This dish falls into the “life is short, eat dessert first” category. You could eat this dessert without feeling guilty. Poached pear and prunes. We enjoyed this dish the other day in Rimini at La Marianna, a seafood trattoria. Pears and prunes are baked in red wine, with a couple cloves added. These looked like…More
Tag Archives: restaurant
The Pizza: Simple to Complex
For dinner one night we find our way to Casa del Sole. It’s a country house outside of Pesaro. We’re 15-20 miles inland, where the gentle hills rising to Urbino begin, far enough from the sea to know we’ll be eating meat. “We haven’t been to this place before,” my wife’s cousin says. “But my…More
The Kids Are All Right
These are kids who know and care about food. For years I would ask my Arabic students, Where do you eat? In what restaurants do you find the best, most authentic Arabic food? The response was predictable: a bewildered smile. Then, also predictable, the answer: At home. Whatever they ate in a restaurant was, by…More
Three Days in Rome
Here are some recommendations for where to stay, daily itineraries, and where to eat. You will walk Rome for three days, see a lot, and eat very well. I have stayed a few times at Hotel Lancelot and been very happy. These itineraries are PDF’s. Feel free to download: Rome, day one This half day…More
Three Days in Florence
Here are some recommendations for where to stay, daily itineraries, and where to eat. You will walk Florence for two and a half days, see a lot, and eat very well. Also recommended, a half-day trip by local train to Lucca. Most of the walking itineraries have the Duomo as the point of departure. I…More
Two Stops in Bologna–morning wine, then lunch
Technically this wine bar is on Via Marsala. But the other crossroad is Via Malcontenti, which tells me this is the place where I want to be.More
Two Restaurants in Romagna
“This is not hunger,” my wife says. We are bent over two dishes of pasta that are, well, a religious experience. She ordered the ravioli burro e salvia; I have cappelletti with ragu. We’ve come for lunch, and we go away not satisfied so much as transported.More
Dalla Maria, Best Overall
I’ll have the tagliatelle with beans, please. If you’ve made it to Pesaro, you are in the land of good eating. In the old town you will eat well at Zongo, Pasqualon, La Guercia, and Il Moletto. Venture out of town, to Il Sentiero, for example, or to Gennaro, and you will experience both extraordinary…More
Down by the Baia–a seafood lunch at Il Falco
Even before I’ve seen the place, I’m way in favor of eating at Il Falco because it’s in the Baia di Vallugola. I get to say that cool word–Vah-LOO-go-lah.More
Il Sentiero–if it’s agriturismo, it’s got to be good
Above, a local delight called cassone. The flat bread they make in the Marche and Emilia-Romagna, called piada, is folded over mixed greens or tomato and mozzarella or onion and sausage or mixed grilled vegetables, then grilled and cut. You can make a meal out of cassone. Often, however, they are served as a little…More