Hey all, welcome back. As I said I have just arrived in France, Marseille to be precise, and i want to get you all caught up on my last couple enrties for italy for the next few weeks. Today's blog is about the place I ate dinner at the night i was staying in Roma waiting to fly out the following morning. As you have probably noticed most of my entries to date have been positive and singing the praises of people, places, and things (things being wine of course). Well that is because I want to share positive experiences with my audience so as to inform you all about what is out there and to help direct you to the best of the best whenever possible. Well it is also my responsibility to direct you away from things that i do not deem as being on par. And today that is what we will do, because I cannot say that this is a ristorante i would go back to.
The place had an interesting feel from the outside, and an odd feel from the inside. The place I figured out halfway through the experience is owned by an Asian husband and wife, which explains why it was filled with Asian diners. Now don't begin thinking I dislike Asian people, I am not biased in any way racially, but I do prefer my italian ristorante to be owned by italians. Wouldn't it be a little odd if I owned and operated an authentic Chinese food place? Let us proceed, my radar should have been up when i didnt hear any italian being spoken in the place, at least not close to me. But it was very close to the Termini train station and so that is more common of a phenomenon.
The food I ordered was the specialty pizza recommended, Pizza Gabriele, named after the owner I assume. On the menu it said it had salumi, rucola aka rocket salad(arugola), pomodoro (tomato), and salsiccia (sausage). The pizza came out extremely fast, literally less than 4 minutes after ordering, and the toppings were split in half. The rucola and pomodoro together and the meats together. It was of a decent taste, but at 12 Euro i was expecting more. For dessert i had profiteroles (cream puffs) covered in white chocolate. These I could tell had been taken out of a refrigorator because the whipped cream was hard like such. A poor effort.
The wine I selected was a 1/2 bottle of Scopetani Chianti 2008. This is a winery from Rufina Northeast of Florence, and the wine menu stated it was a Chianti Rufina, but the label said plainly Chianti...and Chianti D.O.C.G. covers 7 sub-regions and can come from any of them. It cost me 8.50 Euro for the bottle.
A bit of advice for all out there. Always look to the half bottle menu over a by the glass program if it is a place you are unfamiliar with their wine policy. There is nothing worse than getting a glass poured from a bottle opened too long and turned to vinegar and having to send it back, especially when travelling!
back to the wine, it was decent but nothing memorably. The most i can say is that it was a spot on base level Chianti that could not mimic anything else. Light garnet in color with tart red cherry and the tarry-woodsy earth aromas behind it. A straight forward wine that could not be classified as complex, it was dry and light in body and tannins with the high level of acidity of the Sangiovese grape. The website states there is some white Trebbiano blended into the wine which would only increase its acid level.
And so I leave you with the few tips i have picked up along the way as I continue to travel through Europe:
1: Ask a local wine shop, they can direct you t o the best local bar to taste regional products
2: If the menu has pictures, RUN AWAY!
3: Listen to the audience, if its all locals then you are probably safe.
4: Listen to your nose, it rarely fails me!
Happy Holidays from your friendly neighborhood travelling Sommelier, Salute!
No comments:
Post a Comment