Back to Italy Naples Sicily Amalfi Coast

First Stop NAPOLI

and

PIZZA !!!

la PIZZA

e PIZZAIOLO

la BELLA NAPOLI

Old Postcard of Naples

AMALFI COAST

RAVELLO

View From The Top

POSITANO

MINORI

The Amalfi Coast

aka

Costa di Amalfitana

VILLA MARIA

Lemon Grove Farm Agroturismo

Minori

This is Where I’ll Be Staying for Three Glorious Days

(Maybe More)

On The AMALFI COAST

One of The Most Beautiful Spots on Earth “Bar None”

This is The View From AGROTURISMO VILLA MARIA

MINORI, ITALY

This is One of The Many Gorgeous Views From The Property

Looking Down Onto the Lovely Town of Minori and Out On To The Sea

The Tyrrhenian Sea

This is My Back Porch Terrace of My Room

VILLA MARIA

Lemon Trees at Villa Maria

AMAZON.com

On to SICILY

Taormina

The GREEK THEATER

at TAORMINA

with

Mt ETNA

SICILY TRAVEL INFO

Piazza del Duomo

TAORMINA SICILY

on to PALERMO

WHAT to DO in SICLY ?

GET YOUR GUIDE !

A View of PALERMO

Mondello

Mondello is a Lovely Beach on The Outskirts of Palermo

Then on To My Friends at Villa TASCA

Villa Tasca

VINEYARDS at VILLA TASCA

Me & Conti Ciuseppe Tasca

with a Bottle of Giuseppe’s Famed Rosso del Conti

On to My Grandparents Home Town

My Maternal Grandparents

PHILIPO & JOSEPHINA BELLINO

with My Mother LUCIA

UNCLE TONY

Lodi, New Jersey

about 1940

I Will Go to The City Hall in Lercara Friddi and get any pertinent records

of my Grandparenst Philipo & Josephine. I will also go to the church they were

baptized in as well as being married there ..

Note : Our family Name was Bellina, spelled with an “a” not an “o” but like

many immigrants passing through Ellis Island back at the turn of the Century (1900), the

correct spelling of my Grandparents was changed slightly from Bellina to Bellino. Since that was the spelling of their name on the very important document of them passing through Ellis Island, New York in 1904, it was the spelling they stuck with and used.

The Chairman of The Board

Francis Alber Sinatra

aka FRANK

aka

FRANK SINATRA

Ancestry of Lercara Friddi, (Sicilia) Italy

My Grandparents who came from Lercara Friddi, the same town as Frank Sinatra and

Lucky Luciano, immigrated to America and settled on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in Yorkville, and lived there for a few years before moving to the town of Lodi in New Jersey, which was at the time inhabited sole of Italian-American Immigrants, of which 90% of them were from Sicily …

My Grandfather Philipo was a Shoemaker in Lercara Friddi as was Frank Sinatra’s

grandfather. It’s most likely they knew each other being from a small town in the 1880’s, 90s, and early 1900 Hundreds .. We may even be related which I will try to find out at the city hall in Lercara Friddi. “Wouldn’t that be Cool?”

On to See My Friend FRANCISCO PLANETA

PLANETA WINES

PLANETA VINEYARDS

Sambuca, Sicily

CORLEONE

AL PACINO

aka

Michael Corleone

OFF to MARSALA

to Visit My Friends Jose & Antonio Rallo

Their Family Wine Estate DONNAFUGATA

View of MARSALA

SICILIA

ITALY

DONNAFUGATA

MARSALA, ITALY

Brother & Sister

JOSE & ANTONIO RALLO

DONNA FUGATA VINEYARDS

MARSALA

Me & My FRIENDS WINES

CAMPACIO, VENICA SAUVIGNON

DONNAFUGATA “MILLE UNA NOTTE”

BARBI BRUNELLO

PLANETA CERASUALO Di VITTORIA

SUNDAY SAUCE

by Daniel Bellino Z

GRANDMA BELLINO’S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

RECIPES From MY SICILIAN NONNA

by DANIEL BELLINO-ZWICKE

COMING JULY 2015

Recipes From Josephina Bellino Her Children & Grandchildren

Zuppa di Cucuzza

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

“THATS a GAGOOTZA” !!!

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN NONNA

AMAZON.com

by Daniel Bellino “Z”

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

“Gagootz” !!!!

