StringGrrl sees the World

Miriam and Eric at the entrance to La Spiga Foggy weather spoiled the normally stunning views of the Wine country of La Morra photo by  Gabriele Motta under Creative Commons attribution, non-comm, no remix La Spiga is a restaurant and hotel located in the Langhe region just south of Torino. Operated by a couple who built and run the restaurant since 2005. It has a small country hotel -8 rooms- attached to the restaurant. The dining room is not very large and was supported quite well by the small but attentive staff. Amuse-bouche of pumpkin soup The restaurant was selected by Fabri and Dani when they discovered that we had never had white truffles in our travels. Apparently, this is quite a thing in Piedmonte and the region to be sure to enjoy the truffles. We were there at the time of the annual truffle fair, http://www.fieradeltartufo.org/2016/it/ but did not visit the fair itself. Instead opting for the simpler pleasures of fine food at La Spiga and a short...

Firenze Santa Maria Novella, the terminal station in Florence  After a long weekend in Torino spent with friends it was back to reality for work and off to Florence for an afternoon of customer meetings and maybe a little time in the city center of Florence. Arrival at the main station Piazza del Repubblica  StringGirl and me at the Doumo StringGirl and the stunning stone work of the Doumo Cathederal Santa Maria Fiore Mercado Centrale, the central market where restaurants and shops are open until 1:00 am Nice wines and beers to be had at the Mercado Very loud, lively, and welcoming. Mercado Central was a nice spot for dinner Luca from ESI Italy was our host that evening When telling anyone that it it is your first time in Florence they will list off all the things to see and eat. Undoubtedly the Bistecca Fiorentina will be among them. Now, when most 'muricans think of italian cuisine they might immediately think of thick and heavy pa...

Erika at Gallo Wine Gallery, who celebrated her birthday by giving drinks  While spending a weekend in Piedemonte, Italy, my friends took me for a weekend in wine and truffle country. Specifically, La Morra, where we stumbled (literally after we finished our tour of the shop) upon the Gallo Wine Gallery. Just a few tipples to warm the shoppers who come into the store After a meal of Tartufo Blanco (white truffles) at a nearby restaurant we stopped into La Morra to visit the heart of the regional wine country. The village is mostly wine shops and gift shops, so is a complete tourist trap, but a delightful one at that. Barolo Chinato, pharmaceuticals from the old days For a reasonable 10€ fee they took me on a 3 glass tasting through local wines. Starting first with Barbera d'Asti, followed by Nebbiollo, and wrapped up with Barolo. As the former Self-Proclaimed-Die-Expert is a savage when it comes to wines, any 3 wines are good ones most often. But at 10€ for ...

On our most recent visit to Torino, Italy, we had some amazing food just about every day--lunches and dinners. In fact one night just for a change of pace, I opted for discount sushi (also good) to take a rest from all the rich and widely varied Italian food.But perhaps the most surprising meal was the one I had in the grocery market, Eataly. Preserves, jarred sauces, and other condiments  Eataly is a chain of upscale markets throughout Italy, with locations in the New York, Chicago, Tokyo, Yokahama, Istanbul, Dubai, Brazil, and Seoul. There mission and manifesto , revolve around bringing quality of food, life, the world up through the sharing of Italian food culture. I went in looking only to find a reasonable bottle of wine to bring home, and left after buying a couple bottles, eating dinner, and sampling a few glasses of Piemontese wines. The surprise dinner, they were celebrating something with a limited time menu featuring this Duck Breast The duck dinner was a fe...

Panorama from the parking near the refuge  About 1 hour of driving from the city of Torino (Turin) Italy, you can visit a mountain refuge with fantastic vistas, nearby climbing and mountaineering routes, room and board. StringGirl posing with the rifugio in the background I did not know exactly what to expect when friends offered to take me up to a mountain shelter just outside the city of Torino on a recent work visit to the "Motown of Italy". Rifugio Selleries  is a Hotel and Restaurant located on the grounds of the Piemontese Regional Park of the Hautes Alpes (Regione Piemonte Ente di gestione delle Aree Protette delle Alpi Cozie ). The trek in on car is 5km of single lane dirt/rock road with some at some dizzying heights When Fabrizio mentioned that we could drive to the refuge (his wife is 9 months pregnant and due the day after we visited), I figured that we would drive up to some tame little visitor center with ample parking and well provisioned r...