eatshowandtell » Italian

Liana’s, Parramatta

squishies — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 22:44:50 +0000

I couldn’t make a friend’s birthday barbecue in Audley, so I did the next best thing: I treated him to a lunch the next day.

“Since you’re the food blogger,” he said. “You can choose where to eat. You must know lots of good places!” I sighed. It’s hard to think of a place to eat when there is no preference for cuisine, location and definitely not price. With such high expectations and no defined constraints (besides “just not a spicy place”, which I can definitely do), I fretted. So much pressure! What if I chose a place that he didn’t like?

As the day drew nearer, I vaguely told him to meet me on the corner of Pitt St and Phillip St – hoping to find some last minute inspiration of where to eat when we got there. Puzzled, he asked, “But Phillip St doesn’t cross Pitt St?” Oops. I meant Church and Phillip St. “If you didn’t want to meet up with me you could just say so!” he joked. Ugh. Even though I have every intention to meet up with him, I felt bad anyway… I’m so easily guilt-tripped.

I got to our meeting point a few minutes before he did and looking around, I noticed massive banners declaring that Liana’s is under original management. Hmm, interesting. I’ve noticed over the years a decline in patronage (or perhaps I’ve just visited them at odd times?), which I found a bit sad as I’ve always liked Liana’s. I suggested the restaurant to Chung and mentioned how they make pretty good risotto there, which I always ordered in the past. Perhaps foreseeing a lot of aimless wandering around if he didn’t, Chung agreed to try Liana’s.

Roma Salad - Fresh Sliced Vine Ripened Tomato, Bococcini Cheese, Olives, Basil, Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Balsamic with Crusty Bread (as a side, $13.90)

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Bredbo Pizzeria, Bredbo

squishies — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:00:14 +0000

In going to Thredbo from Sydney, you’ll inevitably pass through quite a few small towns. Though for me, only a few names really stick in my head, one of which is Bredbo (I admit it, it’s because it really sounds like Thredbo and I always giggle when I see it). Whenever we pass through this country town, a pizzeria always catches our eye with masses of cars parked in front (during business hours of course) and each time we tell each other that we should try it out – Mark even banned F and I from going there without him.

On our last trip to the snow (yes I know, it’s been a while – sorry!), we all finally made it to Bredbo Pizzeria and found that our dinner booking for 4.30pm was a bit superfluous: we were the only customers there. I’m sure I’m not the only person to somehow become super indecisive when too many options are available and it doesn’t help when the other parties in the group are blasé about the decision that is to be made (such as where to sit). Even though I know they don’t care where they sit and we’ve already sat down, I still fret for a bit about the chosen table. Ugh, it’s terrible.

Mmm... dough

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Grimaldi’s Pizzeria, New York

teresa — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:00:03 +0000

Note : I’ve been in New York for the past 2 weeks, so you might see a few posts covering my eating adventures!

This afternoon, I decided to do the new york-touristy thing and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and have my first sample of what’s been voted in a number of circles as New York’s “best pizza” at Grimaldi’s Pizzeria. A reputation such as this, comes with certain things (i.e. lines, long lines).

After braving the brisk early autumn weather to cross the bridge, my dining companion and I chose to brave the approximately thirty-minute long line outside for a chance to sample New York’s best.

The interior of Grimaldi’s is quaint and reminiscent of most old-school Italian pizzerias. Plenty of red and white checkered tablecloths and pictures of Old Blue Eyes (Frank Sinatra).

The seating was rather cramped with my friend and I sharing a a long table with a number of other diners. Service at the restaurant was prompt and helpful. The menu options at Grimaldi’s were small, 16-inch pizza, or a large 18-inch pizza. We went with a large pizza with anchovies and capers on half and sausage, mushrooms and black-cured olives on the other half and…a couple of Brooklyn pilseners.

The pizza’s are said to fire in a coal oven that blasts the food at 1000 F. Which is over two times as hot as your conventional oven. Fire makes pizza good, may be considered their philosophy. We’re kind of going out of my culinary depth here, to be honest, I’m just speculating. The pizzas are baked in the oven for probably about ten minutes, it’s hard to say, the sparkling conversation I was sharing with my dining companion made it hard to tell how much time had passed.

The pizzas were brought out to our semi-cramped tables and were placed on a pizza rack that left the pizzas nearly in our faces. We dug into our first slices of pizza, me starting with the sausage/mushroom/cured olive combination and my lovely dining companion digging into her anchovies and capers.

