Book Description
Cucina Simpatica brings to home cooks the luscious, lusty food of Al Forno, the acclaimed restaurant in Providence, Rhode Island. Since opening Al Forno in 1980, owners-chefs Johanne Killeen and George Germon have won a loyal following, rave reviews, and many awards for their superb food.
The recipes reflect their down-to-earth style of hearty yet simple trattoria and Italian home cooking. Included are detailed instructions for making their renowned grilled pizza. While Cucina Simpatica is organized by courses—from starters, soups, salads, bruschetta, crostinis, and polenta to pizzas, pastas, grills, roasts, braises, vegetables, and desserts—the authors urge readers to be flexible and make their own choices. A grilled pizza accompanied by a small salad may suffice for dinner. Pasta can be served in small portions as a first course or in larger amounts as the focus of the meal. A platter of roasted vegetables makes a fine meatless meal.
Cucina Simpatica inspires home cooks to prepare the rustic, robust Italian-style food from one of America's finest restaurants.
Customer Reviews:
Great cookbook, but..........2007-06-04
I really like this cookbook, but am I the only one who thinks it's odd that their chicken stock recipe says that it makes 2 quarts when in fact it's more like 2 gallons?
Must have cookbook for your collection.......2007-03-26
This is a fabulous cookbook. Many, many delicious recipes with easy to follow instructions. This book is a classic that you will use over and over again to prepare loads of great Italian foods.
Love this book!.......2006-12-10
After eating at Al Forno's several times in the late 90's I bought the book. I was brought up in the restaurant business and new my way around the kitchen though my style was pretty basic. These recipes brought me into a more creative phase. I have made almost all of them. They are easy to follow with great tips and advice on how to succeed. My kids who are grown now, grew up eating Pasta in the Pink and Penne with tomato cream and 5 cheeses. Another favorite is the Chicken stuffed with bruschetta - made on the grill is best. Oh..and the grilled pizza! Have fun!
One of the BEST!.......2006-08-20
I buy many cookbooks. If one reciepe is delicious and worthy of repeating in my entertaining I consider it a good cookbook. This book has many reciepes that I use over and over. They are easy to prepare and delicious to eat.The reciepe for Polenta is the Best!
I often buy this book to give as a gift...good reading and if you want great food to produce...
Easy, interesting meals from appetizers to desserts........1999-02-12
Great, simple recipes that come out right the first time, many have become staples at our house.Good book to plan meals for entertaining friends as well . The grilled pizzas are great(once you get the technique learned)! Also, try Rosemary Chicken, "Georges Pasta"(great as written in the book or made with ground turkey and without butter as a low fat daily meal),Pasta with lentils and prosciutto,or Delmonico steaks with home made catsup. You won't be dissappointed!
Book Description
Whether it's a bustling eatery in the heart of Florence or a tiny alcove tucked away on a side street in Venice, the trattoria is where Italians go for robust flavors, great friendship, and good times. Patricia Wells' Trattoria now feeds America's passion for Italian food with 150 authentic recipes. Savor a Fresh Artichoke Omelet, succulent Lamb Braised in White Wine, Garlic, and Hot Peppers, a hearty portion of Lasagne with Basil, Garlic, and Tomato Sauce, or a luscious Fragrant Orange and Lemon Cake, and much more. This essential cookbook of Italian trattorias presents a full range of homemade recipes for antipasti, soups, dried and fresh pastas, polenta, seafood, poultry, and meat, with special chapters on breads, pizzas, and desserts. Come explore the heart and soul of Italian cooking in Patricia Wells' Trattoria.
Customer Reviews:
Patricia Wells Does It Again.......2007-10-02
I thought of Patricia Wells as being primarily an expert on French cuisine, but this cookbook proves me wrong. The recipes are simple, but elegant. I have prepared the baked risotto with asparagus and spinach for several different guests, and they have all run out to buy this book.
All you need is this book and a lace curtain in the window.......2007-01-18
I have been cooking with 'Bistro', Patricia Wells' book of simple French recipes, for several decades now. I have recently been converted to her 'Paris Cookbook'. So what stopped me from buying her book of Italian trattoria cooking?
Two words: Marcella Hazan.
I am addicted to Hazan's 'Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking'. It's clear. It produces restaurant-quality meals that take only modest effort. And "fancy" is the last thing it is.
I thought I just didn't need another Italian cookbook.
But now, fourteen years after it was first published, "Trattoria" --- a bargain at $13 --- is finally in the house. And, more to the point, in the kitchen. And I am chastened.
