Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Robert St. John: All Roads Lead to Rome, They Really Do

 If 2022 had a personal theme created specifically for me, it would be decorated in the green, white, and red of the Italian flag, have Louis Prima music playing in the background, as pasta was served, while I was packing a suitcase. It’s certainly been an Italio-centric year for me. I spent six weeks working over here in the spring, spent the interim months preparing to open— and opened— an Italian restaurant, and I’m back over here working for the next six weeks.

I’m a restaurateur by trade, but I also split time as an author, columnist, television/documentary producer, cook, and a tour host. It’s the tour host gig that keeps bringing me back to Europe. These days I spend approximately three months over here touring guests through different European regions. It’s mostly Italy, but we covered Spain earlier this year and will return to the Iberian Peninsula next spring in addition to more Italian locales, Holland, and Belgium.

 

This tour covers Rome, the Amalfi Coast, and Naples. We’re heading into our third day in Rome and will cover a lot of ground today and tomorrow before heading down to the Amalfi Coast, with a stop at the small, remote farm of an Italian chef, and a meaningful visit to the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery near Anzio.




 

This tour hosting occupation happened organically and has taken off as a true side gig. There is something deep inside me that loves turning people on to people, places, and food. I’ve been that way since I was a kid. I love it. 

 

Several of the people who are traveling with me this week have travelled with me before, most in Tuscany. Almost all of them booked this tour in 2019 and have been patiently waiting for the pandemic fog to clear for three years. One of the things that keeps me in the tour hosting game is that so many people return and travel with me. The Spain trip earlier this year was filled with people who were traveling with me for their fourth or fifth time. Next year’s Spain trip and Holland-Belgium trips filled in a little more than an hour. I must be doing something right.

 

On our first full day in Rome and we spent the afternoon riding through the city in golf carts. When my friend and co-tour organizer, Jesse Marinus proposed the idea of weaving through the streets of Rome in golf carts back in 2018, I scoffed. It sounded dangerous. But he lives here, so I trusted him. It was a blast. So, we re-upped and did it again. It is the perfect way to see so much of the city in a short amount of time. Golf carts can reach places buses and vans could never travel. No accidents. No one needed an Italian mulligan.

 

We ended the evening on a progressive dinner through the Jewish Ghetto, Tiber Island, and the Trastevere neighborhood where we ate our primi and secondi with Irene at her trattoria, Al Drago. It was my third time to eat there, and each time was better than the one before. The place is straight out of central casting and was hopping on a bustling Saturday night.

 

The entire city was alive. I feel blessed to have been able to spend time in almost all the major European cities, but there’s something about Rome on a Saturday night that bests them all. There’s a youthful energy in Rome at night, it’s different than other Italian cities. Venice is quiet at night, Milan feels very cosmopolitan, Florence is peaceful but with measured merrymaking, Naples is hectic, and Palermo is edgy. Rome is buzzing with an energy entirely its own.

 

Though early weekday mornings are cool and peaceful in this Italian capital. I’m not sure if there is another city on earth with the depth and breadth of history— over thousands of years— that Rome possess. It’s everywhere. This is only my fourth week, over the past decade, to spend in the city, but there is something that has finally connected with me, here. 

 

I was a little frustrated with the lack of bakeries in the Monti neighborhood on the first two mornings, but this morning I took a short, 25-minute walk to the Roscioli Bakery. It’s a place I’ve wanted to visit for several years. I have the cookbook but had never visited the bakery. I got there 30 minutes before it opened and just watched through the window on the street as the bakery team carried out their pre-opening duties. There were only a couple of people waiting with me, but one can tell that they do a brisk business. It’s a world-class bakery of the first order and is responsible for me not leaving this city with a negative impression of Roman morning offerings.

 

I try to cover all the bases on these tours. Yesterday we ate lunch with the Sacci family in the restaurant they’ve been operating over 50 years. Dinner was with my friend, Luca Issa at his renowned pizzeria, Piccolo Buco. 

 

Luca started in the restaurant business with his family in a small trattoria. My family met him and dined there in 2011. He eventually broke off and started a pizzeria that took the simple Italian pies to another level. He sourced 17 olive oils from different locales all over the country and each one was paired with a specific pizza. All the ingredients were painstakingly local, and the organic buffalo mozzarella is delivered daily from a farm just outside of town. It’s truly pizza perfection. I have probably sent over 100 people there over the past decade and no one has left disappointed. The line is always long, but Luca— who possesses the hospitality gene in spades, and runs his small dining room like the maître d of a three-star establishment— gave us the entire restaurant for two hours. It was perfect.