My first reaction to the pizza after the initial bite was “these olives taste strong.” I continued to think that halfway through the slice and by the end of my first slice of pizza I was picking off the olives. They are strong black olives with a bit of a bitter taste that permeates throughout the pizza. I don’t highly recommend ordering the olives on your first visit here unless you really love olives.

Anchovies and capers. Two technically salty ingredients did not overpower the other half of the pizza and we found it to be the better side of the pizza. The experience overall was good. The crust on the pizza was chewy, not crispy and the fresh mozzarella and basil they used on the pizza really made it something to remember. If I had to rate this pizza on my overall experience, I would say it’s good, but it’s not worth the wait. If you find yourself in New York City and are crossing the Brooklyn Bridge definitely give Grimaldi’s pizzeria a shot. Make sure to visit during off hours. Visit early and on weekdays. The reputation for this pizza was too tough for any food to live up to. If you find yourself in the area and you find the line’s not that long at Grimaldi’s pizzeria, give it a go, but remember New York has too many great restaurants to be waiting around for a good pizza, not a great pizza.

There are a few stores around the New York state area, but I hear the original one in Brooklyn is the best. Plus, what’s better than a brisk walk across the Brooklyn bridge then devouring over some warm tasty pizza.

Grimaldi’s Pizzeria
19 Old Fulton Street,
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Ph:718.858.4300
Opens…
Sun – Thurs 11:30-11:00
Fri & Sat 11:30-12:00
Web:http://www.grimaldis.com/

Daring Baker’s Challenge, Cannoli

linda — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 13:00:06 +0000

The November 2009 Daring Bakers Challenge was chosen and hosted by Lisa Michele of Parsley, Sage, Desserts and Line Drives. She chose the Italian Pastry, Cannolo (Cannoli is plural), using the cookbooks Lidia’s Italian-American Kitchen by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and The Sopranos Family Cookbook by Allen Rucker; recipes by Michelle Scicolone, as ingredient/direction guides. She added her own modifications/changes, so the recipe is not 100% verbatim from either book.

My problem is that I tend to leave things to the last-minute. Unfortunately my daring baker’s challenge was no exception. From the day that Lisa revealed the challenge, procrastination took the better of me, until it was the weekend before the reveal date. The conditions of the weekend allocated for the DBC couldn’t be any worse. According to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, the average temperature of Sunday was 41 degrees Celsius (106 F). Essentially what that meant was I’d have to make something that I’ve never made before, then deep-frying it and filling it, all on the second hottest day ever recorded in November here in Sydney, Australia. That will teach me not to leave things to the last-minute again.

My first experience which soon developed to an obsession (yes I know, another one) with Cannoli started precisely 4 years ago. It was 4 years ago, that I started a new job at a shop which was directly opposite to a beautiful Italian patisserie. Each morning, my request would be a ricotta filled cannoli with a medium cappuccino. I can remember how the cannoli tasted, with its crispy shell encasing an airy mixture of ricotta cheese, doused in a little sprinkle of icing sugar, seems like it was only yesterday. Regrettably, I left that job 2 years ago, and was forced to leave the cannoli behind. Imagine my joy when I found out that this month’s DBC is cannoli, another thing that I absolutely adore eating, but never had the courage to try.(...)
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SIFF Let’s Do Lunch, Uccello

Howard — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 14:01:37 +0000

Working in the City has it’s good and bad points. The good is that I am close to a lot of the Sydney International Food Festival offerings. The bad, I am going to be a poor man when this month is over. But perhaps I’ll worry about that later, after all I can always make money again .. right ?

The first day of SIFF saw me head to Uccello for their Let’s do Lunch menu. During the month of October, participating restaurants offer a $35 menu with one main course plus coffee, and a glass of matching Brown Brothers wine, Coopers beer or a 500ml bottle of S.Pellegrino sparkling or Acqua Panna still mineral water, a great way to sample the menu of some great restaurants. Like a few restaurants during SIFF, Uccello offer 3 choices for Let’s Do Lunch. Luckily I was dining with a few friends and we managed to cover the entire menu plus a dessert.

linguine ai frutti di mare traditional amalf coast recipe of fresh seafood cooke in fresh tomato white wine and a touch of chilli

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