You want simple? This is it. Easy? Forget about it. Organized? Buying the book could be the last time you'll ever need to think about an Italian menu.
Why? Because the fact is, you really don't want rich and fancy. You want a trattoria --- an uncomplicated, modestly decorated, family-run establishment featuring traditional regional fare. You drink the house wine. You tend to order whatever special is being pushed. And you are likely to leave satisfied though not sated.
Patricia Wells recreates that experience here.
Italian 101.......2007-01-03
This is a great cookbook and the only one you need to take on Italian cuisine. Virtually all of the food that Patricia Wells includes here is "real"--nothing so exotic that your family will throw breadsticks at you for laying it on the table. This is the book that taught me how to cook spinach the right way! Consider it an investment in good living. Highly recommended. Also, check out Wells' book on French cooking of Provence as well as her guides to Paris restaurants/food.
Quite a book, indeed!.......2006-02-01
If you've ever had the chance to travel in Italy, you know the wonderful world of the little, out-of-way family restaurant or Trattoria and the marvelous food serve there. This book is a virtual tour of such eateries!
Don't leave home without it.......2006-01-11
My benchmark for retaining a cookbook is that it adds one good recipe to my repertoire. So far, this has given my five.
Favourite recipe is 'lemon risotto'.
Have been a huge Patricia Wells fan ever since her 'Food lover's guide to France.'
Book Description
Before You Sit Down To
One of the Best Meals in the World--
You Have To Find It First!
So you're going to Italy -- home to some of the finest food in the world. But the cozy, informal neighborhood trattorias -- the real discoveries -- can be hard to find, even in a country that has catered to tourists since the days when all roads led to Rome. Here's help -- in a guide as friendly and inviting as a fragrant plate of ribollita. In Trattorias of Rome, Florence, and Venice, food writer Maureen B. Fant tells even the least intrepid traveler how to find, order, and enjoy the most memorable meal in three favorite Italian cities.
Whether you are planning a trip to Italy or already enjoying one, Maureen B. Fant will guide you to the best trattorias, giving you
- Locations and contact information
- Prices
- Specialties
- Rankings
- And much more
Customer Reviews:
"I haven't eaten here but...".......2003-05-16
"...I've looked through the window" was the first sentence I read when looking though the Florence section. I'm sorry, but looking through the window doesn't exactly qualify one to write a review of their food. I've looked through the windows of loads of restaurants I haven't eaten in - can I publish a book too? All in all this book was a disappointment, at least for the Florence section. I see from other reviews that she is more familiar with Rome, so perhaps this book would be worth buying for that instead. I recommend Sandra Gustafson's "Cheap Eats in Italy" instead. The title is misleading (although you can eat cheaply if you follow her advice on what to order) and is full of wonderful recommendations from simple tripe stalls to fancy restaurants.
a friend in Venice.......2003-04-06
Finding a good restaurant that is also a good value is
perhaps more difficult in Venice than any other major Italian
city. Over the years we have come to grief with Michelin and
with Gambero Rosso more often in Venezia than anywhere else
in Italy. It is thus with real delight that we can report a
gastronomically flawless stay in La Serenissima, thanks to
Maureen Fant's recent guide, which combines a wealth of practical
dining advice with engaging gossip about one's hosts. If you
feel you need a friend in Venice to dine there with confidence- look no further!
Great Recommendations!.......2001-11-11
We tried a number of recommended places and all were great. The recommended dishes were also great. A must have if you love to eat!
The Best Food Guide to Italy.......2001-10-06
Last year, my husband and I went to Italy on our honeymoon and half of the meals we ate were good using Frommer's and Eyewitness so when we went this year, September 2001 I was determined to make all the meals GREAT. With the help of this book I did. In Rome, we went to four restaurants, all were excellent, Trattoria Claudio al Pantheon (twice), Cul de Sac (a wine bar with light meals) around the corner from the Piazza Navona, a restaurant on the Campo dei Fiori Plaza, Nino's by the Spanish steps and an Enoteca by the Italian Parliment. In Florence, we went to Da Guido's and Trattoria Antellesi (sp.?) by the train station. This book was a MUCH more reliable source than any of our guide books and a fun read, Fant is rather opinionated, but so am I. If you are a foodie like me you won't pass this up, I just wish she'd do a book on more cities, Milan, parts of Tuscany etc.
