Tag: seafood

Postcard from Bordeaux, France: In the city’s belly

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Above, “breakfast” platters of seafood at Chez Jean-Mi

Marche des Capucins is the city’s oldest public marketplace, meriting the moniker of the “Belly of Bordeaux.” The abundance and quality of its seafood, produce and cheese stalls inspired numerous chefs to open booths there in the past decade, but, while we were in Bordeaux, COVID and August vacations temporarily pared down their numbers.

Seafood remains prominent. The most renown platters are found at Chez Jean-Mi. One has to arrive early because it both gets crowded and closes before 2 p.m. most days. This forces many a foodie-pilgrim to venture forth for raw oysters for breakfast. As wonderful as a succulent raw oyster can be, I just couldn’t talk myself into eating it first thing, and there definitely was no room at the counter by lunch time.

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Postcard from Merida, Mexico: A trio of restaurants for dining well

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Above: Micaela Mar y Lena crudo de atun

Grilled seafood is the specialty at Cocina de Mar y Lena, a contemporary restaurant that seems a magnet for an upscale crowd of fashionable Mexicans arriving by the Uber-full, at least they were pre-COVID. The grilled shrimp and octopus were wonderful, and the refreshing raw tuna (above) just melted in your mouth.

Chef Sara Maria Arnaud Gomez combines the flavors of Oaxaca with those of the Yucatan at Apoala on the prime people-watching park of Santa Lucia. From ceviche and fried zucchini blossoms to dessert, everything was beautifully plated. Loved their mezcal mule cocktails with a smoky charred chunk of caramelized honeycomb riding atop the rim.

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Postcard from Lecce, Italy: Sampling seafood and pasta served Apulia-style

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lecce seafood ravioli radici

Seafood Ravioli at Radici – Market, Food & Caffetteria

With only skimpy sandwiches for lunch, we were ready for a sit-down meal after arriving in Lecce well after nightfall. We walked out the door of our apartment and crossed the street upon the recommendation of our landlord and entered what became our favorite restaurant in Lecce, Osteria 203.

The intimate restaurant had us hooked with the contorni, a varying trio of seasonal vegetables. Unlike in Naples, vegetable sides and antipasti were easy to come by in Lecce. But Osteria 203 also provided the Mister with his favorite dish of the entire trip, stinco di maiale. The enormous braised pork shank was falling-off-the-bone tender and was served in a pool of a rich red wine sauce. The fried young artichokes were highly addictive, and how can one resist trying purple gnocchi. Our only disappointment with the Osteria 203 is that it closed during our final week to repaint the interior, depriving the Mister of his third order of stinco.

Il Rifugio della Buona Stella is an unpretentious family-run restaurant with generous antipasto plates and regional pasta dishes, such as pasta with rape, turnip tops, all offered at resident-friendly prices. On our second visit there, we were accompanied by our daughter and fidanzato, and it proved a most pleasant experience.

Next to us was a family birthday celebration, a table of about 16 from multiple generations. The group was not rowdy at all, just enjoying exchanging family stories. We lingered sharing multiple courses, as did they. When it came time for them to cut into a luscious cake, they sent the youngest girl over with plates for us. And then they poured glasses of prosecco for us to share in toasting the young woman who was their guest of honor. There was something so warm and touching, and we felt so flattered to be embraced by locals instead of being dismissed as just tourists at the next table. It helped our standing that the Mister was able to go to the other room and ask the owner for a simple birthday toast and thank you he offered to them in Italian.

Osteria 203 fried artichokes
Radici fusilloni with pesto
I Latini pistachio-crusted tuna
Osteria 203 pasta with porcini and pumpkin
La Cucina di Mamma Elvira contourni
La Cantina delle Streghe eggplant and burrata bruschetta
Il Rifugio della Buona Stella maccheroncini with swordfish, rape (turnip tops) and tomatoes
La Cucina di Mamma Elvira eggplant polpette
L’Ostrica Ubriaca fried seafood
I Latini fried seafood platter
Enogastronomia Povero eggplant stuffed with vegetables
Osteria 203 contourni
Il Rifugio della Buona Stella orecchiette with rape (turnip tops)
L’Ostrica Ubriaca tuna carpaccio
I Latini chickpea and clam soup
Osteria 203 purple gnocchi with lime-cured cod carpaccio
Radici salmon with couscous
La Cucina di Mamma Elvira ravioli
Il Rifugio della Buona Stella vegetable antipasto
I Latini pulpo polpette popped into our mouths so quickly we neglected to take a photo before pausing to see who got to eat the last one
L’Ostrica Ubriaca linguini with clams
I Latini seafood linguini
La Cucina di Mamma Elvira vegetable antipasto
gelato
Crianza Chianina hamburger
polpette di cavallo
Osteria 203 seafood-filled ravioli
La Cucina di Mamma Elvira fettuccine with swordfish, eggplant and almonds
Il Rifugio della Buona Stella pasta with meatballs
Radici ravioli with parmesan sauce
Osteria 203 stinco di maiale, braised pork shank with red wine sauce

Other spots we visited represented by photos above:

  • Crianza – If you are pining to sample some of Italy’s prized Chianina beef, the Mister swears his was about the best hamburger he has ever eaten.
  • I Latini  – This spot felt touristy, but it was always open when others failed us. Despite that initial feeling, we must admit the seafood dishes, such as linguini, pistachio-crusted tuna and clam and chickpea soup, were delicious.
  • La Cantina delle Streghe – A good spot for wine and bruschetta
  • La Cucina di Mamma Elvira – Great vegetables and pasta, but do not fail to order the eggplant polpette.
  • L’Ostrica Ubriaca – We trekked to the one way outside the walls. It was a little spartan, but the seafood was always fresh. A new more upscale version recently had opened right outside the old city gate, but we did not try that location.
  • Radici – Market, Food & Caffetteria – Contemporary and casual, attracting a host of locals. The fidanzato highly recommends the seafood ravioli in the featured photo.

Hopefully, all of these restaurants made it through quarantine times and are beginning to welcome diners back.