TRAVAGLINI GATTINARA DINNER TASTING NEW YORK

TASTY PIZZA And GREAT GATTINARA

DINNER PRIVATE WINE TATSING With CINZIA TRAVAGLINI at GUGINO

We drank, we ate, whe talked we enjoyed .. A private tasting dinner with Cinzia Travaglini. Actually I thought there were going to be more people. Basically it was just me and Cinzia Travaglini tasting me on Travaglini’s current vintages of fine wines. We were joined by ANtonio from Palm Bay, Travaglini’s Importer, and then when we were finished eating, Chef Luigi joined our table as well. Cinzia started us out with her Nebbiolo Coste Della Sesia .. Travaglini is the unquestionable King of Gattinara, a small zone in northern Peidmonte .. The zone is only about 200 acres of which Travaglini comprises have of the entire zone. Gattinara is made mostly of Nebbiolo at 90 to 100% .. Gattinara may have up to 10% of Bonarda and Vespolina grapes, but all of the Travaglini Gattinara wines are made of 100% Nebbiolo … Travaglini are Kings of Nebbiolo of which about 97% of their entire vineyards are planted to the grape, along with a very small amount of Uva Rara, Bonarda, and Vespolina .. Yes they are masters of Nebbiolo of which they have been growing since the 1920’s …

So Nenniolo and Gattinara are the thing of Travaglini .. They are the biggest as well as the most famous Gattinara with their signature Trademarked Gattinara Bottle .. OK, so we started out with the Nebbiolo Coste della Sesia which blew my mind. I absolutely loved the wine. It was in perfect balance, full of flavor, yet light in weight, the perfect combination in an Italian Wine which are among the most food friendly wines in the world. And that’s what we were doing, food and wine, and yes friendliness too. This wine Coste della Sesia was an absolute marvel of a wine, that is very reasonably price and half to a third the price of the Travaglini Gattinara’s which are at their price points quite reasonable for wines of the highest of quality. This is thought of as an entry level wine, but it is anything but. Yes I loved this wine that was perfectly in balance in flavor, tannic and acidic elements along with the correct weight and wonderful flavor of ripe berry fruits with a nice twinge of licorice, just lovely. Cinzia poured me just a little, but it was so good I had to ask for a little more, and then more a thrid and forth time. That’s when you know a wine is good.

After the lovely Nebbiolo we moved on to the Gattinara’s, thee wine of Travaglini .. We ordered some grilled Clamari and a Pizza Margherita and Chef Luigi sent us some special bread and a platter of Salumi. We all flipped for the Pizza which we all thought was the equal of the finest Pizza from Napoli “The Pizza Capital of The World.” Well after all Chef Luigi is from Positano in the area near Naples on the gorgeous Amalfi Coast. We drank the Gattinara 2007 which as well as the Nebbiolo before was absolutely wonderful and a wine in perfect balance. Just delisous. It was then on to the Gattinara Riserva 2006, another winner, and then a very special and rare wine.

The special rare wine in question was il Sogno, which was a special project created by Cinzia’s father Giancarlo Travaglini in 2004 … Giancarlo wanted to make a dry table wine using the appassimento method of drying grapes before the fermentation process as with the famed wines of Amarone and the lesser known Sforvato of Lombardia. Giancarlo picked some of his best Nebbiolo Grapes and set them out to dry on matts. Unfortunately Giancarlo passed away in November of 20024 when the grapes had only been drying for 1 month. Cinzia and her winemaker husband continued the project. They finished drying thr Nebbiolo grapes, fermented them and made the wine that tey called il Sogno “The Dream.”

So Cinzia poured me a glass of il Sogno, and again my mind was blown. The wine an absolute gem had all sorts of wonderful flavors running through my mouth. It was delisious, it had power, but not too much as some big AMarone sometimes do. The wine was a delight and I’m looking forward to putting it on my own list.

