Trattoria Giuseppe - Philly Eats

I believe it's about time I blog about our Spring Break trip to Philadelphia back in the beginning of April. We stayed in Phoenixville, PA - thanks to the very generous hospitality of a lovely family of my friend, Lynne. Everyday, they introduced us to great dining spots to eat and interesting places to visit. Trattoria Giuseppe was the first restaurant Dom and Felice took us to, as soon as we arrived their home. It was definitely one of the best Italian place I've been to!

Their menu is so big that it took me a while to decide what to order. The price is reasonable and it's BYOB, with no corkage fee. Just remember to bring a bottle or two of your favorite wines, and big appetite since food portion is pretty generous.

We had quite a few of their salads for the table to share. They were all amazing! (Above) Special Salad: Arugula Salad with mixed fruits, fresh mozzarella cheese, and limoncello vinaigrette.

Brasaola con Arrugola Parmiggiano: thinly sliced cured beef topped with arugula and Parmesan cheese, dressed with oil and lemon juice. Awesomeness..

Roasted Artichokes: sliced prosciutto, fresh mozzarella, and green olives, drizzled with white truffle oil. Out of the world!

Calamari Fritti: fried squid, with spicy marinara sauce

Insalata al Prosciutto: mixed salad, tomatoes, olives, with house dressing and Parma ham.

Penne Puttanesca: penne with fresh chopped tomatoes, garlic, capers, olives, anchovies, and hot pepper. My favorite pasta dish.

Spaghetti Alle Vongole: Garlic, extra virgin olive oil, white wine, clams, and parsley.

Seafood Special

Spaghetti Carbonara: cream, bacon, egg, and parmesan cheese. Classically delicious..

Tiramisu: layers of expresso drenched sponge cake divided by mascapone cream, dusted with cocoa powder. Love it!

Chocolate Truffle: Zabaione cream center, surrounded by chocolate gelato and caramelized hazelnuts, topped with cocoa powder. Together with a cup of cappuccino - nice ending to the meal!


Trattoria Giuseppe:
4799 West Chester Pike
Edgemont, Pennsylvania 19073
(610) 353-4871

Good Eats: Vegetarian & Locally Sourced

My friends, Lynne and Gary invited me to join them for a Sunday dinner. Lynne always goes to local Farmer's Markets on the weekend when she can, for fresh and beautiful produce. This time she got quite a few of great looking vegetables, and it was a nice relaxing day -- so they decided to spend quality time cooking together. Lucky me, I got to enjoy that lovely dinner with them!

Mediterranean Panzanella (bread) Salad

Lynne made this Martha Stewart's recipe using Zingerman's bread -- together with fennel, local green beans, fresh mozzarella, calamata olives, red onion, dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar. This dish is a wonderful summer salad. Absolutely enjoyed it. It was fantastico!!

Three Beet Caviar with Endive and Goat Cheese

This is such a beautifully-presented dish. Lynne made the dish using Chioggia beets, red beets, and golden beets -- served with local goat cheese. The tri-color caviar of beets got mixed together with creamy goat cheese right before we ate them. Adapted from Deborah Madison cookbook, Lynne & Gary's vegetarian guru.

Risotto with Kale and Gremolata

This was made of kale, arborio rice, and Gremolata -- which is a mixture of lemon peel, garlic and parsley. Gary cooked them for only 5 min. in the pressure cooker, and it turned out just perfect! The best risotto I've had so far...

It was a really nice dinner with my besties.

Loving this cheese grater :)

We finished our meal with a Thai dessert I brought over. I quicky made this --Sticky Rice Pudding with longan & young coconut, and topted with coconut milk -- from what I had in my pantry. With a nice cup of coffee, it was a great ending.

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Good time! We should do this more often :)

Big Bob's

Located in Gaslight Village, in East Grand Rapids, Big Bob's Pizza - Italian Cafe' is another establishment I would keep on my Grand Rapids Eats list after my first visit. This homey Italian eatery offers on its menu from wings, pasta, calzone, design-your-own pizza, signatures pizzas, a little bit of Mexicans flare, to gelato.

We ordered a couple of Big bob's signature pizzas to share. They were delicious! The crust was perfect and the flavor was excellent. While waiting for our food, we made a few trips to the popcorn cart..

Spicy Chicken Pizza has chicken breast, red & black pepper, chopped garlic, sweet peppers and cheese on butter sauce. I think the banana pepper gives a really nice flavor on top of all the ingredients.

BBQ Chicken Pizza has chicken breast, mozzarella cheese with Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ Sauce. Also delicious and everyone enjoyed it.

Some of the flavors of the gelato Big Bob's offers are vanilla, mint chip, dark chocolate, raspberry white chocolate, peanut butter cup, almond joy, and raspberry tiramisu.

Overall experience at Big Bob's Pizza was very nice. Cafe and sport bar atmosphere are there, besides a family pizza place. The service was professional. And definitely, great pizza!

Big Bob's Pizza - Italian cafe'
661 Croswell Avenue Southeast
Grand Rapids, MI 49506
(616) 233-0123

http://www.bigbobspizza.com/

Chicago Eat: Quartino

Quartino is an authentic Italian restaurant that offers great pizza, small plates (tapas-Italian style!), and lively wine bar. The place was awesome! I love the unique chairs and tables, the display kitchen, and the fun atmosphere. You would just feel so alive being among the crowd there! Great service and reasonable price. And you gotta love its slogan: "where the water cost more than the wine".. They do have lots of vino options for you, and it is served in a neat style. They make sure you are informed of their unique dining style and the concept of "sharing".

Though the place was quite loud and crowded, I thought it still offered the romantic ambiance in a way, from the candle on the table, the decor, and the dim lighting (which should explain my photography)... Well, I guess in a hip and trendy way.

