Italian Lunch

Lunch and Dinner in Italy are religious rituals.  Many businesses still close down during the lunch hours (yes, hourS), and it's not uncommon to see locals eating 4 course meals in the middle of the day.  I have no idea how they get any work done afterwards!  While I admire this mid-day hedonism, I rarely eat a huge lunch.  In fact, one can quite often use a single course, priced appropriately for those seeking to order more than two, as a filling meal at a reasonable price.  We regularly had lunch for the both of us, including water and the ubiquitous bread & cover charge for under 10 euro.  If we were presented with a unique opportunity, however, we'd certainly splurge and get a huge lunch, as we did one day during a day trip to Verona.  

Wanting to get out of tourist-infested Venice during the day, we hopped on an hour long train ride to Verona.  Multiple people suggested this beautiful city as a great destination not overrun with tourists.  While it’s not entirely un-touristy, it seems more like a destination that Italians visit.  English was rarely heard.

 The city was quaint, historic, beautiful, and full of great food and beautiful sights.   The inherent problem in seeking out a specific restaurant surely reared its head on this day.  We looked up two highly recommended spots on Trip Advisor and set off from the train station to find one of them.  Of course, the first one was closed, so we tried to find the second.  Naturally, we were unable to find the second, and the severe hunger set in.  At this point, we’re in scramble mode to get some food in our stomachs, but still have the best meal possible.

We settled on a place that had a good-looking menu with very reasonable prices.  As the odds would have it, they were rated something like 263^rd on Trip Advisor for Verona.  One of the best features of the menu was the extensive crostini tapas section.  Each crostini was 1-2 euro and featured what seemed like an infinite amount of options.   

 

The first plate we had featured the caprese, stilton cheese and local honey, and bacalao mantecato.  The caprese was delicious, but simple and easy.  The stilton with honey was phenomenal (honey and cheese combos are a lesser known specialty of Italy) with the pungency of the cheese blending perfectly with the flavorful local honey (Italian honey is usually more pungent than types we’re used to).  The bacalao mantecato is a regional specialty and is simply whipped up salt cod.  It tasted a bit like a tuna fish spread and while very traditional, it wasn’t my favorite thing in the world.  

 

Since it's vacation and I'm only going to be in Verona for a few hours, I had to sample a few of the region's renowned wines.  Compared to a typical Chianti or other similar Italian wines, these had a sweeter, less acidic, and more full bodied flavor.  Needless to say, I loved them.  You could also buy 3 different sized portions served in these gargantuan glasses or an entire bottle.  I absolutely LOVE the options you have when it comes to portion control in Europe.  I was able to have two reasonably sized tastes of high quality for a very reasonable couple of euro each.   

 

For my main course, I got pasta fagioli, a bean and pasta soup that I’ve eaten a million times before (and love), but have never had anywhere near this style.   The region of Venetto invented this dish, and this restaurant surely did it justice.  It was so damn savory.  This was one of the meals that justify the 10 hour flight across the Atlantic.  It somehow makes you weak at the knees even when you’re sitting down. 

 

More crostini were in order so we decided on truffle spread with brie and red pepper, Gorgonzola cheese with pear jam, and salami.  The hands-down winner of this trio was the Gorgonzola and pear jam.  The two flavors blended like poetry, offering up sharp and sweet at the same time.  All in all, this meal knocked it out of the park, and if we were to believe Trip Advisor, we should have eaten at 262 other restaurants before this one. Also, for a large bottle of water, two glasses of wine, 6 crostini, two meals, bread and cover charge, it was under 30 euro.  In my opinion, that's a bargain.

 

Verona had more of the traditional Italian café’s and specialty shops that we’ve seen in Rome and Florence.  We happened upon a gorgeous little store where we bought a bottle of wine from Verona (which turned out to be excellent), 2 jars of local honey, and this assortment of little pastries for roughly 1 euro each.  I love how you’re able to buy many tastes for relatively little money and in reasonably sized portions. 

{Stay tuned for dining in Venice!}