We also drank the Gattinara “Tre Vigna,” The Three Vineyards .. The fruit for Tre Vigna comes from 3 very special small vineyards on the Travaglini Estate. These 3 different vineyards have different geographical vineyards on the estate and bring different characteristics to the wine to make up one complete and wonderful structure of a wine,

Travaglini Gattinara “Tre Vigne”

So we drank the fine wines from Cinzia Travaglini, we had perfect Pizza, Antipasti, followed by some wonderful Tagiatelle con Tartufo and Brasato di Manzo (Braised Beef), and finished up with some tasty desserts. It was a fine night and a dinner that along with the many wonderful private luncheons and dinners I have had over the years with some of Italy’s most prestigious winemakers, like Cinzia, I remeber them all, and I will always remember this one, absolutely Wonderful!

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

The GREAT LINEUP Of TRAVAGLINI WINES “The KINGS of GATTINARA”

La TAVOLA is Available in Paperback on AMAZON.com

Marcella Hazan Recipe Ragu Bolognese

The ESSENTIALS of CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING

by MARCELLA HAZAN is Considered by Many To Be The BIBLE of ITALIAN COOKING

RAGU BOLOGNESE

Bolognese Meat Sauce

for about 6 servings

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 tablespoons butter plus 1 tablespoon for tossing with the pasta
1/2 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup chopped celery
2/3 cup chopped carrot
3/4 pound ground beef chuck, not too lean
salt & freshly ground black pepper
1 cup whole milk [or 2 %]
Whole nutmeg for grating
1 cup dry white or red wine
1 1/2 cups canned imported Italian plum tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
1 1/4 to 1 1/2 pounds pasta
Freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano at the table

Put the oil, butter, and chopped onion in a heavy-bottomed pot and turn the heat to medium. Cook and stir until the onion is translucent. Add the celery and carrot and cook for about 2 minutes, stirring to coat the vegetables with fat.

Add the meat, a large pinch of salt, and some freshly ground pepper. Break the meat up with a fork, stir well, and cook until the meat has lost its raw color.

Add milk and let simmer gently, stirring frequently, until it has bubbled away completely. Add a tiny grating, about 1/8 teaspoon, fresh nutmeg and stir.

Add the wine and let it simmer away. When the wine has evaporated, stir in the tomatoes. When they begin to bubble, turn the heat down so that the sauce cooks at the laziest of simmers, with just an intermittent bubble breaking through to the surface. Cook, uncovered, for 3 hours, stirring from time to time. If the sauce begins to dry out, add 1/2 cup of water whenever necessary to keep it from sticking. At the end, there should be no water left, and the fat must separate from the sauce. Taste for salt.

Toss with cooked, drained pasta and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Serve freshly grated cheese at the table.

THIS RECIPE For BOLOGNESE MEAT SAUCE Is From MARCELLA HAZAN’S ESSENTIALS of CLASSIC ITALIAN COOKING Which is Considered by Many to be The BIBLE of ITALIAN COOKING, and Marcell Hazan The Julia Child of Italian Cooking .. Vey True! And this recipe for Ragu Bolognese is probably of all the great recipes published by Hazan, Ragu Bolognese the # 1 Most Popular and Loved of all …

We losted Marcella this year, the great doen of Italian Cooking passed away at age 89. Her Memeory live on in her books and her recipes like this Ragu Bolognese and every time some cooks and serves it. Bravo Marcella and R.I.P. ….

The Journal of Italian Food Wine & Travel Says That Daniel Bellino-Zwicke’s BOLOGNESE SAUCE RECIPE Is THE BEST in AMERICA “We Agree”

ESPRESSO “Italian Style”

Perfectly pulled Espresso con Crema Perfecto

BEST ITALIAN In GREENWICH VILLAGE? NOT BABBO NOT CARBONE

NOT

IT’S BAR PITTI

Yes, the best Italian restaurant in Greenwich Village is “Not” CARBONE, “Not” Babbo, and certainly not one of New York’s most “Overrated Restaurants of all, the gossly overrated Il Mulino, which is over-priced, good, but no where near to the high exaltation that those who know little of what makes a great Italian Restaurant give to it.