Bread With olive oil
Wild Arugula Bruschette
Roasted Beets Salad With ricotta salata and walnuts
Parmigiano Reggiano Served with fennel salad, apricot rosemary puree, and grape salad
Assorted Olives
Margherita Pizza Very delicious! The boys really enjoyed it.

Coppa al Banana Carmelized banana, vanilla gelato, biscotti, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, and chocolate shavings
Tiramisu My favorite dessert of all

Definitely one of my favorite Chicago eats!

Quartino:
626 N. State St.
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 698-5000

Tomatoes Apizza

I am not usually a big fan of pizza. There..., I said it! Well, I mean I can eat it if I have to, but it won't just "wow" me like other food would. Recently, I had visited to a couple of pizzarias that made me fall in love with GOOD pizza; Quartino and Bella Bacino's, both in Chicago. And I found that thin crust is my favorite kind of pizza. Fresh ingredients and bold flavor have to be there for me to enjoy my pizza. And now that I was introduced to Tomatoes Apizza -- one of the most renowned pizzarias, 30-minute drive away from home -- I would say this place makes my most favorite pizza!

Our server recommended the large Naples Sampler since it's our first time there. It was pretty big! The pizza was 1/4 Classic (red sauce & mozzarella plus 1 topping: sausage), 1/4 White (mozzarella, fresh tomato, garlic, & basil), 1/4 Green (mozzarella, spinach, & garlic), and 1/4 Fresh Mozzarella (red sauce, Buffalo mozzarella, & basil). The big chunk of sausages were very delicious. My favorite was the white, but the rest of them were also very good!

Excellent pizza! Wood-burning oven pizza -- with thin crust, light sauce, fresh ingredients, and lots of garlic. The crust was just perfect for me: crispy edges, and slightly chewy center.

The place has an atmosphere of a comfortable, small family restaurant. Nothing flashy and quite lack of ambiance. The staffs are attentive and wonderful. They also offer salad, bread, and pasta on the menu. I thought a salad bar is a good choice to go for, everything is nice and fresh as well.

I am not surprised the pizza has been rated tops in metro Detroit, and has even been listed as one of the best in the US in a recent article of GQ magazine. Our server was very friendly and knowledgable of the restaurant and their pizza. He also told us the place had been there for 10 years. There is also another location in the area at SE corner of Middlebelt and 14 mile, with a coal fired oven style. I am looking forward to my next visit for an excellent pizza again soon.

Tomatoes Apizza:
The Original BRICK oven APizza
24369 Halstead Rd
Farmington Hills, MI 48332
(248) 888-4888

Chicago Eat: Bella Bacino's

This authentic Italian bistro and pizzaria was recommend by a concierge staff at Hyatt Regency Chicago, when we were asking for a good Italian restaurant in a walking distance from the hotel. From the outside, with the tables along the Wacker drive, it looked like a lovely cafe in France or Italy. The weather was very nice, but we wanted to get in the inside ambiance after a long day of walking at the museum.

We love the place! Food was excellent, as was the staff. Their menu offers a variety of Italian dishes in addition to thin and stuffed pizza. The boys enjoyed their thin crust pizza, and I loved my salad. We didn't get any bread, as others mentioned in some of the reviews that I searched later. Not sure if they forgot or it wasn't supposed to come with the meal anymore.

Insalata:
Baciano's House a refreshing combination of baby mixed greens, tomato, and thin veggies in a balsamic vinaigrette
Asparagus & Prosciutto a mix of field greens, red onion, Prosciutto di Parma, topped with sweet Galbani Gorgonzola and dressed with rosemary emulsion
Napoletana Pizza:
Margherita Napoletana fresh mozzarella, San Marzano tomato sauce, and basil
Salad dressed arugula with caramelized onions, mozzarella, and house-made pesto

Dolci:
Tiramisu home-made in their kitchen and unbelievably light

Bella Bacino's:
75 East Wacker Drive
Chicago, IL 60601
(312) 263-4965

Sunday Italian Wine Dinner

It all began when my friend, Beth, found another great wine - this time; Italian wine - to share with us wine lover girlfriends. Her invitation couldn't have been any better.. She stated, "how about puttanesca and wine at my house?"

Long story short, the moms, the boys, and Joe, Beth's lots-of-fun (and sweet) husband, we all got together and enjoyed her delicious home-cooked pasta puttanesca. The sauce was loaded with black olives, capers, chili peppers, anchovies, tomatoes, and garlics. With the final touch of chopped parsley, it was served with al dente spaghetti. The dish was a perfect marriage of tangy, spicy, and salty flavors - as well as the garlics' fragrance.

The highlight; the wine.. Falesco Sangiovese 2007 Umbria. ... Now I've learned why she bought them by a case! And I believe I've found my new favorite. This 100% Sangiovese is intense and bright ruby red in color, with aromas of ripe cherry and strawberry. I love the great balance between fruit and acidity, as well as the slightly spicy notes on the finish. Its full-bodied and beautiful texture is a perfect pair with Italian dishes. And I am sure it's great enjoyed alone by the glass!

Our dinner was also served with crusty bread, prosciutto, and roasted garlic. I always love roasted garlic. I mashed it up and ate it plain on bread, it's so sweet, creamy, and delicious! Lynne brought a refreshingly beautiful salad - very lovely with the raspberries - which went so well with pasta. The meal ended with cherry pies, from Grand Traverse Pie Company, together with vanilla ice cream, and nice cups of coffee. Nothing could beat that..

And the end of the evening was even more fun for the boys when Joe started making fire, ... for them to gather around. Great dinner and perfect companies - well.. almost, except that we were missing one girlfriend and her boy. Sounded like a good excuse to plan the next gathering anytime soon!