La Mucca sul Tetto

La Mucca is an intimate, candlelit restaurant. I apologize for a lack of food pictures. I forgot my camera and only after eating remembered my phone has one. They came out a bit dark.

I almost ordered a risotto alla mela rosa con tallegio e olio al basilico (red apple risotto with tallegio cheese and basil oil). But the waiter told me a better option was the gnudi di ricotta e spinaci al burro e salvia (nude ricotta/spinach ravioli in sage butter). Nude ravioli means they’re without covering. It’s the filling without the pasta basically. There were also pine nuts which lent an extra texture to the melt-soft ricotta/spinach and the shreds of parm on top. The sage butter was subtle but nice. The nudi were like vegetarian meatballs, slightly bigger than golf balls.

After that I cleansed my palate with acqua naturale and some pane. (This saffron/pine nut/pistachio bread was so deftly cut it almost looked like my cousin’s play kitchen). T’was a nice change from the requisite Italian table bread, which they also served. The bread was so smooth and sponge-soft, I had to ask the waiter where they got it. Apparently they bake it fresh.

Carpaccio di manzo classico su insalata di carciofi e Parmigiano e vinagrette al worcester (classic beef carpaccio on artichoke and parmesan salad with Worchestershire vinaigrette). This was a very well-layered dish. From top to bottom: Large, generous but paper-thin shavings of parm. Slices of rare meat with beefy flavor unadulterated by salts and spices. Arugula leaves. Its spicy touch was, but being such a strong taste there was perhaps too much considering it’s not listed on the menu. It didn't spoil the dish though. I finished it save for a few leaves. (A few bites into it, I decided if I can ever recreate the bread, I’ll make a sandwich with it, rare roast beef, artichokes, parmesan, arugula, and Worchestershire.) My waiter recommended two red wines to go with it, so I tried them both and eventually selected a 2006 Val Rose – Morellino di Scansano.

For dessert, he recommended their tiramisu. Espresso-soaked cake, mascarpone cream, and cocoa powder. All distinct tastes and textures but they combine and melt sublimely in one’s mouth. The tiramisu not a slice, or even worse, a scoop. It’s served in a four-inch diameter, inch-thick dish and was the best tiramisu I’ve had here.

He offered limoncetta and grappa as digestifs, and I was grateful for both.

Via Ghibellina 134/RossoFirenze, Italia 50122
+39 (0)55.2344810

Baccarosa, Bistrot Enoteca

Let me preface this by saying although there are no foods I dislike, there are some foods I never seek out. (Every ingredient, prepared properly, can be delicious. But that doesn’t mean I always order it. When available, I always order red wine instead of white, shellfish instead of actual fish, eggplant instead of zucchini, etc.)

But this restaurant, Baccarossa, had a degustation (“tasting”) menu, where you take the chef’s suggestions. This is my favorite way to experience a restaurant’s cuisine. You basically give the kitchen permission to serve you what they deem a complete and cohesive meal.

I gave this restaurant control, and I didn’t regret it. It was five courses, so I’ll go through them individually. A gent named Amerigo was my waiter, and I trusted his wine pairings. Turns out he was the sommelier also, so I lucked out.

[0. Amuse bouche – Torta di zucchini (Zucchini cake). It was like a little, wet, green quiche. Zucchini isn’t one of my favorite ingredients but this was surprisingly good.]

