latium restaurant in London. We fell in love with it the first time we tried it. Now that we are in Trento, just 20 miles from the northern tip of Garda lake, it is only an additional pleasant drive along the Eastern side of Garda to reach the producer Ca' dei Frati nearby the other end of the Lake. Being in the production area for Lugana, they specialise on white wines (excellent their 'Brolettino'), but they also manage to turn out this marvel of a red.It suprises for its power, considering it is made in good proportion out of Marzemino - which on its own produces delicate wines in the area south of Trento. This strength is explained by the other main partner grape, Sangiovese, and by a maximum 10% of Cabernet. The nose is complex (red fruits, berries and some spice), and it is neat and punchy on the palate. It is best drunk after a few years in the bottle (up to seven years will be fine), but we could not resist opening a bottle right...
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Osteria Le Due Spade
2007-02-26 15:54:00
The day: 13th February 2007, Dinner.The place: Via Don Arcangelo Rizzi, 11, Trento, Italy (tel +39 0461 234343)The venue: Osteria Le Due SpadeThe food: Fine Italian Dining, with strong regional influenceThe drinks: Extensive list, several regional wines but also many other choices, all prices. No list by the glass, but they said they would open almost anything (not Sassicaia) Osteria (i.e. pub/inn) this may have been in 1545 (when allegedly it opened business: congratulations!), surely now it is not, being a Michelin starred establishment in central Trento. Nor is it a student hangout, in spite of sitting in front of the Sociology faculty of the University of Trento, of 'revolutionary' Toni Negri fame. The interior is delightfully cosy (mind your head when you enter the low frame door), with a beautiful stube on a side. The single dining room is divided in two parts, a warm wood panelled front and a plastered back part which gives a cellar feel with its vaulted ...
More About: Teri

Lo Scrigno del Duomo
2007-02-21 10:05:00
The day: 9th February 2007, Dinner.The place: Piazza Duomo , 29, Trento, Italy (tel +39 0461 220030)The venue: Ristorante Lo Scrigno del DuomoThe food: Fine Italian Dining, with strong regional influenceThe drinks: Extensive and impressive list, several regional wines but also many other choices, all prices, great selection by the glass Bang in the middle of Trento, Scrigno del Duomo is a two storey attraction for the Gourmand: on the ground floor is a wine bar which offers classy ‘quick’ dishes, nibbles and drinks, while downstairs at cellar level is the restaurant proper. The dining rooms (a main one plus a couple of more secluded ones) retain the cellar architecture and are calmly elegant. In the kitchen is Chef Alfredo Chiocchetti, whose talent has been rewarded with a Michelin star. We perused the menu while sipping a complimentary Brut millesimato Altemasi 1999, pleasant and refined. There are two tasting menus, one at €60 and one at €67, but as usual we max...

Four brothers
2007-02-18 11:00:00
While waiting for our next review, may we introduce you to four nice brothers – their names are: ValgellaGrumelloInfernoSassella. They are the four ‘superiore’ expressions of the Valtellina DOC wine. Their red blood is noble: they are made of Nebbiolo grapes (at least 95%), which is is known as Chiavennasca in the Valtellina region of Italy where they are made. The names come from rigidly defined geographical areas around the Adda river, near the northern border of Italy with Switzerland. Ruby red, delicate and peculiar perfume (fruit, barn and forest soil), dry, acidic and tannic, this is an austere yet easy to drink wine that goes well with food, but we also find it a great accompaniment for stupid programs on TV.We bought the four bottles you see for around €5 each on a special offer at the supermarket: excellent value – with all the expensive restaurants we go to, we’ve got to save somewhere!Home
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Fior di Roccia
2007-02-13 20:17:00
The day: 2nd February 2007, Dinner.The place: Via Nazionale 2, Lon di Vezzano (TN), Italy (tel +39 0461 864029)The venue: Ristorante Fior di RocciaThe food: Fine Italian Dining, with strong regional influenceThe drinks: Good list, many regional but also other choices, all prices A short drive out of Trento (continuously overtaken on the winding road by madmen at the wheel) and we reach this one Michelin star establishment, with chef Walter Miori in command of the kitchen and his charming wife Franca in charge of the front service. The welcome is completely informal, and the room is at the same time homely and elegant, with several pleasant little details. Sour note at the start: very annoyingly for Woman, the menu for her arrives without prices. This is, sadly, standard in many fine dining restaurants (thankfully not all), but it doesn’t make it any less sexist. Anyway, Man will, for a price of course, reveal the prices to Woman...The Chef proposes two tasting menus...

