I finally got over the loss of my food travel related epistolary in Chowhound. Unwisely I did not save it elsewhere… I see in “Hungry onion” some familiar names, which motivates me to report again. I hope “Hungry onion” is not going anywhere…
My wife and I have traveled through an infrequently visited part of Italy - Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
What motivated us?
-
From the time of Chowhound, allende many times referred to it as one of the most interesting parts of Italy in the culinary sense (although he never reported on it).
-
Fred Plotkin dedicated a whole book to the region’s cooking (La Terra Fortunata). He only did it for one another region - Liguria.
-
I do not usually go to Italian restaurants in US. The only exception is Il Toscano in Queens NY, where I never had a bad meal. It is owned by a Friuli family, despite the weird name and panItalian menu….
After getting a car in Marco Polo Venice Airport we stayed nearby in charming Treviso. Despite traveling Veneto up and down many times, it was our first time in this town. The town is pleasant and easy to see in one day. They claim invention of tiramisu. Hence every food establishment sells one. Another claim to glory - radicchio. Unfortunately it is a winter product and was not available during the summer.
The choice of the dinner fell on Toni del Spin.The restaurant frequently mentioned in multiple food related publications, including Slow Food guide and Plotkin’s book. Plotkin describes it as a single room with communal tables. Well… Now it is a quite a sizable place with the spread to the next building, extending to a few floors and terrace. We had decent mantecato, bigoli con alice, so-so ravioli with ricotta and capesante (scallops) baked with porcini. Food was OK, but not fantastic. The highlight was definitely tiramisu. Their version is the one I liked the best of anything I have tried. It is served as a cake. It has a lot of texture and taste. Not wet, unlike the usual serving manner.
The next morning we crossed from Veneto to Friuli heading to a small town of Ghirano. There is absolutely nothing to do in this town other than to eat in Allo Storione. The restaurant has very rustic feel, neither the less you will not be seated without the reservation. No English spoken, although probably some understood. It is endorsed with the snail in slow food guide. The food indeed is very good. It comes only from local sources and has the elements of elevated village cooking. Specialty: incorporation of local herbs in the dishes. The menu is recited by waiter and does not exist in printed form. Understanding of Italian food vocabulary is essential. I liked my sformato with local cheese and herbs. My wife enjoyed carpaccio de matzo with chanterelles. The pasta described to us as plin deserves a special mentioning. It does not look like Langhe version of plin. It is much bigger. Probably the thinnest roll of the dough I have ever encountered. It is staffed with herbs and minimal amount of ricotta. Remarkable dish. But itself it is worth the drive to Ghirano. I tried their local specialty - lumache (snails). It was good, but not amazing. My wife somewhat liked the rooster stew. Nice contorni with fresh vegetables.
Laguna Grade is almost equal in size and fish diversity to the Venetian laguna. It is surrounded by the towns of Lignano Sabiodoro, Marano Lagunare and Grado. We headed to Lignano Sabiadoro for beach side stay. The food in this beach town was not up to expectation. So I will skip the description. One mentioning. In supposedly the best place in town - Mandi - sepia with peas was pretty good with rest of it uninspiring. Pastas was especially awful…
We made a side trip from Lignano to Marano Lagunare, which is a principal fishing location of Laguna Grado. The town is small but very pleasant. Highly recommend for individuals enthusiastic for the seafood. We have elected slow food mentioned La Barcaneta. The place was very busy for a Monday lunch in non-touristy town. The reservation is critical. I believe they respond to emails.
Extensive menu with full variety of the local sea products. We tried sarde al saor along with sliced cooked orata. Delicious. The spaghetti con ricci was a bit salty, which made me to think that ricci were not exactly fresh caught. The fresh ones always have a very sweet taste. In the end my wife received an amazing 1/2 branzino sliced along and grilled on one side. I got the second best chunk of grilled anguilla I have ever had (the best one was in Dal Pescatore near Mantua). There were so many other things to try. If we would have time, I would come again…
Grade is an island town connected by the two bridge to the main land. It gave the name to the Laguna and is located in the eastern part of it. There is a sizable historic center with multiple beaches giving a strong resort flavor to the town. The food scene is, as expected is a bit touristy. One place is mentioned by the slow food guide: Agli Artisti. It is on the same strip with all the other restaurants on the mane drag. Typical local fare made well, but not deserving “special destination” trip. Orata salad, sarde, frito misto. We tried one very local “Grado dish” - boreto. It exists in two versions: fish and sepia. The one we had was with sepia. Reminded me of the dish we had in Valencia - sepia stewed in onions for long time. Good, but not a trendsetter.
On the way to Trieste we stopped for lunch in Gorizia in Rosenbar. Endorsed by slow food. Very popular with locals. Has nice internal decor in magenta tones. Has a strong Austrian/ rather than Italian ambience. Once again, solid food, but not sure if deserves a drive. If you stay in town, definitely go. We took all the dishes on the recommendation of the owner. Pretty forgetful “eggplant ball”. Solid antipasti, but would not remember what I ate if would not write down… Spaghetti con alice was pretty good. Seasoning is frequently a problem when cooking with anchovies. This one was perfect. Fried sardines were Ok. Coffee is served in Austrian manner with cup covers.
The first night in Trieste we ventured to close suburb. Trattoria Al Sub is located along the waterfront street a few miles from the city center. The parking is pretty painless in the evening time. The trip was worth it. This trattoria exists for a long time. The tables are served by the owner. We loved every single dish. They are famous for their gratinee of shellfish. We got scallops, razor clams and shrimps. Perfection. Very delicate with precise cooking, taken off the broiler in perfect time. Parmegiano sformato with shrimp was another winner. Sounds strangee, but the combination was perfect. In general I am not a big fun of large sized pasta. The owner convinced me to try pacchieri with sepia ragu. Excellent. Later I have learned that this is one of their signature dishes. Rombo (turbot) encrusted with potato and porcini. Loved it. Not my favorite fish, but this version was juicy and delicious. Highly recommended, if in Trieste.
To contrast our fist seafood dinner in Trieste, for the second one we headed up the mountain in notorious Suban, serving Karst cuisine. Mario Suban, in his late 80s, wonders between the tables greeting the customers, although it is now run by his daughters. Mario is a great-grandson of the original owner - Giuseppe, who opened it after winning the Austrian emperial lottery in 1865. Mario invented some popular dishes and staffed with it some popes and presidents over the years. Mario got us popular local soup jota (stew of sour craft and potatos) to be tried in coffee cups. He called it : Caffe Triestino senza zucchero.
We got to try “cheese strudel” - chunk of the melted montasio cheese wrapped in San Daniele ham. It tastes exactly as it sounds. Soft egg with polenta and deep fried artichokes - Ok, but not spectacular.
The most famous dish invented by Mario around 1974: palacinke alla mandreira. Very thin crepe with melted cheese and basil infused olive oil. Indeed delicious. Must try if in restaurant. Another interesting pasta - potato strudel. Pretty good as well. We have declined their famous veal shank. A bit too much for us. We sheared Fegato alla veneziana, wich was one of the best I have ever tried. Strudel and milefoglie were our deserts. Style of milefoglie in Trieste is very peculiar: dollop of custard with sheets of pastry dough sticking out. Bothe deserts were excellent.
Trieste is a city of Austrian style cafe. We have visited a few. La Bomboniera was the memorable one. Cheery strudel and presnitz are the obligatory toys.
Another favorite The Eppinger. The favorite cafe of James Joice (Stella Polare) was so-so.
There is more Trieste and Udine coming.
I’m renting an ebike to check out some of the chiringuitos farther from the center of the city.
