Salumeria Rosi

I have recently just returned from spending two weeks in Italy. I completely indulged in the glorious food and wine the country had to offer, and so you can imagine my disappointment when I returned to JFK and saw the abundance of McDonalds and Subways lining my way to arrivals. However, as sad as I am not to be walking through the villages of Tuscany and enjoying a glass of wine and antipasti with a view of the Mediterranean- all is not lost thanks to the Salumeria Rosi Parmacotta. Italian restaurants are not scarce in New York City, perhaps they are even as common as a Starbucks, however the authenticity of Italian food is harder to find. With the restaurant having a location in Parma, Italy which is famous for Prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano Reggiano, you can be assured you will be truly having a taste of Italy in their wines, meats and cheeses. It is not just the food that makes this restaurant authentic – it is the atmosphere, decor and dining experience. Salumeria Rosi has really captured the essence and style of a cute, rustic, deli and wine bar. It is small, warm and inviting, with a strong, enticing smell wafting from the kitchen. The deep reds and colorful displays of all the meat and produce will take you out of New York, and transports you to Under The Tuscan Sun. This restaurant does not do over-indulgent ‘Super Size’ plates. In fact, it is much more the place to go to taste and try new flavors, new foods and have several small plates. The restaurant really urges you to explore their entire menu and make selections from meat, cheese, pastas, and other delights. My favorite touch on the menu is how they phonetically spell out the Italian names of the meats, dishes, etc so you can order with a perfect Italian pronunciation! The Chef, Cesare Casella, is not only a wonder in the kitchen, a true-blooded Italian and the dean of the Italian Culinary Academy at the International Culinary Center, he also is involved in many charities. I urge you all to go to this little slice of Tuscan Heaven and if you love it there as much as I do, you will be happy to know that you can get your daily meats from there as well to take home and share! Buon Appetito! Salumeria Rosi Pamacotta 283 Amsterdam Ave (nr. 73rd St.) New York, NY 10023 Ph. 212-877-4800

Branzino De Pietro!

Last night my beautiful fiancee made me the most delicious meal. If you have been reading my previous blogs you may remember me talking about a restaurant on the Upper East Side, called Bella Blu, and how much I love their signature Branzini Special.
Well,for less than $20 you can make it at home. It was so amazing I had to share it.

You will need:

1 or 2 whole branzini fish
potatoes
rosemary
cherry tomatoes
olive oil
salt & pepper

First start by gutting your fish. If you're squeamish get someone else to do it, as scooping out guts is not so appetizing.

Then preheat the oven to 320degrees and while its heating up peel the potatoes and cut them into bite size pieces. Put them on a baking try, cover them in Olive Oil - Sogno Toscano is the best ;) - season and a add a few sprigs of rosemary. Put them in the oven and leave for 25 minutes.

Now cut the cherry tomatoes in half. Place the branzino on a large sheet of aluminium foil, stuffing it with lemon and rosemary, and place some of the tomatoes around the fish. Wrap the contents in the aluminium foil but leaving it open at the top. Place this in the middle of the baking tray of potatoes and add some of the cherry tomatoes to the potatoes.

Now turn the oven to 360 and leave for a further 25mins.

To tell if the fish is ready you should be able to easily scrape back the silver skin and the fish meat should be pure white.

Now take out the fish meat out and place on a plate with the potatoes and tomatoes. Squeeze some lemon, salt and pepper all over the fish.

Easy! And no meal is complete without some good wine. We drank this Chardonnay which tasted amazing and was only $16!

A delicious, easy, healthy meal that in my opinion, is sometimes much better enjoyed at home with your loved ones than spending money in a fancy restaurant!

Plane Shame

I am currently writing this blog on the plane from New York to Arizona. The flight is a grueling 5 hours, so I was trying to get as much writing done as possible. However, this idea for a blog kept coming to me throughout the day, so more pressing work is going to have to wait.

Before I fly I am always incredibly nervous so I tend to not eat anything. However, once I got through security, an hour before my flight at 8pm, I was starving. It was at this point that I got to thinking about the disastrous cuisine options at airports and on the planes themselves. I stand in the middle of Terminal 5 and look around me: Cheeseburgers, Philly Cheesesteaks, Dunkin’ Donuts, Famiglia. The only options are crappy, fatty, foods that are the last thing I think anyone should eat before they fly in a crowded plane and sit for hours on end. Yuck. All I wanted was something light and healthy, clean and fresh. Like a nice salad. But no, that’s a big mistake too. Have you ever stayed at one of those airport hotels, like Premier or Holiday Inn? And they offer a ‘gourmet chefs salad’? And the salad comes and its rubbery, leaves a terrible after taste and is the furthest state possible from being fresh. That is what I dub as “Plane Salad”, whether it is served on board an aircraft or not. It’s so inedible that even my greedy Springer spaniel wouldn’t touch it.

I don’t understand why the food is this way. Especially at airports like JFK and Newark who pride themselves on being so superior. Just because I am not spending thousands of dollars on a first class ticket doesn’t mean I don’t deserve some fine dining. I have never been lucky enough to experience first class but I have heard the cuisine upfront is much finer than the crap they serve us back in coach… Not all of us back there are redneck, hillbillies that just live off junk food and artery blocking snacks. And look at Heathrow – British people are stereotypically judged as not having a special culture of food, but Heathrow have a variety of restaurants – plus a champagne and caviar bar for god’s sake!

I actually asked the flight attendant on board why there are no healthy food options, and she said that on International Flights there are always vegetables on the side. Yes, vegetables that are wimpy and pathetic straight from a tin can.


What I am basically saying is; Plane Food = Shit Food. And what with this huge big concern of the nations health… no smoking in public places (still not over that), etc…. it is about time something is done about it. No wonder fat people have to buy two seats now; they probably get to the airport hours early to pig out on all the junk food, getting rid of their conscience by claiming they are on “vacation”.

Maybe that’s a tad harsh… but I sitting here between two terribly large men, both of who are gushing back beer and cheese puffs, I have a stomach ache after trying Jet Blue’s attempt to be gourmet – Turkey and Smoked Gouda Bites (in reality: processed turkey and cheese whip) – and I still have 3 more hours to go. I hate flying. And I hate bad food.