Farina di Storo
2007-02-11 14:14:00
Behind the beauty of a finished dish there is often a lot of beauty in the materials and the work at the root of that dish.Last week we went to Stor o, a village situated an hour of comfortable drive from Trento. In the Storo plain grows a special type of corn, used to make a yellow flour ('farina di Storo') for polenta and other uses. The cobs become a fantastic deep orange-brown colour and are hung to dry in the mountain air, sometimes simply on the balconies of the village houses. What a sight in the bright afternoon winter sun.We had an ice-cream: Storo corn-flour ice-cream of course! There are several nice walks around to burn it off, either along a creek or up a mountain which dominates the corn-growing plain:Another 'heavily hung' house:Home
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Caveau des Arches
2007-02-07 20:48:00
The day: 31st January 2007, DinnerThe place: 10, Boulevard Perpreuil, Beaune, France 21200 (03 80 22 10 37)The venue: Cave au des ArchesThe food: French tradition in BurgundyThe drinks: Very extensive list, mostly Burgundy, but plenty of others, all prices As anticipated, we stopped in Burgundy about half way in our trip to Italy. In the middle of the legendary Cote d'Or...we love Pinot Noir...how not to feel a little emotional in its home for the first time?Unfortunately time pressure did not allow for a longer exploration of the area, we only had one evening.The manageress of our lovely hotel suggested this place. It is in the historic centre of the city, and it has two Michelin forks. On a very chilly night, we were looking forward to some comfort food (and wine!) from the Bourguignonne tradition. The impressive dining room is a downstairs cellar that welcomes you in a warm embrace of some elegance. The menu has various ‘prix-fix’ proposals, as well as a reasonabl...

A Trip to Italy
2007-02-06 18:00:00
Work brings us to Italy for a few months. There will be trips back to London and reports from there. But there will be many reports from Italy too. We think it will be interesting to check how ‘Italian-in-England’ restaurants and ‘Italian-in-Italy’ ones compare. The place is going to be Trento, in North-East Italy. It’s less than one hour drive from Verona or from Brescia, depending on whether you are a BA or a Ryanair fan. It’s a little gem of a city and it merits a detour. As for the restaurants, you’ll see…we only tell you that in such a tiny place there are three Michelin (mono) starred restaurants. Since £100 goes along way in Euroland, the plan is to inspect them all. However, it’s a long drive from London, so we are forced to stop in Burgundy More on this story later…Home
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Via Condotti
2007-02-03 21:26:00
The day: 21st January 2007, Dinner.The place: 23 Conduit Street W1S 2XS, London (020 7493 7050)The venue: Via Condo ttiThe food: Fine Italian DiningThe drinks: Italian based list, good range of prices, starting with some options in the low twenties. Via Condotti is in Conduit Street, where else, in a fantastic position just off Regent Street well ready to entice tourists, residents and professionals alike. Which it does. It has had raving reviews since opening last August and it is almost always buzzing. Here it is When we walked inside we found ourselves in a front room with a handful of tables, which looks reasonably uncluttered. However we were then led through a narrow passage between a bar and the wall, to a dark back room which felt rather more suffocating. Here the decibel level was almost disco style, through a combination of bad acoustics and the booming voices of enthusiastic fellow diners. The tables were rather crammed, but the chairs were very comfortab...
More About: Ondo

In praise of the tomato skin
2007-01-30 20:45:00
So tell us chefs the world over, what has this little insignificant thing done wrong to merit the almost universal ban?Unless it's really thick, here are three reasons why eaters should unite and call for it to triumph in all dishes:1) it is truly flavoursome;2) it adds nice texture;3) it is good for you: lycopene (a powerful antioxidant) is all in there, and have you heard about fibres and fast transit times?Home
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LMNT
2007-01-27 19:32:00
The day: 14th January 2007, Lunchtime.The place: 316, Queenbridge Road, London E8 3NH (020-7249 6727)The venue: LMNTThe food: gastropubThe drinks: Limited range of wines, but almost all of them are available by the glass. Good draft beer. This is a most amazing little place in Hackney, quite difficult to get to by public transport (bus only). The exterior is unremarkable (to justify the fact we forgot to take a picture of it). But when you cross the door you enter a dream-like world, a world of alcoves, recesses, masks and giant amphors, styles varying from fake Egyptian to fake Roman. Not to mention the pretty X-rated but humorous decorations in the toilets. Here is one satisfied customer in the dining room, for example And here another view of the interior: We went on a Sunday lunchtime at 2pm and the place was almost empty: by 4pm it was heaving with happy families who obviously had had a late start. But let’s begin from the beginning. There is a smal...