Greenwich Village without question is tops in New York when it comes to having a string of New York’s best of the best Italian Restaurants. There’s Babbo, the Uber Hot “Restaurant of the Moment,” CARBONE. There is Lupa, which for me and quite a number of others The Batali Bastianich’s best restaurant in New York, not Babbo, no Del Posto. Yes, we will get to Greenwich Village’s Best Italian Resataurant in a string of not only the Village, but all New York. The Best is without question Bar Pitti on 6th Avenue near Bleecker Street and smack dab right next to arch enemy # 1 Da Silvano, a restaruant the gave birth to Bar Pitti but a few years ago had a “Nasty Nasty” highly publicized break-up between former 50 /50 Partners Silvano Marchetto the creator and still owner of Da Silvan which for a number of years rained supremme as New York’s # 1 Hottest Celebrity Restaurant of all (I myself was Maitre’d there during 3 of those years). Anyway Bar Pitti for those in-the-know and those who “Know” what they are talking about, and not some Food Critic that knows just a tiny fraction of what many eithers more cable know. Really seriously under quilified people who are put into place as critics by such, supposedly reputable publications as The New York Time and New York Magazine. It’s a sin.

So yes, Bar Pitti is tops. The food is amazing. And most important, it’s consistenly amazing. The food is always the same. Same being is that dishes like Coda d’Vaccinara (Braised Oxtails) Veal Milanese, Paparadell con Sugo di Cinghiale (Wild Boar Ragu) are authenticall and perfectlly cooked and done so each and every time they are done. If you get one of these dishes or any other on the menu or one of the daily specials, it will be the same if you get it today and then 3 weeks or 3 months down the road. The cooks in that kitcehn are conssitent, consistently good, and near flawless. The food is great, the ambaince and decor quite nice and fitting to what a Italian restaurant should be and that people expect, and not over contrived over-done like some joints such as SD 26 or Georgio Armani’s new restaurant Armani Restorante, both over-done, not warm and in the spirit of a truely great Italian Restaurant and one such as Bar Pitti. Yes, wonderful decor, great food, consisitency, good service, and a super great vibe created by the clientele that frequent the spot, many of whome are in publsihing, movies, advertising, and other high profile positions.

You can talk all you want about Babbo, which is good. I have had had numerous meals there. The experience is quite nice, with a wonderful warm ambiance, excellent servic and an area that they could teach Bar Pitti a thing-or-two. They have a great wine list, although not the best Italian List in the city as those who again don’t realy know have calaimed to it. That honor goes to Barbetta on West 46th Street which is so off-the-wall great, it makes Babbo’s fine wine-list look like childs play. If you don’t beleive me, check it out. The food at Babbo is very good, but I’ve got to tell you “not always.” I’ve had a few disappointing dished there, which were barely good and far from tasty. In the 21 years I’ve been eating at Bar Pitti I’ve never had such a dish that I’ve been disappointed with the way I have a couple times at Babbo, and I never remember being blown away with any dish the way I have been blown away by Bar Pitti’s Bolito di Manzo, Braised Oxtails, Tagiatelle with Black Summer Truffles or Trippa al Parmigiano, all Awesome. Hey, it may sound like I’m knocking Babbo. I’m not. It’s just that when so many think that one place is the best, and it really isn’t and it has more praise than it deserves and has been highly exalted by people like Frank Bruni and The New York Times and other prominent entities that irrisponsibly “miss-lead” the general public that doesn’t know any better. The general public is counting on entities like the New York Times to report factually. By buying a newspaper or magazine the are paying for good information and when publications like The NY Times, Time Out and othe publications put grossly under-qualified people in position as Food Critics when they know very little, and there are hundreds who know a thousand times fold more than a NY Times Food Critic, it’s is just plain wrong.

So, yes Babbo is dam good, though higher exalted then it really deserves, it’s not as far off the mark as one horrible restaurant around the block from it. A restaurant that is so Highly Over-Rated it’s sinful. This restaurant is IL Mulino, a restaurant that has good food, not great that is way over-priced expensive, the decor is dark and horrible, and the service annoyingly mechanical. The place is a Huge Dissapointement to those who actually know what constitutes a great restaurant, and more specifically a great Italian restaurant, one such as Bar Pitti … Basta !