 

We head south tomorrow. I have five more days of doing what I love to do— turning people on to things I have discovered. When one is doing that on the Amalfi Coast, the job is made so much easier— just sit back and let the sea do all the work.

 

Onward.




Chicken Meatballs


2 lb.                 Ricotta cheese
2 lb.                 Ground chicken, chilled
3 each              Whole large eggs
2 cup               Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
2 TB                Kosher salt
1 tsp                Fresh ground black pepper
All-purpose flour as needed.

Wrap the ricotta cheese in cheesecloth and place in a strainer set over a bowl. Weight the cheese with a couple bowls and refrigerate overnight to drain the excess water.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the drained ricotta with the chicken, eggs, grated cheese, salt and pepper using your hands. Mix thoroughly until completely smooth, about 4-5 minutes.

Form into 2 ½ oz. meatballs. Lightly coat each meatball in flour and transfer to a lightly floured baking pan. Place meatballs in the refrigerator to set for at least 4 hours or overnight. They may also be frozen at this point. 

Place a large skillet on medium-high heat and pour enough olive oil to just cover the bottom of the pan. Dust the meatballs one more time in flour. Brown the outside of the meatballs, being careful not to burn them. Place on paper towels to drain excess oil and fat. At this point, they may be held under refrigeration for 4 days or frozen for 3 months.

If serving immediately, add 4 cups of Marinara (recipe xxx) and simmer until meatballs are completely cooked to an internal temperature of 160, about 30-45 minutes.

 Yield: 18 2 ½ oz. meatballs

 

 

4 comments:

Stuff About ZeroBear PolyBear said...

Rome someday, hopefully

Butternut Squash and Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic Dressing


https://imgur.com/V1KHNRJ


Ingredients:

2cups cubed Butternut squash
14-16 fresh Brussels sprouts
4-6 slices bacon
1/2 cup Craisins
1/4 cup roasted/salted sunflower seed
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Peel and cube squash. Trim and cut b-sprouts into halves

Cook and break bacon into pieces

Lightly coat squash with vegetable oil, salt and black pepper.

Place on roasting sheet in a single layer. Roast at 400 degrees F for 20 minutes, until fork tender.

Place B-sprouts face down into a lightly oiled sauté pan and cook with medium heat and 1 Tablespoon water, with lid, until lightly browned. Place sauté pan into oven and cook at 400 degrees F for 5 minutes, until fork tender

Place, sprouts, squash, craisins, and sunflower seed into serving bowel.

Dress with balsamic vinegar and serve.

Anonymous said...

Thank you Zero! Your brussel sprouts sound amazing.
Im saving that one!

Anonymous said...

Omnia via ad Romam- something like that-

Anonymous said...

Brussels sprouts suck!


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Trollfest '07 was such a success that Jackson Jambalaya will once again host Trollfest '09. Catch this great event which will leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Othor Cain and his band, The Black Power Structure headline the night while Sonjay Poontang returns for an encore performance. Former Frank Melton bodyguard Marcus Wright makes his premier appearance at Trollfest singing "I'm a Sweet Transvestite" from "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Kamikaze will sing his new hit, “How I sold out to da Man.” Robbie Bell again performs: “Mamas, don't let your babies grow up to be Bells” and “Any friend of Ed Peters is a friend of mine”. After the show, Ms. Bell will autograph copies of her mug shot photos. In a salute to “Dancing with the Stars”, Ms. Bell and Hinds County District Attorney Robert Smith will dance the Wango Tango.

Wrestling returns, except this time it will be a Battle Royal with Othor Cain, Ben Allen, Kim Wade, Haley Fisackerly, Alan Lange, and “Big Cat” Donna Ladd all in the ring at the same time. The Battle Royal will be in a steel cage, no time limit, no referee, and the losers must leave town. Marshand Crisler will be the honorary referee (as it gives him a title without actually having to do anything).