Latium
2007-01-25 19:15:00
The day: 10th January 2007, Dinner (and many other times…).The place: 21, Berners Street, London W1T 3LP (020-73239123)The venue: LatiumThe food: Fine Italian DiningThe drinks: Extensive list, Italian based, wide price range starting from well below £20 up to the hundreds, also by the glass Let us come clean: this is our favourite restaurant in the UK. Since we came here the first time about a year ago we have never been disappointed once (and we come every week when we are in London), neither by the kitchen nor by the service. This is where we come to relax and be pampered after a hard day at work. So relaxed that - when we do not brave the weather to ride our scooter – we risk missing the last train home! The name is meant to remind us of the provenance of Chef patron Maurizio Morelli, from Latina (a city in the Lazio region). The cuisine reflects inspiration from plenty of other Italian regions (as in most Italian establishments in London) but there are some rare dis...

Giardinetto
2007-01-19 22:27:00
The day: 4th January 2007, LunchtimeThe place: 39, Albermarle Street, London W1S 4TE (020-7493 7091)The venue: GiardinettoThe food: Fine Italian DiningThe drinks: Extensive list, Italian based, rather on the expensive side, also by the glass equally expensive Giardinetto is a relatively new kid on the block in Mayfair. The experienced chef Maurizio Villona is from the region of Liguria, the same provenance as Man. Would it evoke childhood memories? Let’s check it out. The outside is very unassuming We went through double doors like a jeweller’s. Let’s hope the products do not cost as much…Note that the outside menu does not match the one inside. Anyway here it is: The interior is quite nice, a clean uncluttered look, ‘Habitat’ style. The division in two dining rooms of about six tables each creates an intimate atmosphere, with well spaced tables. We were sat in the front one. The sophisticated atmosphere was somewhat let down by a p...
More About: Dine , Inet

A Trip to Surrey: Denbies
2007-01-16 23:04:00
The day: 22nd December 2006The place: Denbies wine estate, London Road, Dorking, Surrey , RH5 6AA (01306 876616)The venue: Gallery restaurantThe food: Gastropubbish The drinks: Own wines only As an ‘aperitif’ to our next Italian restaurant review, we want to tell you of a trip we made to Surrey last month, on the third day of the Great Heathrow Fog Chaos. Among other casualties, the plane Woman was supposed to board was also cancelled. We had to celebrate a couple of extra days together…so we went for English wine (note for Italian readers: yes, yes, such a thing exists, and sometimes, we are told, it can be pretty good, too). Denbies are the largest vineyard in the UK, with nine wines and one sparkling to their name at the time of writing (and we understand more are on the way). As they also have two restaurants (one self-service) on their vineyard, we decided to pay it a visit (this is a food blog after all, we are wine appreciators but not experts, ...
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Locanda Locatelli
2007-01-14 19:40:00
The day: 2nd January 2007, Lunchtime.The place: Seymour Street, London W1H 7JZ (020-7935 9088)The venue: Locanda Locate lliThe food: Fine Italian DiningThe drinks: Extensive list, Italian based, wide range of prices, also by the glass and half bottles Locatelli is the Michelin starred beacon of fine Italian cuisine in London: we just had to start from here, even though obviously we would not manage to stick to our £100 rule. Or would we? Let us see… The experience did not begin smoothly. Woman was put on hold for the best part of 10 minutes before being able to book. When we got there the restaurant was half-empty and our reservation was unheard of. Funny, isn’t it? Anyway, the very efficient hostess made us immediately comfortable. The interior does not look like a ‘locanda’ (i.e. inn) at all. The modern decor feels a bit 70’s in a pleasant sort of way. The ambience is relaxing, with really comfortable chairs and upholstered benches. Man enjoyed especially the convex...
More About: Cat , Anda , Cate , Canda

Welcome to our blog
2007-01-13 17:40:00
Why ‘our’? We are two Italians, Man–Woman in life, who live and work in London. We are two lovers of good food, keen restaurant goers, though we also cook a lot at home. We are fascinated by the restaurant business and by the ‘miracle’ that talented, dedicated people work hard to produce daily, of serving dozens and dozens of people with different demands on a tight time constraint. Up to last year we refused outright to go to any Italian restaurant in this country: we thought they were a rip off for the quality they offered. But in the last few years the Italian restaurant scene has changed so much that we thought we should revise our position, and share our experiences. We owe a debt to Viaggiatore Gourmet whose excellent photo based restaurant blog inspired our format. Quality and prices vary considerably. While trying to find out information before a visit, we were often at odds afterwards with other reviewers. With respect to Italian restaurants, two factors are on ou...
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