Shopping: Holy Pastas!

Another fabulous Mulberry Street (NYC Little Italy) must visit is the Piemonte Ravioli Company.  The store is well over 80 years old and has served Little Italy as well as the entire metropolitan area with great pastas.  The ravioli company makes so much more than ravioli.  You can order stuffed pastas, dried pastas and fresh pastas.  Now, you can order their pastas on-line delivered to your door next day.  The site is very easy to use and allows you to choose by pasta type.

However, if you are in New York City you must stop by for the fresh pastas.  And if you visiting the neighborhood from Ohio…you must pick up a few bags of dried pasta to take home to your friends.

At the very least, check out the site and order yourself some pastas for the weekend.

http://piemonteravioli.com/

Value Wine of the Day: Salice Salentino

Today’s value of the day is a select type of wine and not a specific producer.  The Salice Salentino is a wine from the Apulia region (the heel of the boot).  The wine consists of 80% Negroamaro grapes and 20% Malvasia grapes, both prominent vines of the region.  This wine usually will cost $10-$15 for a great bottle of red wine.  However, you can certainly find vintages and smaller harvest produced batches which could cost up to and beyond the $40′s.  I love the fact that this is a wine that every red drinker will enjoy, with or without food.  It is a fruity wine with some spices and smokiness to it.  The wine is great with pastas, meats and pizza – especially hot pepperoni pizzas!  Most stores with a good Italian selection will carry at least one producer of Salice Salentino.  Look for 2003-2006, they are ready to drink today!

Gustare il vino

Wine Pairings: Mixed Bubbles

The wonderful Italian sparkling white wine known as Prosecco is a lot of fun for entertaining.  The name comes from the white grape which grows in the Veneto region.  I love this wine especially as an aperitivo, or before dinner drink.  Since the wine hails from the Veneto it makse sense that it pairs well with seafood appetizers or cicchetti, as they are called in Venice.

You can also make really great drinks out of Prosecco.  Perhaps the most famous sparkling white wine based drink is the Bellini, which mixes one part white peach puree with 2 parts Prosecco.  This drink was created by Giuseppe Cipriani who founded Harry’s Bar in Venice.

Prosecco is such a versatile base that you can mix this with a lot of fresh squeezed fruits.  I love it in the summer with Watermelon or Raspberries.  So find a fruit that is sweet or sour and you have yourself a mixer.  You can squeeze the fruit in your hands, but a blender gives you that restaurant quality drink!

boun bere!

Value Wine of the Day

Cantina Zaccagnini

I know the name is long, but the value goes the distance for you…the Cantina Zaccagnini Montepulciano D’Abruzzo.  I would say write it down, but the bottle is unique and once you see it you will remember it…look at the picture on the left.  This awesome wine should never cost more than $13 (I usually pay $11.99).  I have no problem serving this to guests and I love to have extra bottles on hand for us at home.  It is great by itself and compliments pastas exceptionally (meats too).  It has great color, a nice flowery nose with balanced tannins and body.  The wine is very consistent year to year, 2001-2005 all work great.

Hotels: Il Pellicano

I have been fortunate enough to stay at some really amazing hotels.  But there is one that I will never forget…and hopefully get to visit again someday – il Pellicano Hotel in Porto Ercole, IT.  This seaside resort in Tuscany is located about 30 minutes east of Maremma or 2 hours north of Rome just up the coast.  It is an amazing place to visit.  The hotel used to be owned (originally a co-op) by many famous aristocrats and royalty from around the world.  It was the place to be in the 40′s, 50′s and 60′s, it was only open in the summer month’s and no kids were allowed.

Today, the hotel hosts a one-star rated Michelin restaurant called…naturally….il Pellicano.  Probably the best meal I have ever had in my life.  They even hand cut chocolate (check it out).

There rooms are fantastic, the scenery is outstanding and the people really make this place unforgettable.

It is a must visit!

il Pellicano Ristorante

cioccolato a Il Pellicano

Wine Pairings: Way Up North

At the top of Italy and it’s beautiful Alps on the boarder of Austria, is the Trentino-Alto Adige region.  A region which is one of the richest in Italy.  The region has an incredibly fertile valley which produces wine, olive oil, tobacco, dairy products and more.  This region also farms cow’s which produce the milk for Crucolo.  A cheese that resembles it’s not to distant neighbor from the north, swiss cheese.  Crucolo is becoming very popular in America these days mainly because of how tasty it is.  The cheese is young, about 2 months of aging and yeilds a buttery taste and a nice tangy finish.  I always serve it to friends and it becomes an instant hit.  A great pairing would be a Pinot Grigio from the Veneto region.  I usually go with a Santa Margherita Pinot Grigio for around $20 and is widely available.

This is a combe you should not miss serving at your next wine and cheese party.

Value wine of the day.

This is a super favorite of mine, mainly because of it’s versatility and not expensive.  The A Mano Primitivo 2006 is one of the best value wines out there.  Primitivo’s are basically the uncle to Zinfandel.  The wine pops with fruit, a nice deep purple color and has soft tannins.  It can be a little acidic so if that is something you can’t stand, you may not love it.  It is perfect to drink now and is awesome paired with grilled meats and barbacue.

It is a must by, ranges from $9-$13 and you can find it online or in many stores.