This is a soup that mymother used to make every now and then. Usually when

her friend Mary Santangelo gave her a couple big Cucuzza, from their backyard garden

in Garfield. Mymother Lucia learned this recipe from her mother who used to make it back in
Sicily, and she learned how to make it from her mother, my Great Grandmother Salemi.

This dish is one of the quintessential recipes of this book, and also of both the Italian-American

and Sicilian-American table as a whole, and ofcourse of Sicilians in Sicily, especially in the years

of the first 70 years ofthe 20^th Century from around 1900 to 1970’s or so. The soup is easy
to make and quite economical, feeding about 15 or 16 portions of which you can
serve over a 3 – 4 day time. Cucuzza are not always available in every store,
however more and more super markets are carrying them during their growing season,
and you can always get them at any produce store that specializes in Italian
foods.

This soup is a soup ofcourse, but almost a pasta dish as well, and you can vary the amount of pasta you like. Cooking pasta separately on the side and when you are serving it,
you will use double the amount of pasta or more, with less liquid in the soup
and using the soup actually as a sauce. I always do this, as there are always
leftovers when making a pot of it, and serving it as a pasta is a nice welcome
alternative to give one variety from the same dish. I do the same with Lentil
Soup to make Pasta Lenticchie, a pasta dish. In addition, if you like, you can
sauté one link of Italian Sweet or Hot Sausage, serve up the soup as either
pasta or soup and add a link of sausage or two to each plate. You will love it
any way you do, as do the Bellino’s and millions of other Italian’s have over
the years.

So make it, and enjoy, and always Mangia Bene Amici!

GAGOOTZ

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

RECIPE :

1 large Cucuzza ak.a.
Gagootz

1 large onion, peeled and
diced

6 Garlic Cloves, peeled
and sliced thin

8 tablespoons Olive Oil

½ teaspoon Red Pepper
Flakes

1 teaspoon Sea Salt

½ tsp. Black Pepper

6 Plum Tomatoes, chopped

1 pound fresh cooked
Fava Beans, or frozen Baby Lima Beans (or canned lima beans)

1 pound imported Italian
Ditalini (or Ronzoni)

Cut off ends of theCucuzza and peel it with a vegetable peeler. Cut the Cucuzza in half
lengthwise.

Scoop out seeds and discard. Cut into 1 ½ inch cubes.

Put olive oil and cucuzza in a large 6-quart pot.

Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes, occasionally stirring with a wooden spoon.

Add onion and cook for 4 minutes more.

Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes.

Add red pepper, and cook for 2 minutes.

Add tomatoes and cook on high heat for 5 minutes.

Add water and cook on medium-low heat for 12 minutes.

Add Fava Beans (or Lima Beans) and cook on low heat for 6 minutes.

Cook Ditalini accordingto directions on package.

When finished cooking, drain in a colander,

making sure to reserve 2 – 3 cups of water to add to soup.

Add all the pasta to the soup.

Add salt 7 Black Pepper and stir.

Add water little by little to the soup until you reach the consistency that you like.

The soup should be fairly thick, yet slightly watery.

Ladle soup into bowls.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top of each bow of soup and pass grated
cheese

for your guest to put in their soup.

Save any remaining soup
in a closed container to enjoy anytime for lunch, dinner,

or anytime
in-between.

ZUPPA di CUCUZZA

Mangia Bene !!!

RECIPES

in GRANDMA BELLINO’S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

AMAZON.com

ALSO by DANIEL

SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

on AMAZON.com

AL PACINO & AGLIO OLIO

AL PACINO

and AGLIO OLIO

“SPAGHETTI THAT IS” !!!

SPAGHETTI AGLIO OLIO

alla AL

AL PACINO & AGLIO OLIO

Al Pacino and Aglio Olio you ask? What about it? Well it’s just that Spaghetti Aglio Olio always reminds
me of that great fellow New Yorker Sicilian American, the one-and-only Al Pacino from da Bronx. It’s not a big deal, just a wonderful little memory for me. When I was the Wine Director at the famed Barbetta Restorante on Restaurant Row in New York’s Theater District (where Al often performs on stage), Al Pacino used to come and eat there every now and then. He never wanted anything to fancy, but something that just about all true blooded Italian-American wants, and that dish is Spaghetti Aglio Olio, plain and simple, yet it’s in our blood. That’s what Al wanted and that’s what we gave him, and Al loved it and you will too.

Recipe Excerpted

from

Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook

RECIPE

Spaghetti Aglio Olio

the Way AL Likes It !!!