My only advice is to call the restaurants in Rome first, if you want to go for lunch. Even in Septmeber, we found that some Roman restaurants around the Pantheon listed in the book were closed for lunch. Fant does include a list of restaurants open on Sunday and Monday, which is very useful because lots of restaurants are closed on those days.
Regardless, everywhere we went was excellent and Fant gives you tips on what to order, which were very helpful. ...
Bon Appetit!
This Book is not Helpful to the Average Tourist.......2001-10-04
The author seems to know what she is talking about in Rome which is the lagest part of the book. Her recommendations in Florence and Venice seem to be based mostly on hearsay.
Consider this: The book is 274 pages long. The glossary of terms and bibliograpy account for 72 pages. The book does review trattorias but it also reviews expensive restaurants, pizzerias,
gelaterias, wine bars , shops that sell wine and serve light lunches, and wine shops that offer tastings and canapes. There is a lot of detail im this book, but after reading it I decided it was of little practical use to me since I am an ordinary tourist looking for a good place to eat near the attractions I will be visiting on this my third trip to Rome (second to Florence and Venice). Many of the recommendations are clustered in neighborhoods that are somewhat removed. The book is not going on my trip with me... The purchase price was a waste of money.
Book Description
Advance Praise for Trattoria Cooking "Who wouldn't love doing Biba's research, tracking down the simple, down-to-earth, tasty food that makes Italy such an irresistible destination? For everyone who wishes to know how it is done (and where to go in Italy to find it), she's written a cookbook full of delicious-sounding recipes from the trattorias where real regional cooking goes on. Her recipes are straightforward and easy to follow, and I particularly like all the good tips she gives, like little asides to good friends in the kitchen." —Carol Field, author of The Italian Baker "My friend Biba has done it again with her new book in which she brings the trattoria scene to vivid life." —Giuliano Bugialli "If you are an insatiable cookbook collector, as I have been for the past thirty-odd years, you may feel that the last word has been written about all categories of food. I felt that way until I browsed through Biba Caggiano's Trattoria Cooking and was positively impressed that she does have a great deal of admirable things to add to the subject of Italian cookery. Her book is marvelously inspired and original and it would be an asset to anyone's library." —Craig Claiborne "Biba Caggiano's Trattoria Cooking brings out the Italian in all of us. Her simplicity of method and use of fresh wholesome ingredients make every recipe exciting. Trattoria Cooking has Old World quality and authenticity, making every dish a winner." —Bradley M. Ogden
Customer Reviews:
good book.......2007-05-29
I have an extensive collection of Italian cookbooks and this is a good one. I recommend it to anyone interested in learning a few new Italian food dishes to whip up at the next family gathering.
A Beautiful Book about Italian Cuisine!.......2006-05-18
I won't lie to you. I don't cook very much but I picked this book up at a yard sale and I donated it to my school library for our culinary shop students. It's very informative and detailed in explaining the process of cooking. I recommend it to anybody who loves Italian cooking.
Worth the price (used and cheap).......2005-03-06
It's hard to forgive a person for co-authoring a cookbook with Leo Bascaglia, but Biba does well here. Recipes range from antipasti to desserts, and include basics such as chicken and meat broth, homemade pasta and gnocchi, and pizza dough. Some recipes are a bit involved, but they don't require difficult techniques or equipment (Caggiano always instructs us to run tomatoes through a food mill to remove seeds, but I ignore this). My favorites include Fried Veal Meatballs, Risotto with Smoked Mozzarella, and Frozen Zabaglione.
This is a nice big hardcover, but no pictures.
Comfort food is found!.......2001-04-21
"Trattoria Cooking" inspires and delights. The recipes are accompanied by stories of their origins, alternative serving suggestions, wines hints...all in all, an approach to the cooking experience that let's the reader feel comfortable. Great flavors abound inside the cover.
A small word of caution needs to be offered. Beware those of you who are calorie conscious. This book is not moderate in its results. Your grandmother's grandmother would be proud of these recipes. You will want to eat more of this wonderful stuff.
JUST GOOD FOOD.......2001-04-01
We returned home from vacation in Rome with tons of memories and lots of recipes, all except the one I really wanted: the one dish that was our favorite, the one I laughed at the first time I saw it on the menu. "Do they really want someone to order pasta with lettuce?"
Back in New York City, I haunted book shops and the Library for an American "translation" of PENNE AL RADICCHIO E PANCETTA. A friend found it for us in "Trattoria Cooking" and gave us the book as a gift.
