About the Fat: Reflections on Lent, Food, and Italian Traditions

These are full body yawns. I’m sitting in Serravalle’s church of Sant’Andrea with Tizi and her friend Alba. We’re here tonight for the Ash Wednesday service. As soon as we sit down, the yawning starts. Every muscle in my body participates, tensing, contracting. I lean back in the pew so the yawn can travel down…More

And Now the Letter H–hamburger with an Italian accent

Today I discovered Hamerica.  Make that Hamerica’s. It’s a chain restaurant in Italy “dove vivi l’esperienza degli States e provi i migliori hamburger fatti in Italia con un gusto completamente americano.”  Best hamburger in Italy, they boast. Just like being in the States. Walking through Rimini this morning, we passed what used to be Picnic…More

Ours Are Better–more hamburgers per piacere

One of our current favorite restaurants in Rimini is Nud e Crud. It’s just across Ponte di Tiberio, the 2000-year-old Roman bridge that takes you from old Rimini into San Giuliano, which is fisherman Rimini (and Fellini Rimini). Nud e Crud translates roughly as plain and raw. The food is simple and consistently excellent. A…More

Into the Mix–glorious seafood, the mista

One of the delights in eating in Romagna (and I hazard to guess all over Italy) is the “misto.”  The mix.  Where I come from, eating fish you usually get one thing. Your appetizer is one thing–a tartar, half a dozen oysters, a bowl of mussels. And your main course is usually one thing–fillet of…More