“Al Pacino That Is”

Recipe Excerpted From Daniel Bellino’s Grandma Bellino’s Italian Cookbook

Note : Note, the recipe for Spaghetti Aglio Olio as Al Pacino likes it and as it’s written in Daniel Bellino’s Grandma Bellino’s Cookbook, encompasses Two-Recipes-In-One .. You have the Recipe for Spaghetti w/ Garlic Oil & Anchovies, and to make Spaghetti Aglio Olio the way AL Likes It, is by making this recipe, but omitting the ANchovies to end up with Spaghetti Aglio Olio, just the way the Great Al Pacino likes it. Mangia Bene!

INGREDIENTS :

¼ cup best quality
Italian Olive Oil

6 cloves of Garlic,
peeled and minced

½ teaspoon
Red Pepper Flakes

6 Anchovy
Filets minced fine

1 pound
imported Italian Spaghetti

¼ cup
Italian Parsley

Put a large pot with 4
quarts of water on the stove. Add 2 tablespoons salt and bring to the boil.

Place Olive Oil and
Anchovies in a large frying pan and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes.

Add garlic and cook on medium heat for 2 minutes. Add red pepper and continue cooking on low heat until the garlic begins to turn slightly brown. Turn heat off and let rest.

Add spaghetti to the boiling salted water. Cook spaghetti according to directions on package. Two
minutes before the cooking time on package start testing the doneness of the
spaghetti by taking a strand out of the water and biting into it to see how far
cooked it. By doing this you’ll be able to determine if it needs to cook a bit
longer or if it’s ready.

Once the past is finished cooking, quickly remove it from the heat and drain into a colander,
reserving about 4 tablespoons of the pasta cooking water to add to pasta sauce.

Add spaghetti back to the pot it cooked in and drizzle on a little olive oil and mix. Pour the garlic
anchovy sauce and the reserved pasta water over the spaghetti with half the chopped Parsley and mix well.

Divide the spaghetti among four pasta plates or bowls. Sprinkle the top of each plate of Spaghetti
with some chopped parsley and serve.

The GODFATHER

Micahel Corleone (Al Pacino), Captain McCloskey (Sterling Hayden),

and Sollozzo (Al Lettieri)

“GET THE VEAL. IT’S THE BEST in THE CITY”

MICHAEL NEVER ATE HIS SPAGHETTI AGLIO OLIO

BUT SOLLOZZO GOT HIS

MICHAEL GETS HIS REVENGE

GET THIS RECIPE AND MUCH MORE

GRANDMA BELLINO’S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

RECIPES FROM MY SICILIAN GRANDMOTHER

by Daniel Bellino “Z”

ONE LAST PICTURE of AL

Al Pacino

Bobby Deerfield

1977

HE’S a HANDSOME FRIGGIN DEVIL

ISN’T HE ???

ALSO by DANIEL

His # BEST SELLING

SUNDAY SAUCE

GNOCHHI POMODORO

Notice AL PACINO on COVER

of Daniel Bellino Z’s SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

Author Daniel Bellino “Z”

MAKING SAUCE

aka GRAVY

Caffe Dante Closed After 100 Years

CAFFE DANTE Has Offfically Closed …. Sunday, March 22, 2015

Well, it’s Offical. Caffe Dante is closed .. It’s 11:55 PM Sunday March 22, 2015 … I just left Caffe Dante for the last time under the ownership of Mr. Mario Flotta .. I had to hold back a few tears saying goodbye to Mario and his two sons; Anthony & Mario Jr. .. I kid you not. Caffe Dante was like a 2nd home to me .. This is not a cliche, but a fact … I ifrst started going to Caffe Dante in July of 1985, shortly after my first trip to Italy .. I went because my friend John who had been going to Dante for a few years, told me that Caffe Dante was New York’s most authentically Italian Caffe bar none, and that being so, they served a perfect Espresso, “The Best in Town.” That’s all I had to hear and I was there .. Going on that first trip to Italy hooked me on perfect Espresso, Gelato, and anything authentically Italian, and Caffe Dante was the real deal .. Now I was hooked on something else, Caffe Dante … Ever since that day in the Summer of 85, I have had Espresso or Cappuccino at Caffe Dante almost every day fo my life since then. Everyday that I was in New York and not traveling somewhere around the World, which is about 340 days a year for 30 years.

