Excellent food and drink on the continent
Switzerland and Italy, June 12 – 24, 2014
RISTORANTE PENSIONE AGRA
We hiked up the Collina d’Oro to Agra on a gorgeous day, and stopped at a place Bob had visited 38 years before for a beer (or two) and a salad.
FELDSCHLÖSSCHEN
Feldschlösschen (“small castle in the field”) is the beer of Bob’s youth. The brewery, founded in Rhinefelden in 1876, is the largest in Switzerland.
It’s Swiss for “beer.”
OSTERIA ODEON
The Odeon is in downtown Lugano, a bar where Bob got his kneecap broken on Valentine’s Day 1976. We stopped in for a beer, with no injuries.
DOWNTOWN LUGANO – CHEESE AND SALAMI
The food section of the giant Manor store (was Innovazione back in the day) was impressive – like Whole Foods but with European fare. On the right is Salumeria Gabbani, offering quality meats, cheeses and wines since 1937.
DELI DELIGHTS
Pizza, focaccia, cakes – yes, we gained a few pounds.
RACLETTE
This was over the top. Raclette gets it’s name from the French word “racler” – to scrape. The cheese is melted by heat until brown and bubbly, then scraped onto a plate with fingerling potatoes, pickled gherkins, and served with bread and prosciutto.
FLORENCE – BEER AND LIMONCELLO
On to Italy and a taste of Moretti, a fine Italian beer. Bob enjoyed some afternoon reading time in a nearby cafe with his Kindle and a glass of limoncello.
ROME
Bob was on a multiple cappuccino-a-day jag while Camille was more interested in sampling the many flavors of gelato. We bought some roasted chestnuts from a vendor next to Trevi Fountain, and sat out a thunderstorm over lunch at a cafe near the Victor Emmanuel monument.
SICILY
We had a fine seaside meal at Ristorante di Roberto, a suggestion from our B&B host Davide. Opposite the sea view was the view of the waiters dodging traffic with our dinners.
SICILAN BREAD
The bread in Sicily was exquisite, at our B&B we had fresh breads each morning from the local bakery. Here we had a picnic of bread, cheese, and water on our hike back to our B&B from Taormina.
CAMPARI AND SODA ON THE BEACH
It gets no better than this.
PUERTO RICO BEACH CLUB
Of our four days in Sicily, we spent part of three of them at the Puerto Rico Beach Club near our B&B. Great view, clear water, beautiful beach pebbles, and Pannini Rustico – a sandwich with sliced cheese, tomato, fresh basil, and grilled eggplant. Oh, and Birra Messina – Sicily’s most famous beer.
MILAN – SOMMA LOMBARDO
On our way home, we spent a night near Milan’s airport in Somma Lombardo, with a quaint village center and another nice cafe. Diego, our waiter was a charming fellow who was able to hook us up with great vegetarian fare even though the kitchen was closed mid-afternoon. The first course was a variety of local cheeses – fresh mozzarella (the very soft white one) and toma – a specialty of the Lombardy piedmont region.These were served with walnuts and honey, as well as a nice german wheat beer.