Tag: seafood

Postcard from Catania, Sicily: Where’s the cannoli?

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Alt text for clams and mussels with orecchiette in pumpkin sauce.

Above: Clams and mussels with oricchiette in pumpkin sauce at Trattoria da Antonio

Loosen your belt because I’m squeezing our reviews of meals we consumed in Catania into one post. Alas, no more than one cannolo though.

The alphabetical list starts out with Bat il Trattore. Tucked away in the Monserrato neighborhood where few tourists would ever stumble upon it, we were the only customers on the simple backdoor patio who were not longtime acquaintances of the mom-and-pop owners. But they made us feel welcome.

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Postcard from Padua, Italy: Pairing vini and cicchetti

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A colorful Italian postage stamp featuring a bottle pouring wine into a glass surrounded by grapevines.

Above: Frascoli Bacaro

Let’s start with a bacaro. A bacaro is a food stop offering cicchetti with wine where it’s perfectly acceptable to stand around chatting while consuming both.

Cicchetti? Think tapas or pinxtos. A wonderful social concept, but I really prefer to consume a pleasant lunch sitting down. And the bacaros we sampled in Padua met that desire well.

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Postcard from Lyon, France: Fertile ground for chefs

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Above: Turnips with trout caviar at Armada

I know you might be thinking: “Seriously? Turnips?”

Lyon…. A culinary tradition that grew up to change the world of gastronomy…. It’s about food, lots of food, great food. Some of the greatest food on earth…. What is it exactly about this place? Over the past century, the system here, the tradition, whatever it is that took hold here, churned out a tremendous number of the world’s most important chefs…. Why Lyon? Why is this such a gastronomic capital?” 

Anthony Bourdain, Parts Unknown: Lyon, France, April 27, 2014

I can’t answer that. For Bourdain’s explanation, you might have to watch that episode of Parts Unknown. But I can state we lingered over some excellent meals during our stay in Lyon and hope these photos help you navigate among the many choices available.

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