pizza – Page 6 – Postcards from Barton Springs

Postcards from Rome, Italy: Foraging off the beaten track

August 24, 2018 postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

Taking another quick food break.

Glancing down the street from the corner, one would not be at all tempted to turn down Mantova street in Rome. We only found it because we wanted a lunch spot in semi-close proximity to MACRO and noticed a Berbere Pizzeria was nearby.

We previously had become acquainted with a Berbere in Bologna. The pizzerias are known for the slow-rise, highly “digestible” (We have never understood this foodie-ism issue.) crust topped with fresh local ingredients. The zucchini pie did not disappoint.

Eating outside, we noticed locals going into two establishments on the other side of the street. Looking online for reviews of them later, we found the super-majority of the contributors posting in Italian. Via Montova is not in the tourist zone.

Il Salento in una Stanza eggplant balls

Il Salento in una Stanza amuse-bouche of fried bread

Il Salento in una Stanza fish soup

Osteria Via Mantova octopus

Berbere Pizzeria zucchini pizza

Osteria Via Mantova chesnut gnocchi with lamb ragout

Osteria Via Mantova pasta with Sicilian tuna

Il Salento in una Stanza fried tagliatelli with mussels

The chef at Il Salento in una Stanza Vini e Cucina seduced us quickly with two amuse bouche offerings – cute little puffballs of fried bread and the best fried anchovies we had on the trip. I wanted to cancel my order and beg for a plateful of anchovies. The meatless-balls in a red pepper sauce were composed of eggplant, and the photo of the fish soup shows its amazing bounty. Looking back at the photos, I’m wishing we had made it back for another lunch.

The pasta with Sicilian tuna at Osteria Via Mantova was a refreshingly different seafood dish, and the flavorful chestnut gnocchi with a hearty lamb ragout was the only such offering we encountered.

And to think we ate it all on Mantova Street. The rewards from venturing away from the crowds often are savory.

Postcard from Mexico City: ‘For Main Course We’ll Have That’

April 7, 2018April 7, 2018 postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

Am slinging out these final food shots from our fall visit to Mexico City like a short-order cook in a bad diner, but I am off taking new photos of meals in an entirely different spot on the map.

Most of these are from the Roma Norte neighborhood where we stayed. Am keeping my comments at a minimum, so the pictures will have to serve in helping you decide about restaurants when journeying there yourself.

Particularly enjoyed the abundance of vegetable dishes, including a no-pasta spaghetti, at Bowie Cocina de Humo, but the restaurant does take its name seriously. Every course is tinged with smoke-infused flavor. By the end of the meal, my mouth almost felt as though I’d been smoking. We found the much-heralded Nudo Negro with its show-off parade up to the kitchen to receive your amuse-bouche from the hands of a chef a tad bit pretentious, but the long-roasted eggplant, split open and topped with humus tableside, melts in your mouth.

There must be thousands of less expensive places to eat a Mexican-style breakfast in Mexico City, but the park-facing patio of Café Toscano on Orizaba is so pleasant the higher price tag was absorbed without question. Both the red and green chilaquiles are wonderful, and the fresh juice combinations round out the meals.

We loved the neighborhood comfort feeling of having pizza on the patio at Cancino Roma or shrimp arancini and a bowl of robust roasted tomato soup at Macelleria, where, as you can see from the featured photo, the restaurant correctly profiled us with the name of the house wine. Few tables at the popular Huset fail to order avocado pizza.

The variety and freshness of ingredients and recipes never disappointed us at Delirio. Fresh salads and sandwiches, moussaka and falafel and fresh meringues are among the celebrated bakery’s fare.

Huset grilled romaine salad

NonSolo roasted vegetables

Broka Bistrot shrimp lunch special

Cancino Roma grain salad with cauliflower

Huset huachinango

Paprika curried squid

Nudo Negro roasted eggplant

Broka Bistrot concinita pibil

Nudo Negro

Casino Espanol seafood soup

Macelleria arancini de camaron

Delirio meringue

Casino Espanol

Huset avocado pizza

Cancino Roma fig and bacon pizza

Cafe Toscano chilaquiles rojos

Delirio falafel

Bowie Cocina de Humo chicken

Huset roasted vegetables

Huset mezcal cocktail

Cancino Roma pear and gorgonzola pizza

Paprika falafel

Cafe Toscano chilaquiles verdes

Galanga Thai Kitchen amarillo curry with mariscos

Paprika cauliflower

Volver blue cheese burger

Delirio curried rice with garbanzos

Huset grilled tuna

Huset pollo arroz

Paprika lilo cocktail with tequila, ginger and spearmint

Casino Espanol beef filet with shrimp

Macelleria roasted tomato soup

Delirio mint and watercress salad

Buenavida Fonda roasted vegetable cemita

Paprika roasted eggplant

Casino Espanol boquerones

Delirio falafel sandwich

Galanga Thai Kitchen green papaya salad

Casino Espanol croquetas

Bowie Cocina de Humo grilled vegetables

Galanga Thai Kitchen seafood tom

Nudo Negro splitting roasted eggplant tableside

Galanga Thai Kitchen platano and helado

Macelleria salmon

Macelleria grilled squid

Delirio moussaka

Bowie Cocina de Humo no pasta spaghetti

Nudo Negro parading to kitchen for amuse bouche

Paprika rice with garbanzos

Paprika chicken with spicy sauce

Veering even farther away from stereotypical Mexican food, the curries and toms at Galanga Thai Kitchen are worth seeking. The green papaya salad in particular drew us out for a return visit. With its flavorful chicken, roasted eggplant and falafel moistened with spinach, Paprika enticed us back for multiple meals as well.

From there, jump into downtown for the old-school formality of service in the high-ceilinged Casino Espanol, worthy of entering for viewing the stained-glass in its Porfirio-era home alone. The croquetas, boquerrones and seafood soup transported us to Spain.

We almost avoided Casino Espanol after reading a review describing it as the type of restaurant attracting old suits entertaining young mistresses, but there were only a pair or two seeming to fit in that category. The poor Mister and Vic, unsuited and in the company of old wives.

Whether squiring old spouses or young paramours, diving into a throwback to the past is a recommended ingredient balancing out all the trendy contemporary kitchens so abundant in this bustling culinary capital.

Postcard from Valencia, Spain: Opting for neighborhood comfort over anything near the Michelin trail

July 10, 2017 postcardsfromsanantonioLeave a comment

Having already posted about paella and our favorite restaurants, will mainly let photos do the talking for some other restaurants you might want to try if you are staying in Valencia for more than a few days.

Our neighborhood was so comfortably casual, and somehow we quickly developed almost a reverse snobbery when we ventured into tonier neighborhoods to eat. We had an excellent lunch at Seu Xerea during restaurant week, and the service was perfect. Pumpkin croquettes with blue cheese and curried meatballs were among our starters, and the Valencian rice with mussels and saffron was well executed. But, we ended up not returning because the restaurant was a bit more formal than our hood in Carmen and a bit pricier as well.

Hamburgers are everywhere in Valencia, as they are all over Europe, and Mar Cuatro Cocina Mediterranea presents an upscale opportunity to experience flavorful oxen burgers. But, again, we were out of our adopted neighborhood and the price crept up, particularly the wine, as a result. For great burgers in a more laidback setting closer to our apartment, we preferred the Martinez brothers’ popular Lamburguesa Urban Food.

For a total change of flavor, we recommend delving into Moroccan dishes at Restaurant Dukala. Both their chicken croquettes and pastilla – in this case the sweet and savory chicken mixture completely encased in flaky pastry – have loyal followers crowding into the restaurant on weekends.