sandra3120

CPG - it is a copied portion of one of Zeppole's answers to me regarding how she came to move to Italy from the US, which I completely misunderstood apparently: I thought she meant that Franco also was an ex-pat, but apparently he is not from his answer to me just above.

You see - it wasn't even worth the explanation! Sorry again.

Sandra

franco

Ok, after all this wonderful off-topic posting, I'm showing active repentance and go back to Tuscany. Centralparkgirl, you're going to have one night in Pisa, too, and you'll need a meal there... so here comes another restaurant recommendation! THE place to eat traditional Pisan fare is Trattoria S. Omobono, on Piazza S. Omobono, 6 (whether the trattoria has been named after the piazza or the piazza after the trattoria is still not clear - just kidding), tel. 050-540847, no website, reservations strongly recommended. They have that gorgeous Pisan pasta dish on their menu (remember what I said above: Pisa has a traditional pasta type called brachette), brachette alla renaiola, i.e. with a puree of cime di rapa (broccoli rabe) and smoked fish. A memorable dish indeed! Pisa is also quite strong on baccalà (salted cod), so that's a possible secondo there.

zeppole

If you still haven't picked a place to stay in Pisa, I just came across the fascinating information that the historic Caffe dell'Ussero in the Palazzo Agostino along the Arno lets out rooms above the caffe.

http://www.ussero.com/inglese/default.php

The family also has a villa accommodation in San Giuliano Terme, a stone's throw from Pisa

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT

http://www.ussero.com/corliano/inglese/photo.php

http://www.ussero.com/corliano/inglese/default.php

zeppole

PS, Centralparkgirl, if you book the rooms above the Caffe dell'Ussero, check in time is 6pm (but I bet they let you leave your bags behind the bar if you want to go off and tour the monuments).

Centralparkgirl

zeppole - this looks great. I haven't formalized anything yet. I'm leaving for California on Tuesday and I've totally neglected that trip (except for hotels and restaurants, of course!).

I'm an ex-pat too. Born and raised in Brooklyn, but living in Manhattan for the last 30 years. Where I come from, it's the same thing! You can take the girl out of B'klyn, but...........

zeppole

I can't remember if I was born in B'klyn or Queens, but I spent a huge chunk of my life in California. But I have almost never stayed in hotels there except in the desert. Hope the weather is cool -- or warm if you are headed to SF!

sap

"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco." ~(falsely attributed to Mark Twain)

Actually, it's pretty darn nice here right now Centralparkgirl. Hope you have a great time.

Centralparkgirl

Thanks sap.

We're going to SF and Sonoma. Zeppole, I'm looking forward to cool weather after the heat and humidity that we've been suffering with here. It's been like a sauna! You must find out where you were born - very, very important!

zeppole

Really? I don't think so.

Centralparkgirl

It was meant purely out of your own curiosity - nothing more.

zeppole

I think I have a general idea. I just can't remember when my parents moved from B'klyn to Queens, and whether I was born yet. I could ask my mother. No doubt she remembers! Have a nice time in SF. I hear the museums there have gotten better since when I lived there.

Centralparkgirl

This is my 4th trip in two years, but I had never been to SF before that. So, I'm not familiar with museums there before then. This is a very short trip (really to see my son), but I will get to the De Young to see the Birth of Impressionism: Masterpieces of the Musee d'Orsay exhibit and a companion exhibit at the Legion of Honor, Impressionist Paris: City of Light. I'm looking forward to it. SF is such a great city to visit!

sap

Centralparkgirl: Please let us know what you think about the museum exhibits. My 20-year-old daughter and her boyfriend just went to the De Young's Impressionism exhibit, but they were not terribly. . . um . . . "impressed," even though she's a big art fan. It would be nice to get an adult perspective, though. I was thinking about going, but may hold off as I'll be at the d'Orsay next June when they are all back home in Paris following the renovation.

Sorry to hijack the Italy thread with SF stuff, but at least you're the OP!

Centralparkgirl

sap - Sure. I'll be back on 8/2 and hopefully write a TR. I wish I could see the next special exhibit at the De Young - I think on post-impressionism, but I don't expect to get back then. Do you know that if you go to the De Young or the Legion of Honor, you get free admission to the other on the same day? That's what we're doing, but I would probably never go to two on the same day at home......the energy of a tourist!

macdogmom

Make sure when you go to the DeYoung you go up the tower for a amazing 360 degree view of the city. Really wonderful.

remdog99

Well, Franco, I was in the neighborhood, heading from montalcino to cinque terre, and was so intrigued by your review of La Tagliola that we just had to. So we did. It was a 40 min detour for us, and we almost didn’t find it. For those who venture to it in the future (and you should!), you first go to the town of Arcidosso, and then follow the signs at the roundabout for il bagnoli. About a 2 min drive later, you will find yourself in the small hamlet of il bagnoli. Just look for the resto, it’s hard to miss given the small size of the town. We walked in and were immediately enchanted by the large open pit hardwood grill, where the owner was grilling at any given time massive t-bone steaks, veal scaloppini, sausages, or huge strips of bacon, all local. We waited for a menu for a few minutes, but never got one, then the waitress, who appeared to be the owners wife, came with her pen and notepad and told us the menu (in Italian of course). We chose from what we understood, which was the mushroom soup (loaded with porcinis and topped with crushed chestnuts, both from the local surrounding forest) and crostini antipasto for starters. The antipasto was glorious, and the soup even more so. Then out of nowhere appeared another bowl of soup which we understood came as a suggestion from our waitress, a leek soup (which we later found out from the cook from Boston that it had fresh clams cut up in it—unique and deelish!).

We were full at this point, so as you would expect in Italy while on vacation, we succumbed to the secondi—we wanted the veal scallopini from the grill but apparently we were misunderstood and ended up with a massive t-bone, cut up for us into about 10 healthy slices. Grilled with nothing but salt on either side, it was incredibly tender and oh so juicy. I actually got more of an appetite for it as I had each bite. We also ordered fried mushrooms as a contorno—expecting mushrooms fried in butter or the like, they turned out to be breaded porcini’s (we suspect the breading was some kind of chickpea or semola-based batter) and then fried. Really good!

Rounded out with an insalata verde topped with Franci olive oil (the BEST olive oil in Italy), a couple of espressos and chocolate mousse, we were more than stuffed but with no regrets! As we wondered what the bill would be, our guess was pretty much right on at 41 euro. Incredible value in our opinion (we’re from Montreal, so the total in CAD was around $55, all in).

As lunch hour wound down, a woman who had been cooking emerged from the kitchen and asked us if we spoke English, in English. And it was then we learned she was from Boston and was helping them out here for a while until she opens her own resto (which she said would be Spanish tapas since all the other resto’s around serve the same Tuscan menu). She has been a chef for 35 years and owns 2 resto’s in Boston, one of which is called Punicella. We learned from her that the meats we ate as well as all the meats being grilled were all hand cut by the grillmaster himself, and all from local farms.

Worth the detour? You betcha!

Trattoria La Tagliola
(0564) 967351
Bagnoli di Arcidosso (Gr)
Closed Mondays

franco

remdog, I'm glad you enjoyed the experience. Their local breed of beef is, as I said, most probably the best beef I ever had in my life.