Yes, I went to Caffe everyday, and some days two or three times in a day, in the morning, later in the afternoon and then again at the end of the night .. Caffe Dant was a place where I could go have a coffe, relax, read, write, and meet friends, and there was always someone there that I always knew, there were the waitresses some of whome became good friends, and of course there was always Mario. Mario would come in every day around noon and stay til closing about 1 AM in the morning. It was always a joy having a little chat with Mario ..

Caffe Dante just closed a little while ago. I almost cried, watching Mario take down the pictures of himself with many Celebrites who came to Caffe Dante over the years. People like; Al Pacino, Ann Bancrosft, Mel Brooks, Woody Harelson, Matt Dillon, Jerry Seinfeld, Alec Baldwin, Bob Dylan, John Tarturro, Stanley Tucci, Lilly Taylor, Michael Imperioli, Joe Panteleone, James, Gandolfini, Vinct Schiavelli, Colin Farell, and on and on …

Mario Flotta who became a partner in Caffe Dante back in 1971 .. A few years after that his partner passed away and Mario became the sole owner. So, selling the place today that was 44 years that Mario was there, 56 years of Caffe Dante’s 100 year history. Caffe Dante will still be there. Mario sold the place to Victoria Coffee of Australia. He told me, it’s still going to be a caffe, and it’s still going to be called Caffe Dante .. Yes, Mario told me this, but I know that Caffe Dante without by buddy Mario is not the same .. Mario Flotta was Caffe Dante, and a Caffe Dante without Mario could never be the same, all the regulars know that …

to be continued … Daniel Bellino Zwicke

ME & MARIO

Daniel Bellino-Zwicke & Mario Flotta Sr.

THE LAST DAY at DANTE

Raoul M., Daniel Bellino “Z” RED, Mario Flotta, and Jonathon L.

at Caffe Dante

Macdougal Street, Greenwich Village, New York

SUNDAY March 22, 2015 … The Last Day of Dante

Carbone

CARBONE

Greenwich Village, New York

photo : Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Danny Bolognese Recipes

Author Daniel Bellino “Z”

aka DANNY BOLOGNESE

Making a Pot of His Famouse Bolognese

Author Daniel Bellino-Zwicke, a.k.a. Danny Bolognese has some wonderful best selling cookbooks no under his belt. Daniel has authored such Best Seeling Titles as; La TAVOLA, Sunday Sauce, The Feast of The 7 Fish – Italian Christmas, SEGRETO ITALIANO aka Secret Italian Recipes and GOT ANY KAHLUA? aka The BIG LEBOWSKI COOKBOOK ..

Daniel said he was torn giving up his famous Secret Bolognese Recipe, but finally relented. He said it was time to let the cat out of the bag, and get it out there for the whole world to see, what some like The Journal of Italian Food Wine & Travel called the Best Bolognese in America .. It was at Daniel’s restauratn Bar Cichetti (1st Venetian Wine Bar in the U.S.) that Daniel first garned attention for his famed Bolognese and other of his tasty Italian Meat Ragus like; his

Duck Ragu, and Grandma’s Sunday Gravy …

Daniel says everyone shoudl know how to make a great Ragu, or at least Sugo di Pomodoro (Tomato Sauce to you and me).

Yes Daniel was hesitant to give up his famed Bolognese recipe, but if you want it, it’s in two of his very popular Italian Cookbooks; SEGRETO ITALIANO – Secret Italian Recipes, or his first book La TAVOLA which is a collection of Stories of Italian-American Food Kitchen & Table, with 30 Bellino Family Recipes at the back of the book. If you’ve never read any of Daniel’s cookbooks, and you love Italian Food & Culture, we suggest you get your hands on one or two of his books. Daniel’s recipes are incrediable, and his story telling abilities are delightful.

Article by James Wilke

BOOKS by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

SEGRETO ITALIANO

Secret Italian Recipes

Including Danny’s Bolognese

SUNDAY SAUCE

WHEN ITALIAN-AMERICANS COOK

La TAVOLA

Italian-American New Yorkers Adventures

of The Table

“And KITCHEN Too!”

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

COOKING SICILIAN

Grandma Bellino’s Italian Cookbook

Recipes From My SICILIAN NONNA

by Daniel Bellino “Z”

.
.

NOT THE FINAL COVER

.

.

.

GRANDMA BELLINO’S ITALIAN COOKBOOK

Recipes From My Sicilian Nonna

by Daniel Bellino

THIS Is NOT THE COVER

Just a Mock-Up

The Actual Cover Will Be Quite Different

After working on a book for some time, just seeing pages in a computer can be a bit much.

