Europe Fall 2024 - First Gastronomic Report from Italy

Oh ye of little faith. Take thee off to the self-flogging pit and come back after you have applied 50 lashes to yourself...AND...you have eaten nothing but American fast food for a whole week. 

Did you think...

Did you think for even one moment...

Did you completely doubt that de-I would not be posting about SOMETHING...ANYTHING...Gastronomic?

Here is the 'Official de-I Gastronomic Report of Week One of Europe Fall 2024"

We are in Italy. One of my favorite food locales. In one way things have been every bit as good as I would hope. But in other ways we have been quite frustrated. 

The Good -

• Overall Food Quality - Has been at the standard that I expect when I come to Italy, whether at a restaurant or buying for home from the supermarket.
  
• Pasta - so far almost every dish I've had has been at that wonderful level of powerful but subtle flavor that I have only found in Italy.
•  Fish - Mostly (with one exception) very good too.
  
• House Wine - It is pretty much what I drink here because it is so consistent and good.

 The Not So Good - 

• The Overall Restaurant Experiences - With one exception they have been uniformly disappointing. This is in great contrast to prior trips we've taken.

 On to specifics.

 Caorle

Before we even started serious eating, we saw a gelato place and indulged. This was good!

This was followed by our first and most disappointing meal. We walked a long way to a restaurant recommended by our hotel. The wait was super long to get our food, and most of the food was not that great.

 We split a plate of spaghetti with olive oil and garlic. It was okay but not great.

 Then Wife had a grilled whole fish (one of her favorites). It was very dry and not fresh. 

 I had grilled sardines that were equally dry and lacking in flavor. At least the grilled vegetables were good.

 My Major Regret

When we first started walking around in Caorle, I saw this

 

It was a place offering Artisanal Meatballs. Who has ever heard of such a thing? I haven't. Never have seen it in Italy or elsewhere. And look at these options below. Man, wish we'd eaten here instead.

 

Muggia

We actually had not even intended to eat a big meal here but miscommunicated. As it turned out, while we again had terrible service, and it took forever to get our food, the food itself was excellent.

Wife, again, tries the whole fish. Only this time she is raving about it.

 

I had a pasta with squid ink and shrimp. Anything with squid ink can be overpowering. This was subtle, just the right amount of umami punch. The shrimp (which were thankfully out of the shell) had absorbed all the sauce flavor.

For those who are not familiar with the Italian way of saucing pasta, the sauce should be just enough to coat and fully flavor the pasta. But the pasta should not be swimming in sauce. I've gotten to the point because of all my trips to Italy that I take this for granted. But it is amazing at how consistent this saucing technique is country-wide.

Barcola

At our weird hotel in Barcola, they had a trattoria. We usually don't eat out twice in a day, but we'd been going hard for days and were hungry. AGAIN the service was painfully slow. But, AGAIN, the food was really good. We both did pasta yet again.

Wife is not into the whole seafood flavor pasta thing. She was happy that they had Carbonara on the menu. Oddly enough they didn't have it on Spaghetti which is the norm. Instead it was on rigatoni which was weird. It still tasted great.

Mine was flavored with Bottarga, a cured tuna roe, which is quite pungent. Again, it was delivered with a deft hand so it brought depth but not overpowering fish flavor.

Marina de Montemarciano

This is where we are staying in the Marche region, close to Ancona. There is a restaurant that is right across the street from where we are staying which our owner recommended. It is slightly more upscale place than we would normally go to. We AGAIN had a terrible service experience. Somehow our waitress thought I was only ordering and Wife wasn't eating anything! Instead of some of the dishes being for me and some for Wife. The meal took forever. I had all my dishes before the dish for Wife ever came out. Awkward. Yet, again, the food was excellent.

I started with an appetizer of anchovies four ways. from top to bottom.

Whole anchovie fried. Mixed in batter and fried. Cured on toast with butter. Marinated in vinegar.

My pasta had clams and tuna flakes. I repeat all my past comments on the balance and subtlety

Wife had monkfish fried tempura style which she noted as been very light and crispy.

Our last meal to date, was in a town nearby called Falconara Marattime. I will write more on this tomorrow, but we'd been looking, and looking for a place to eat without success. At the last moment, in an area we were sure there would be nothing, we found a beach side place open. Here, FINALLY, we had the total good experience. The service was timely and friendly. The food was good. The ambiance was delightful. 

The perfect location for a seaside meal

Note the half liter of local white wine for 6 dollars. Very much enjoyed.

Wife had a meat/tomato ragu on her pasta

This was okay, but not great.

I again went with a seafood pasta that was way better than I had anticipated.

We even got dessert! This was called a 'Truffle' It was coffee ice cream (I don't even like coffee ice cream but I scarfed this down), around a chocolate fudge like sauce interior, covered with a sweetened cocoa powder. We ate it ALL!

So that is the gastronomy report to date. Stay tuned for more!