DBZ

by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

ITALIAN SECRET SANDWICHES

Italian-Americans love their sandwiches. They’ve got some famous ones that many non-Italians in America know of as well. Of course everyone knows about Italian Submarine Sandwiches like the most typical of Salami, Ham, and Provolone with Lettuce, Onion, and Tomato dressed with Oil & Vinegar with Salt, Pepper and Oregano. Most everyone knows about Meatball Parm Sandwiches and Sausage & Peppers. Those in New orleans and those who have visited the famed Central Grocery know of New Orleans Famous Sicilian-American Muffuletta Sandwich and those in Chicago have Italian Beef (Sandwiches), and Philly Famed Cheese-Steaks, “Yes They Are Italian.” Italian-Americans have many great sandwiches that aren’t quite as well know. And we like it that way. Hey we have to keep some things to ourselves. For example I have a famous Sandwich that my Aunt Helen taught me, and all my friends go nuts for it, “Aunt Helen’s Panini al Ovo.” The sandwich amazing! Made of spinach sauteed with olive oil and butter, with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and served on nice toasted Italian Bread, my friends go nuts for it. Sausage Pepper & Eggs or Sausage & Potato are a couple other Secret Sandwiches.

As I said my Aunt Helen’s Panini al Ovo is famous, but famous just within a small group of a few who are Lucky to know of this rare Gem. Another one, is one I created by accident one day. When I owned my restaurant Bar Cichetti on Houston Street in New York’s Greenwich Village I created this tasty sandwich by accident one day. Before we started our lunch service one day, I had made a little plate of food for myself for lunch. The plate consisted of two Fried Eggs and 3 slices of Prosciutto di Parm with a couple slices of bread on the side. It made for a nice little lunch. One of my regular customers came in and saw me eating it and asked what it was, I told him, “Just a couple Fried Eggs with Prosciutto.” He said, “Hhumm.” A few minutes later one of my waitresses came in and said the guy wanted some Prosciutto with Fried Eggs. I made it and sent it out. She cam back and said the guy wanted some Garlic Bread. I made him some Tuscan Garlic Bread of toasted Italian Bread rubbed with garlic and drizzled with Olive Oil. The guy loved it. A couple days later, for my own lunch I decided to make the Fried Eggs with Prosciutto and put it on a toasted hero-roll as a sandwich. Voila a new sandwich was created.

So there you go, you’ve got the famous well-known Italian-Sandwiches, you’ve got lesser known regional ones like Italian-Beef of Chicago and the Muffuletta of New Orleans. Then you’ve got Secret Sandwiches like my “Aunt Hellen’s Panini al Ovo” and my own “Ovo Frittti con Prosciutto,” what’s better than that?

SUNDAY SAUCE

Sunday Sauce is excerpted from Daniel Bellino-Zwicke’s upcoming book “Sunday Sauce” Due for Release Novoember 2013 …

When a meal centered around a Sunday Sauce is announced, one can have visions of Blissful Ecstasy at thoughts of eating Pasta laden with Italian Sausages, Savory Meatballs, Beef Braciola, and succulent Pork Ribs. All this has been slowly simmered to culinary perfection. Yes just the thoughts can enrapture one into a Delightful Frenzy of the Most Blissful Feelings of smelling, seeing, and consuming all the ingredients, the Sausages, Meatballs and Gravy. Yes a Sunday Sauce can and does have such effects on one’s mind, body, and soul. And, I do not want to sound prejudice, but this is pure fact, it is the Male of the Italian-American species who Love The Sunday Sauce in all its form, far more than the female sex. True! Meatballs too! And Italian-American men and boys Love and hold oh-so-dare, their Meatballs, Sunday Sauce, Sausage & Peppers, and Meatball Parm Sandwiches.

The Sunday Sauce that my mother would make was with Meatballs and Beef Braciole. My memories are vivid watching my mother stuffing the Braciole with garlic, parsley, Pecorino Romano, and Pignoli Nuts, then tying the bundles with butchers cord to hold the Braciole together as they slowly simmered in the Gravy. Another fond memory was helping my mother roll and shape the Meatballs.