Just wanted to see a cover of the book, and made this one myself. My designer will produce something much more attractive, as he has proven in the past. Well, just wanted to have a bit of fun and something to look at untile the true cover comes together.

This my latest book Grandma Bellino’s Italian Cookbook – Recipes of My Sicilian Nonna is a collection of Sicilian & Sicilian-American Recipes. Most of the recipes are of my Nonna Josephina Salemi Bellino. Some of the recipes are from her offspring like my mother Lucia and her Brother Tony, along with recipes from my Aunts Fran and Helen and my sister Barbara.

SAMPLES of BOOK COVERS From MY GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Meatball Parm Mondays

SUNDAY SAUCE

When Italian Americans Cook

Segreto Italiano

SEGRETO ITALIANO – SECRET ITALIAN RECIPES

The NEGRONI

Learn How to Make The Perfect NEGRONI … Read SUNDAY SAUCE by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Caffe Dante to Close ???

MY BELOVED CAFFE DANTE to CLOSE

Yes I’m afraid it’s most likely true, my beloved Caffe Dante to close this month (February 2015) after 100 years in business in New York’s Greenwich Village. It’s rumored that Mario Flotta the long time owner of Caffe Dante will be selling the caffe to a Australian Corporation and it was reported on 1010 WINS Radio News this morning that Dante will be shuttering its doors in 10 days time. This is very sad, especially for me and longtime regulars who have been going to Caffe Dante for 10, 20, 30, and even 40 years for New York’s most authentic Espresso and cups of Cappuccino. I myself have been going there since the Summer of 1985 when I came back from my first trip wonderful trip of many to my ancestral homeland of Italy .. As i’ve been going to Caffe Dante almost evry single day siance 85, I’ve become good friends with the Flotta Family over the years especially Mario Sr. who is almost like a second father to me.

This is such sad news, and all I can say is something I know that most do not, is that Mario bought a building around the corner on Bleecker Street for just such a situation. That being that the landlord would one day raise his rent beyond reason (the Landlord did in 2013), and Mario would just pack up his caffe and move it around the corner. Mario is Caffe Dante, his loves the place like one of his own children, and I know this is the reason he bought the building on Bleedker. Mario told me himself what he would do, and he always wanted the Caffe to continue and for there to be a place for Caffe Dante for his sons, Mario Jr., Anthony, and Peter.

I hope everything all works out, I love Caffe Dante more than I can ever express, it’s without question my second home, and a Greenwich Village without this wonderful Caffe would be that much less of the Greenwich Village that we residients, visitors and tourist from around the country and around the World know.

Story & Photos by Daniel Bellino-Zwicke

NEGRONI

The NEGRONI COCKTAIL

ARTWORK by JAMES STARACE

The Negroni! A cocktail most Americans do not know. Too bad! With its contents of bitter Campari, Sweet Vermouth, and Gin, the Negroni is quite the unique cocktail. Best of all, it’s tasty and refreshing, with the essence of an Orange Peel, it’s invigorates and rejuvenates The Negroni is wonderful any time of the year, however, it is especially pleasing on a hot Summers day somewhere on the Coast in Italy, The South of France, or anywhere on the Mediterranean, or the Hamptons or South Beach for that matter.

So, not many people know of the Negroni and its charms, other than the more Sophisticated among our population. Even just a minute percentage of those who have traveled to its birthplace in Italy will even know of the cocktail. In this country, it is drunk more often in the city of New York. A city with a higher “Sophisticate” ratio than most, but even still, just a few will know of this drink, the Negroni Cock-tail.

So what it is it? Well its base is the highly popular aperitif of bitter Campari, a Bitter-Sweet aperitif from Torino, Italy. The Negroni is made of 1 0z. Campari, 1 oz. Sweet Vermouth, 3/4 oz. Gin, over ice cubes in a Rocks Glass with a splash of Club Soda on top and garnished with a slice of Orange or Orange peel. Voila!

The Negroni is usually drunk as an aperitif before dinner in the early evening, but just wonderful any-time of the afternoon, especially Alfresco, or late in-

to the evening day. A Negroni is a particularly splendid drink for a leisurely Afternoon Cocktail or two. As a matter of fact, I just had a couple nice after-noon Negroni’s at Cipriani Downtown just the other day.

