Veritasty: Truthfully Delicious

Ciao amici! Yesterday we felt the warm hospitality of Italy at the Ospitalita'Italiana: The Authentic Italian Table.  The event was hosted by the Italy-America Chamber of Commerce at the Metropolitan Pavilion.  We had an amazing and classy evening and we got to witness all the best of Italian culture all in one room without having to hop on a plane. When we entered, the first thing I saw was a dimly lit room full of beautiful and beautifully dressed people.  Certainly check the box off for handsome Italian men in suits.  I wasn't too  badly under-dressed, but it had been raining and I looked so silly clomping around in my rainboots.  People were clinking glasses and double-cheek-kissing all around.  It all felt so Italian! I got to sit on a Vespa, so that was fun! Then, we quickly made a beeline for the food, of course!  Imagine if you will all your favorite dishes in Italian cuisine, and chances were they were served at The Authent...

Today, I had a beautiful lunch at Otto Enoteca Pizzeria and it made me realize and appreciate how life-changing good Italian food can be.   In pictures ripped from my Instagram: We had a few cheeses to start, accompanied by my favorite truffle honey .  Gladly, no one else in my dining party was such a fan, so I hogged the whole dish and proceeded to drizzle it on absolutely everything!  I had a delicious arugula prosciutto pizza, which oddly means I had pizza a grand total of four times this week (and lasagna twice more...YOLO).  In hindsight, I'm in awe of the fact that I had Italian food so frequently this week by some random coincidences, but it's all been delizioso . Posts from our other Italian eating adventures to come!

Where I work, we have a sister office around the block and their staff orders lunch from Lioni’s every week.  The result is a giant cardboard box of foot-long logs wrapped in white paper.  Lioni’s is an Italian specialty store in Bensonhurst (i.e. my neighborhood) that is famous for mozzarella di bufala and prosciutto, not to mention its literally hundreds of heroes.  Once, I was about to throw in an order for a sandwich for lunch, but reading the menu took way too long so I missed the opportunity. How can you have hundreds of items on a menu?  Their heroes are named after Italian and Italian-American celebrities and contain endless permutations and combinations of toppings.  At a glance, the toppings include prosciutto di Parma, mozzarella di bufala (imported from Italy), roast beef, cappicolla, mortadella, salami, turkey, ham, bologna, sweet and hot Italian sausages, pepperoni, roasted peppers, olives, chicken and veal cutlets….  Hundreds, I’m tell...

Hey.  Hey guys.  We're going to let you in on a really great secret.  Can't get reservations for Valentine's Day dinner next Tuesday?  Forget that.  You and your hunny should check out Saluggi's in Tribeca.  We had dinner there last night and I'm still craving their food (and Alex is still eating their food; more on that later). When I first walked into the place, I thought we were having dinner at a run-of-the-mill pizzeria.  It's fairly dark inside, but its bare brick walls are illuminated by a neon pink scripty sign of "Saluggi's NYC".  At the back, the kitchen and bar were pretty open, but it was a little odd looking, since the dining area seemed to blend seamlessly into the waitstaff's prep area and kitchen....  They don't earn too many points for decor in my book, save for an interesting painting of a subway car facing me, but their food makes up for that. Everything on their menu sounded delicious, and was moderately pric...

Morris Panini Sometimes I really love Groupon, Living Social, and the like. One great deal we got was to Milux Cafe, a little place off the beaten track in Soho. The decor inside is eclectic and recalls a cafe in Italy: dark creaky hardwood floors, mismatched furniture, and the heavy smell of roasted coffee hanging in the air.  Specifically, it reminded me of a cafe we visited on our trip to Milan; we popped into a hole-in-the-wall kind of cafe and I had a delicious sandwich of some cold cut and some cheese on some bread.  I find the simplicity of foods is sometimes what makes certain meals so memorable. Golden Panini If we had not had our coupon, I would judge Milux Cafe to be on the expensive side.  They specialize in panini (~$9) and smoothies/shakes (~$6).  Alex had a turkey-smoked mozzarella panini with a vanilla-gelato-orange milkshake (Creamsicle!!) and I had a prosciutto-mozzarella panini with a strawberry-banana-mango smoothie...