1. Carpaccio di branzino marinato sotto sale con insalata di arance, finocchi, e spinaci novelli (Salt-marinated sea bass carpaccio with orange, fennel, and baby spinach salad). This was awesome. Carpaccio is kind of like sashimi, precisely sliced raw fish. There were pine nuts in the salad, which added to its rich texture. The flavors were clean and the textures were light. The wine pairing was a white, a 2005 viogner “le Chiare” from Maurigi vineyard in Sicily. Its balance of sweetness and acid matched the course nicely.
2. Tortino al forno di alici e misticanza mediterranea (Oven anchovies with Mediterranean flavors). This was served simultaneously with the carpaccio and salad. The flavor of the anchovies was nicely toned down by the olive oil and tomato they were baked with. I actually thought they were sardines at first. This was heartier than the first course, so it was a nice change. The expertly-paired Sicilian wine also held up against the slight saltiness of this dish and smoothed the transition between the two dishes.
3. Tortelli di branzino su pesto leggero di zucchini (Sea bass tortelli with a light zucchini sauce). These four large discs of fish-filled pasta brought back two earlier ingredients, zucchini and sea bass. The flavors were done differently of course. The zucchini sauce was very much like a pesto and the now-cooked sea bass was more intense but not at all “fishy.” The pasta was a little intimidating with two courses left but was surprisingly, pleasantly light. The wine was again white, this time a 2005 gavi “Filagnotti” from Piemonte, Cascina ulivi vineyard. It was sweeter than the first wine and combined nicely with the nutty of the pesto and the salty of the sea bass.
4. Tagliata di filleto di tonno in crosta di mandorle con piccolo flan di melanzana (Seared filet of tuna in an almond crust with a small eggplant pudding). Wow. Wow. Wow. The middle of the tuna was a dark pink like a tenderloin steak and sliced accordingly to show off the rich, fresh color. The almonds gave more texture to the already caramelized outer layer, and the eggplant pudding reminds me of the mashed potatoes you find with lots of beef dishes. But better. This dish was a masterpiece. The wine was a 2004 syrah from Sicily. It was red to match the semi-rare tuna and more acidic than the other wines to give a tinge to the delicate flavors of the dish.
5. Bonet: Budino al cioccolato con amaretti, rum e caramello (chocolate pudding with amaretto cookie, rum, and caramel). It’s “bunet” in Piemontese, where this dessert is from. It was a dark chocolate dish with just the right amount of firmness (like a flan), richness (not too heavy), and sweetness (the cookie) on top. It came with slices of grapefruit, again another of my not-favorites. But its acid made the combination of flavors all the more complex and deep. And the final wine: Malvasia dell Lipari by Antonio Caravaglio. A sweet, softer, dessert wine from Venice. The pairing of this sugar-sweet wine with the sourness of the grapefruit and the nutty-cocoa of the pudding: AMAZING. The most divine combination of flavors I’ve ever experienced. This is exactly why I need to learn more about wine.

So yeah, take it from someone who’d never buy all these ingredients to cook at home and who would gladly (for the renovated furniture, Mediterranean style, delicate elegance, and fresh flowers) bring his mother, his grandmother, or any fish lover to this restaurant. Really any food-lover would be happy here. This meal was amazing, the best one I’ve ever had in Italy and easily in the top four meals of my life.

If you still need more objective reasons, here are a few: The couple sitting next to me, Robin and Chris from San Francisco, and I couldn’t help conversing about how delicious everything was. I know I’m not alone in my approval. The place is noted in this year’s Michelin Guide to Italy. They only use wild-caught fish, no farming. The menu changes weekly as dictated by the season, the ocean, and the Chef Claudio’s imagination. All the pastas and desserts are made in-house. And every wine I had was organic and bio-dynamic, meaning no sulfites or preservatives. Fresh, clean flavors.

Via Ghibellina 46 Rosso
50122 Firenze, Italia
+39.055.240620
http://www.baccarossa.it

Istanbul Doner Kebap

Istanbul offers red meat and chicken kebaps and falafel, all of which are good. But for those uninterested in kebaps or falafel, there are also dishes you can by (in combinations if you’d like). The dishes change daily and are things like the requisite chick peas, okra stewed with tomato and onion, and eggplant and veal. Kebaps are notorious around Florence for a quick lunch or late night snack, but it's nice to have these alternative fork-or-spoon options too.

Via Dei Benci
Florence, Italy 50122

Trattoria Tirovino Three-dux

For my third visit to Tirovino, I opted for new flavors once again. A bottle of white wine went nicely with the meal, but they generously gave me both aperitif and digestif. The aperitif was prosecco, and the digestif was grappa. (Usually I think grappa is Italian for “gasoline,” but this was actually excellent.) For my primo piatto, I opted for Maccheroni dell’ Aia (macaroni with liver, peas, and fresh tomato). I’m not a big fan of liver, but I wouldn’t guess this was liver. It was so good. The flavor was perfectly enhanced, just like their tripe. If you like deep-fried, get a secundo of Fritto dell’ Aia. It’s a fried platter of chicken and rabbit, eggplant, onion rings, and zucchini. What more can I say? Awesome. Want a unique and decadent dolce? Coffee mousse topped with powdered sugar, whipped cream, and roasted split coffee beans. It was a welcome change from the regular chocolate mousse.

Via Ghibellina, 70 Rosso
Firenze, Italia 50122
055.2638940
http://www.tirovino.com

a special Grom visit

So a group of us went with one of the Apicius chefs to Grom, and the owner gave us a special lesson in gelato-making. He made stracciatella (cream ice cream with dark chocolate shavings) from scratch for us, and believe me, the soft-serve version is easily the best ice cream I’ve ever had. Sadly, soft-serve gelato is not available because it goes from creation into the flash-freezer for commercial sale. But seriously. It was amazing. After that, he offered us a few scoops from the regular stock. I asked him for his favorite flavor: Toroncino. (Known as “nougat” in English.) He paired it with café (coffee, duh). Amazing.

Via del Campanile
angolo via delle Oche
Florence, Italy, 50122
Tel. 055.216158
http://www.grom.it