The base of the Negroni Cocktail is the well known Italian Bitter Aperitif Campari created in Novaro, Italy near Milano in the 1860 by Gaspare Campari. The secret recipe that has been carefully guarded for more than 150 years consists of and in-fusion of alcohol, Herbs, and vegetables, including, Orange Peel, Chinotto, and other secret ingredients.

The Negroni Cocktail was created in 1919 at the Caffe Casoni in Florence, Italy when the Count Neg-roni, a regular customer of the caffe, asked his wait-er for a Americano that had a little more of a kick to it. The Barman and waiter obliged the Count with a cocktail made with the normal Campari, and Sweet Vermouth of the Americano but with the addition of London Dry Gin. The Count Loved the Cocktail which was named after him and thus the Negroniwas born.

A NEGRONI and Its INGREDIENTS

“Do You Remember Your First Time,” was the slogan of a wonderful Ad Campaign by Campari with pictures of good looking men or Gorgeous Women, and some sort of Campari Cocktail in hand, usually the most famous of Campari and Soda with a twist of Orange. The Ad was asking you if you remember the First Time you had your first Campari, but of course there was the Sexual connotation eluding to the first time you had Sex.

A ploy often used by marketers and ad agencies.

I remember “My First.” It was of course on my first trip to Italy in 1985 sitting outside at a Caffe on The Piazza Popolo in Rome. I had seen the ads and people drinking them outside and when my waiter came over, I ordered one. It took a little getting used to at first, but I loved it and have ever since, and I’ve turned many people on to the drink ever since. On a whole, just a small percentage of Americans have ev-er even tasted Campari at all, whether it’s a Campariand Soda, Campari & OJ, or my beloved Negroni.

So, if you’ve never had one, it’s time to get on the stick. We drink them like crazy at my buddy Pat Par-rotta’s house. Pat is an Italian Wine Lover, who throws great dinner parties, and he’s quite the dam good cook. We eat Pasta, Chicken, Steaks, Saus-ages, whatever, always with some nice Italian Wine.

Pat is a great host who knows how to throw a great dinner party. His dinners parties are always a huge success and we always start the day off with what has become a tradition at Pat and Gina’s home, a couple tasty Negroni’s or Campari Spritzers to get things rolling. I always look forward to having my Negroni when I get to Pat’s after riding the Ferry over from Manhattan.

As I’ve already stated, Pat is a wonderful Host who has great enthusiasm to cook for friends and family, serving some nice Italian Wine, along with

his celebrated Negroni’s which are better than just about any Bartender in New York. “For Real!”

Making a good Negroni, brings to mind, that it’s not that easy. Not everyone can do it, as you need to get the proper balance of these very prominent ingredients of Campari, Gin, and Sweet Vermouth. I can, and Pat can, but many a bartender does not, no matter what they may think. I’ve been extolling the Wonders and Virtues of Campari and the Neg-roni for well over 20 years, while just a few Ameri-can’s on a whole have yet to discover it. Even as now some big cocktail association has named the Negroni, “The Cocktail of The Year” for 2011. People are just now catching up. I could have told you 20 years ago. In fact, “I did.”

Anyway, back to Bartenders who don’t know how to make a proper Negroni. I was recently at a popular restaurant that has two bars inside where they make the new So-Called Artisanal Cocktails and House Specialty Drinks, made by “Mixologists.”

I ordered a Negroni. The Bartender made it and served it to me straight-up in a cocktail glass. I asked him to put it in a Rocks Glass with ice, whereby he gave me an almost disdainful look, as if he made a great drink the right way and who the Hell was I to have him alter it. “These Mixologist.” Well, first off, the drink was not great. It wasn’t even good. It was out of balance, and as I’ve said, in making a proper Negroni, it’s all about balance,

I know the balance, Pat knows the balance, that bartender did not. I’ve been drinking these things for more than 20 years, and I’m not going to have some bartender who’s just started making them a few months ago and who’s never been to Italy in his life tell me how it’s done. “Not gonna Happen!”

So my friends, if you’ve yet to imbibe in one.

Don’t you think it’s high-time? Just make sure to get a bartender who knows the ropes. I sugest Cipriani Downtown. Even better, the families flagship restaurant, Harry’s Bar, Venice, in Rome or on the Amalfi Coast.

“The NEGRONI” excerpted from Daniel Bellino Zwicke’s Book “LA TAVOLA”

In Paperback and kindle Edition

LEARN How to Make The Perfecr NEGRONI COCKTAIL …. Pat Parotta’s Recipe in SUNDAY SAUCE by Daniel Bellino “Z”