BEST EGGPLANT PARM In TOWN

BAR PITTI

Eggplant Parmigiano, not an easy dish to get right. Good that is. Tasty, prepared properly. Eggplant is a hard thing to work with, not everyone knows how, Giovanni Tognozzi and his boys (Cooks) know how .. They know their stuff those guys who work the kitchen at what I call New York’s Best Italian Restaurant, “Yes Bar Pitti.” Some may disagree, but they probably don’t know what they’re talking about, maybe they do. In that cas, lets just say “They have their opinion, I have mine,” and Bar Pitti is top notch, thee A # 1 Best Italian Restaurant in New York, not an easy task. They prove it over-and-over-again. They proved it to me again today, with the Meleanzane alla Parmigiano, it’s awesome, and as good as it gets. I should know, I’m Sicilian, and we eat more Eggplant than any other region of Italy. They eat a lot in Napoli, but the Sicilians have them beat. Sicilians are the King of Eggplant when it comes to Eggplant Dishes in Italy. The Sicilians have they famed dish Caponata, a sweet and sour eggplant stew that when done right, by a master, it simply devine, as is mine if I must say so myself. I worked on that recipe for more than a year, tweeking it, getting the right balance of eggplant to tomato to onions, to olive oil, celery, sugar and vinegar, topped off with some nice big fat Green Sicilian Olives. Dam, I’m getting hungry just thinking about it, The Caponata, “My caponata,” not many can make it as good as mine, “No Brag, Just Fact.”

Sicilian Eggpnat Dishes? They grill it and dress it with Olive Oil and Vinegar, season with salt & pepper of course. It’s quite a good antipasto item. The there’s the famed Pasta alla Norma, a pasta dish made with eggplant sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes, and topped with grated Ricotta Salata Cheese .. You can use whatever pasta you like, Spaghetti, Bucatini, Cavatelli, Rigatone, whatever .. The best in New York can be found at Degrezia Restaurant on East 5oth Street in Midtown Manhattan. Their Pasta alla Norma which they call Gargenelli alla Siciliana at Degrezia is awesome. DeGrezia is a hidden Gem that not everyone knows about, but those “In-The-Know” have it down as one of the Best In The City, best Italian Restaurants that is. Check it out on Zagat, they got very high marks.

Hey, anyway I got off on the beaten track a minute as I often do. I start out talking about Bar Pitti and their awesome Eggplant Parm, then I’m on to these eggplant dishes of Sicily and wind up talking about Pasat alla Siciliana at DeGrezia. Well, one thing often leads to the other.

Let’s get back to Bar Pitti and their Melanzane Parmigiano and why Bar Pitti is New York’s BEst Italian Restaurant. Well, they prove it over and over again. The food is great, authentic, done right and consistently so. The ambiance is nice, they have nice wines, and pretty good service. And the prices, though not cheap, are fair. Well the Food at Bar Pitti is quite simply, Great. And it’s always great. I’ve eaten at Bar Pitti more than 200 times over the years and every dish I’ve ever had has been excellent or dam close to it. I’ve had the egplant parm there befor, and have always like it. I got it today when I ran into some friends (as I often do) sitting outside. They told me to sit down and have a glass of wine. I did. I was a bit hungry and ordered the Melanzane Parmigiano. Befor it came, my buddy Mike let me have one piece of hsi Coda di Vaccinara (Roman Braised Oxtails), which might very well be my single most favorite dish at the place (love the Trippa) as well. The Oxtails were a special that they serve about 2 – 3 times a week, and they are superb. My friends Michael and Jasmine had already ordered and when he told me he had ordered the Braised Oxtails, my interest was peaked. I thought about getting them but decided against it as I didn’t feel like having so much meat on these day. I’m a Meatatarian (I eat meat, but less, about 3 times a week). Well problem was solved when Michaels Oxtails came, he looked at his dish, and said I could have one piece. Awesome! I ordered the Eggplant Parm, had a piece of Oxtail with a bit of the Soft Polenta and a few pieces of sauteed zucchini which were unsurprisingly perfect. That’s Bar Pitti for you, usually perfect or near to it. Bar Pitti, New York’s Best Eggplant Parm, Coda d’ Vaccinara (Braised Oxtails), and quite simply New York’s number # 1 Italian Restaurant. Basta!

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke