Knock-Three-Times On the Window...

I was craving taralli. Ok, I'm lying. It was really Nutella I wanted, but you'll see why I had to change to Taralli later. Anyway...I was craving a snack a few hours ago so I walked down to the little corner market where I ran into my favorite Under the Tuscan Sun friend, an older Italian local who waves at me every day from the cash register as I ride by. He was on his bike, getting ready to carry a stack of cardboard boxes on his handlebars--I still marvel at the amount of things Italians can balance on their bicycle. Yesterday I saw a man riding with a 13" TV, a loaf of fresh bread and his Chihuaua alongside on a leash....

It was obvious that the market was closed for the night, but I asked him anyway. E' chiuso?

Instead of saying ,"Yes, I'm sorry" which would have been perfectly acceptable, he caringly asked, "What do you need?"

"Nah, don't worry," I said, ashamed to tell him that I was actually seeking a jar of Nutella to occupy my next three hours of lesson planning and blogging. He persisted so I finally said, "umm...err...vorrei taralli per favore" (I'd like Taralli please).

He instructed me to walk around the corner past the door of the market until I reach the third window on the right. " Knock three times and my sister should come to the window. Tell her whatever you need and she will get it for you." Hmm....this is new spin on window shopping.

Knock, knock, knock. In seconds the sister came rushing out of the darkness wearing a pointy paper deli cap. At first she gave me a, "who is this weird American knocking on my window" look, but then I explained in Italian that her brother had sent me and she smiled and said, "Prego " (how can I help you).


Rich, creamy, chocolaty, nutty NUTELLA. It was the only thing I could think of. I knew if I asked her for it I'd not only be known as the weird American girl knocking on the window, but the weird American girl knocking on the window at 8 o'clock on a Friday night desperate for a €3 jar of Nutella (a predominantly breakfast food).


So here I am, three hours later, crunching on Taralli, typing my last words of the night and hoping the same Nutella fairy who visited me on the train home from Carnevale slips something under my pillow! Sogni d'oro...

Panino a Go-Go

It was all systems go on Saturday for my fourth and final 27th birthday brunch. (Yes, I milked it for all it was worth).

After learning that my Nana has had a panini-maker stuffed in her cupboard for several years, I decided I'd put it to good use and make various Italian panini as the centerpiece of my meal.

To select the right ingredients, I remembered back to summer when I practically lived on toasts (Italian version of grilled cheese with prosciutto) and panini. They were always so simple, usually one or two components, so keeping to tradition I chose these three Italian classics: Panino Caprese, Panino Verdura, and Panino con Prosciutto e Brie.

Grilling zucchini and eggplant for the Panino Verdura

Panino Caprese with mozzarella, tomatos and fresh basil

Things got off to an interesting start when I realized that the panini-maker was missing the handle, so the art of pressing down firmly now included the risk of being scorched. Using an oven mitt and a little elbow grease, I dug in while my brother-in-law and mom worked on our side dishes: Creamy pumpkin soup and a fresh beet salad with goat cheese, Sherry vinaigrette and candied walnuts.

Putting my muscles to work

Panino con Prosciutto e Brie

After only about 3-4 minutes on each side, the Ciabatta bread was branded with those panini-perfect grill lines and the cheese we gooey and piping hot. Tutti a tavola per mangiare!

The scheduled dessert (at my request) was to be Nutella pizza, a recipe I first tasted at my host dad Albino Gargiulo's local pizzeria in Sorrento. On Friday, I went shopping for what I thought were all two of the essential ingredients: Nutella and pizza dough (pre-packaged).

Well, Mr. Boboli neglected to mention on his packaging that there's mozzarella cheese and garlic baked into his "Original Italian Pizza Crust." And while they are three of my favorite flavors, a cheesy, chocolaty, garlic-infused pizza would not have gone over well at the table.

So, that's the skinny on the Nutella smeared saltines. They were a definite Plan B effort--a tasty one nonetheless. But that's coming from a Nutella-holic, so perhaps I'm not a valid critic.

Speaking of...mark your calendars because World Nutella Day is coming up in February!

Italian Candy: Pocket Coffee

I discovered Pocket Coffee in one of the school faculty rooms in Italy and was instantly hooked. I'm not surprised, as it comes from my friends at Ferrero, the manufacturers of my other guilty pleasure, Nutella.

From the outside, Pocket Coffee is just a small bite of semi-sweet chocolate. But the liquid center is 100% pure Italian espresso. Delicious and practical! I love it.

Here's my grandfather biting into his first Pocket Coffee. I think he liked it too.


Just a word of caution: Each bite of Pocket Coffee packs 12.5 grams of fat.

Martedi Grasso (Fat Tuesday)

Staying true to my promise, I docked another 18 consecutive hours of feste in Venice, again, all with journalistic intent.

On "Fat Tuesday" morning my partner in crime, Steph, was still feeling the burn from our Saturday evening festivities so I was faced with a choice. Skip the biggest party at Carnival or take on Venice...ALONE! Of course, anyone who knows me knows my choice. I put on my black riding boots, loaded my pockets with the essentials (camera, mobile, and some Euros) and set out on what ended up being an 18-hour adventure that could only happen at Carnevale. Now, for the recap:

Top 8 Blog-Worthy Moments - Fat Tuesday, Venezia 2008

8. Playing hide and seek with le maschere around the columns of the Palazzo Ducale...

7. Drumming in excess...

6. Men in drag! The first I've seen since leaving New York City. Hubba Hubba!

5. Meeting Americans and gladly reverting back to American English!! Which, like, means like, saying "like" alot.

4. Drinking Vin Brulè for 2 Euro on the Rialto Bridge

3. Salsa dancing with men who actually know how to move their hips (not Americans)




2. Pitura Freska concert in Piazza San Marco...sung entirely in Venetian dialect. (my video won't upload so I pulled this from YouTube)...




1. The Nutella Fairy who left a snack pack on the seat next to me while I slept on the train! Truly magic!

Guilty Pleasures

I have two guilty pleasures on my mind today: MySpace and chocolate. The former has to do with my new roommate, Gianni. He kindly let me check my email on his computer, where I noticed a link to MySpace. The social networking site, which has already exploded and somewhat fizzled in the U.S. due to the more user-friendly Facebook, is still on the rise here in Italy.

And with all new internet sites, there are bound to be some kinks.

As we were looking at Gianni's MySpace page I noticed the Relationship Status section and there it was in big promiscuious letters, "SWINGER"! Now don't get me wrong, I'm a very open minded person...whatever floats your boat. I thought, I can share a house with a swinger, no problem! At least I have my own bathroom in case there is an influx of overnight guests.

But as we were perusing Gianni's MySpace photos he just didn't strike me as the swinging type. So I ever so politely asked him about it...and herein lies the MySpace glitch:

In the Italian version of MySpace the relationship status, "spirito libero" implies
a free spirited person/single. But when MySpace Italia is translated into the English site, "spirito libero" defaults to SWINGER! I did some necessary (and quite enjoyable) blogging research and checked out dozens of Italian men's MySpace profiles only to find that, sure enough, MySpace has unintentionally created a cyber community of Italian swingers! I've gotta believe they are recieving some odd propositions in their MySpace inbox...

So I just wanted to set the record straight. All Italian MySpacer's are NOT swingers.

And on to my other guilty pleasure...chocolate. I'll have you know that I have yet to buy my first jar of Nutella (shocking, I know). But this weekend some even more tantalizing treats are taking over Treviso. Every piazza in the historical center is overflowing with vendors selling chocolate of every shape and size. Truffles, candies, bars...you name it.
My favorite is the cioccolata calda (hot chocolate). Nestles has nothing on this, my friends. This hot chocolate is indulgently creamy and gloriously gloppy. Just a small swig will give you your fix...it's heaven in cup.

MMmmmmm

Free Eats: Battery Park!!!

Drum roll please...

I've discovered the first and I think the only free eats in Battery Park. They hail from Inatteso, the brand new Italian cafe on the ground floor of the Millennium Tower (3o West Street). The Casano family [of Adrienne's Pizzabar, Harry's Steakhouse and Ulysses] owns and operates both the cafe and the recently opened Inatteso Pizzabar Casano, where I once devoured an entire Grandma style brick-oven pie topped with broccoli rabe and sausage (in my fatter, paying days).

So what's for free? Well since the cafe is still new, they've been sampling a variety of stuff to familiarize their neighbors with the local goods...like Italian cheeses imported from Brooklyn, and homemade signature desserts that have that "straight out of Sicily" deliciousness. While the Nutella cake will cost you $5 a slice, it's rich and worth a try. For something more budget-friendly, ask for their chocolate chip cookie. It's quickly becoming one of the most-talked-about cookies in Battery Park and I can attest, it's got more chocolate chunks per square inch than any cookies I've seen South of the border (Canal Street). I recommend having all of the Inatteso sweets (free or purchased) with a strong cup of Lavazza espresso, served fresh in adorable espresso-sized takeaway cups. A small detail I always take issue with at Starbucks where I'm usually served [burnt] espresso in a grande cup. So unsatisfying.

Southern Hospitality

It was quittin' time. Six o'clock on Friday evening. Grazzanize would soon be a distant but no less disturbing memory and a new Italian city would be circled on the map. I had experienced the worst of southern Italy in Grazzanise, although I can safely say there are places even more dangerous near Napoli Centrale and the port. But little did I know that I was about to experience the best of Southern Italy only a few hours later.

As Friday wound down my Scottish friend, Lynne, and I frantically planned our sleeping arrangements for the next four days while simultaneously orchestrating a final performance with the Camorra Kids. No small feat. Neither of us were working the following week; I was awaiting the arrival of my mother from New York and Lynne was recharging her batteries after the grueling week we'd just had. We texted friends and families spanning as far north as Tuscany and as far south as Siracusa hoping that someone would open their doors to us. One by one each potential possibility fell through, the clock struck eight, the final trains to Sicily and Florence left and we were still in Grazzanise.

Lynne, stuck in Grazzanise

Then Lynne's phone rang. It was Anna Maria Carbone, the mother of three wonderful children who we taught two weeks prior in Paestum, near Salerno. She was getting ready to take the family on a two-week holiday at the seaside but was checking up on us (as Italian moms so often do) to make sure we hadn't been taken out by one of our students, and were eating enough vegetables. She sensed something wasn't right and demanded we come to her house in San Gennaro Vesuviano, a suburban town at the base of Mt. Vesuvius.

Twins, Francesca and Federica Carbone

The Carbones dropped everything. They drove to a toll stop to pick us up, gave us plush bath robes for our hot showers and cooked us dinner at eleven o'clock. Anna Maria prepared roasted marinated vegetables, mozzarella di bufala, crusty bread, gelato and gorgeous peaches, even though a Nutella sandwich would have sufficed. The whole family came up to the rooftop terrace to enjoy our midnight snack. We laughed and ate while Mt. Vesuvius calmly watched from behind and the stars winked at us from above, as if to say, "See, this is the real Southern Italy."

Enzo, Anna Maria and Giovanni Carbone enjoying our midnight dinner

View of Mt. Vesuvius

It was the kind of hospitality I'd always imagined I'd find in the south. Mi Casa es Su Casa--literally--they gave us their house. Well they offered us the house while they were on vacation but the responsibility of a gorgeous four-story home and all its relics was too large.

San Giuseppe Vesuviana

So they gave us their apartment in neighboring San Giuseppe Vesuviana. Anna Maria had already called over to her sister who lives above the apartment, made sure we'd be well fed and even arranged our social calendar by alerting her 23-year-old nephew, Andrea, and beautiful 25-year-old family friend, Carla, of our arrival. All before we had finished our morning shot of espresso.

Ana Maria's sister serving us her homemade bruschetta

Carla, Me, Lynne

Andrea enjoying his Mom's home cooking

After 24 hours in San Giuseppe Vesuviana I had met more friends than in my first three months living in Treviso. The kind of friends that make you say, "I feel like we've known each other forever." Fun, warm, and above all, generous. Proud people who wanted us to experience the best of their region. And we did.

Pizza in Pompeii, dancing in Nola, home-cooked meals that rivaled New York City's best rustic Italian restaurants. Carla's mom even did my eyebrows after lunch, and almost lost her lunch when I told her I pay $32 to have the same thing done at Anastasia in NYC.

Carla and her boyfriend of six years, Pepe, promised us that they would show us the "real" Naples, not the one made so infamous in the press. On our final night before parting ways we went into into the heart of Naples' historical center. The moon was full and I noticed the way it chased the car, just like it had when I was a kid. The ground was damp, creating a magical glow in Piazza Plebiscito, Napoli's largest square. One final aperitivo near Castello dell'Ovo gave us a chance to joke and reminisce about the fun times we'd had, like old friends do. As the four of us walked to the car I watched tourists dine at 5-star hotel restaurants, fumble through guide books and buy goofy Italian souvenirs and, as I do so many times in Italy, I felt really lucky.

'Za Report: Reginella

December 2007: "I challenge anyone to find a pizzeria in America that uses french fries as toppings." - Courtney, Pizza Americana...Says Who?

January, 2009: Challenge met by Eater. Guilty party: Reginella, 193 Atlantic Ave., Brooklyn Heights.

Turns out the new-ish Italian restaurant is conjuring up all sorts of inventive 'za, with toppings like Penne alla Vodka, and the infamous hot dog/french fry combo. Seems it's only a matter of time until Italy's decidedly decadent Nutella pizza infiltrates New York's pizza circuit. Or has it already?

Related Stories:
In Which I Eat the Hot Dog and French Fry Pizza at Reginella [Slice]
Hot Dog and French Fry Pizza at Reginella [Slice]

NBOTB: New Brunch on the Block

Say goodbye to brunch as you knew it and lift your bloody mary to the newest trend in NYC, what I affectionately call "dance on the table" brunch.

The recipe is simple; take your typical light fare of eggs benedict, crepes, and sparse salads, heavy up sparklers and magnums of Veuve Clicquot, invite a well-known house DJ and dozens of pretty people and watch the debauchery unfold.

Last week Urban Daddy went inside Merkato 55's Moroccan lair where a tribal-themed Saturday bender was in full swing. And for the past few weeks Soho's sexy new Italian spot, Via dei Mille, has been blowing the roof off Sundays with a Mediterranean brunch free-for-all.

I stopped in yesterday at about 4pm to say hi to some friends and found people dancing on every square inch of elevated surface, including the beautiful marble bar and alcoves intended to showcase art. After downing a Bellini and a potent shot at the bar, I too boogied for a few minutes on a chair (when in Rome) before settling in for some incredible Italian cuisine.

The gigantic mussels come highly recommended as does any of VDM's signature pasta dishes (especially the paparadelle) and their infamous Nutella crepes.

Via dei Mille, Sunday Brunch 1pm-7pm
357 W Broadway (btwn Grande and Broome)
212-431-0080

This just in...

The girls from Bleeding Espresso and Ms. Adventures in Italy just updated the date for World Nutella Day '09.

It's February 5th!

Check out their new website, www.nutelladay.com for deets on how to particpate.