Meet KIM Waaaaaade at the Entergy Tent. For five pesos, Kim will sell you a chance to win a deed to a crack house on Ridgeway Street stuffed in the Howard Industries pinata. Don't worry if the pinata is beaten to shreds, as Mr. Wade has Jose, Emmanuel, and Carlos, all illegal immigrants, available as replacements for the it. Upon leaving the Entergy tent, fig leaves will be available in case Entergy literally takes everything you have as part of its Trollfest ticket price adjustment charge.

Donna Ladd of The Jackson Free Press will give several classes on learning how to write. Smearing, writing without factchecking, and reporting only one side of a story will be covered. A donation to pay their taxes will be accepted and she will be signing copies of their former federal tax liens. Ms. Ladd will give a dramatic reading of her two award-winning essays (They received The Jackson Free Press "Best Of" awards.) "Why everything is always about me" and "Why I cover murders better than anyone else in Jackson".

In the spirit of helping those who are less fortunate, Trollfest '09 adopts a cause for which a portion of the proceeds and donations will be donated: Keeping Frank Melton in his home. The “Keep Frank Melton From Being Homeless” booth will sell chances for five dollars to pin the tail on the jackass. John Reeves has graciously volunteered to be the jackass for this honorable excursion into saving Frank's ass. What's an ass between two friends after all? If Mr. Reeves is unable to um, perform, Speaker Billy McCoy has also volunteered as when the word “jackass” was mentioned he immediately ran as fast as he could to sign up.


In order to help clean up the legal profession, Adam Kilgore of the Mississippi Bar will be giving away free, round-trip plane tickets to the North Pole where they keep their bar complaint forms (which are NOT available online). If you don't want to go to the North Pole, you can enjoy Brant Brantley's (of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance) free guided tours of the quicksand field over by High Street where all complaints against judges disappear. If for some reason you are unable to control yourself, never fear; Judge Houston Patton will operate his jail where no lawyers are needed or allowed as you just sit there for minutes... hours.... months...years until he decides he is tired of you sitting in his jail. Do not think Judge Patton is a bad judge however as he plans to serve free Mad Dog 20/20 to all inmates.

Trollfest '09 is a pet-friendly event as well. Feel free to bring your dog with you and do not worry if your pet gets hungry, as employees of the Jackson Zoo will be on hand to provide some of their animals as food when it gets to be feeding time for your little loved one.

Relax at the Fox News Tent. Since there are only three blonde reporters in Jackson (being blonde is a requirement for working at Fox News), Megan and Kathryn from WAPT and Wendy from WLBT will be on loan to Fox. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both and a torn-up Obama yard sign will entitle you to free drinks served by Megan, Wendy, and Kathryn. Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required. Just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '09 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.


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Trollfest '07

Jackson Jambalaya is the home of Trollfest '07. Catch this great event which promises to leave NE Jackson & Fondren in flames. Sonjay Poontang and his band headline the night with a special steel cage, no time limit "loser must leave town" bout between Alan Lange and "Big Cat"Donna Ladd following afterwards. Kamikaze will perform his new song F*** Bush, he's still a _____. Did I mention there was no referee? Dr. Heddy Matthias and Lori Gregory will face off in the undercard dueling with dangling participles and other um, devices. Robbie Bell will perform Her two latest songs: My Best Friends are in the Media and Mama's, Don't Let Your Babies Grow up to be George Bell. Sid Salter of The Clarion-Ledger will host "Pin the Tail on the Trial Lawyer", sponsored by State Farm.

There will be a hugging booth where in exchange for your young son, Frank Melton will give you a loooong hug. Trollfest will have a dunking booth where Muhammed the terrorist will curse you to Allah as you try to hit a target that will drop him into a vat of pig grease. However, in the true spirit of Separate But Equal, Don Imus and someone from NE Jackson will also sit in the dunking booth for an equal amount of time. Tom Head will give a reading for two hours on why he can't figure out who the hell he is. Cliff Cargill will give lessons with his .80 caliber desert eagle, using Frank Melton photos as targets. Tackleberry will be on hand for an autograph session. KIM Waaaaaade will be passing out free titles and deeds to crackhouses formerly owned by The Wood Street Players.

If you get tired come relax at the Fox News Tent. To gain admittance to the VIP section, bring either your Republican Party ID card or a Rebel Flag. Bringing both will entitle you to free drinks.Get your tickets now. Since this is an event for trolls, no ID is required, just bring the hate. Bring the family, Trollfest '07 is for EVERYONE!!!

This is definitely a Beaver production.

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