I cannot tell you how many times this easy-to-use, non-intimidating volume has saved dinner. The book is loaded with simple, authentic, family-style recipes. Every single one I've tried has turned out perfectly the first time, including the penne which is still one of my favorites. Caggiano does not drown her collection with overripe prose. Instead, she explains in one or two paragraphs why she has chosen the recipe and the region and specific trattoria it comes from. She also suggests the best wine to go with dinner. No glossy magazine photos either. Just good food. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.
Amazon.com
David Downie's delectable Cooking the Roman Way begins with an irresistible invitation: "Close your eyes and imagine you're in Rome, seated al fresco in the sun on a rooftop terrace...." This is a must-have cookbook for anyone who loves Italy and its food, serious cooks and armchair cooks alike. The recipes are simple, well-researched, and perfectly authentic. Downie delivers history and tradition so vividly you feel as though you went to Rome and learned these facts for yourself, and Alison Harris's photos help make that impression all the more real.
The more than 100 recipes are divided by course. Antipasti include the venerable Sweet-And-Sour Baby Pearl Onions, even more addictive than, Downie warns, Farro Risotto Balls with Basil and Parmigiano-Reggiano, little deep-fried nuggets of comfort food. Primi piatti include the aromatic Fennel and Bean Soup with Cherry Tomatoes, Mint, Basil, and Sage, and plenty of pasta recipes, any of which would make a great meal. Secondi cover meat, poultry, fish, and eggs, and include the marvelously rich Roman Oxtail Stew, and Spicy Boned Lamb Leg Sautéed with Rosemary, Wine, and Vinegar. Contorni are vegetables and side dishes, such as Sweet Pepper Rolls Stuffed with Cheese and Anchovy, and dolci include desserts such as Ricotta Lemon Fritters with Sambuca and Fresh Strawberry Tiramisu. Beautiful enough to give as a gift, easy enough to use every day, Downie will definitely have you Cooking the Roman Way. --Leora Y. Bloom
Book Description
Rome is the most beloved city in Italy, if not the world. Rich in culture, art, and charm, the Eternal City is also home to some of the most delicious and accessible cooking in all of Italy. Influenced by both the earthy peasant fare of the surrounding hillsides and the fish from the nearby Mediterranean, Roman food makes the most of local ingredients and simple, age-old techniques. Yet while Italian cookbooks abound, no American book has focused on Romes unique and varied fare. In this beautifully illustrated cookbook, author David Downie and photographer Alison Harris offer a comprehensive collection of more than 125 Roman recipes, exploring the lively, uncomplicated food traditionally served in Roman homes and trattorie. From well-known dishes like Spaghetti Carbonara, to popular snack food like Pizza Bianca, to distinctive specialties like Roast Suckling Lamb, each recipe in Cooking the Roman Way is simple, authentic, and easy to make at home. With four-color photographs of landmarks, markets and food, stories about and profiles of food vendors, entertaining anecdotes, and a food lovers guide to the streets of the city, this book paints a vivid picture of Rome and the food that has sustained it for millennia.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Collection of Mainstays.......2007-09-18
Everything I eat comes almost exclusively from this book. Downie does an excellent job in presenting an unbiased, uncompromising view.
I would be very pleased to read a book on the raising, selection, and slaughtering of swine detailing the curing processes used in rural America for Italian-style deli meats.
I think David Downie is just the man for this task.
Awesome, authentic Roman recipes.......2007-01-06
Many excellent recipes with a bit of history thrown in. The Tiramisu recipe is worth the cost of the book.
indispensable guide.......2006-03-19
I bought this book before a planned trip to Rome for the stories of restaurants and food stalls and eating in Rome. Then I realized how wonderful the recipes are. This book was an indispensable addition for our trip to Rome - I took along a list of restaurants and dishes to try, which I would never have known about without this book. And one of my best purchases in Rome was an abundance of dried spices from the Campo de Fiori spice man, one of many colorful locals featured in "Cooking the Roman Way"! Back at home, it is a favorite choice for finding great recipes and I have given several copies as gifts to serious cooks and Italophiles alike.
Shootout in the Forum. Two excellent books. One Winner.......2003-12-27
Two books on Roman cooking have appeared within the last eighteen (18) months, which gives us a golden opportunity to proof one against the other to find the better book. The first published last year, the current subject, is `Cooking the Roman Way' by David Downie. The second is the more recently published book `In a Roman Kitchen: Timeless Recipes from the Eternal City' by Jo Bettoja.
In general, Downie's book appears to be based more on restaurante, trattoria, and osteria recipes while Bettoja seems to rely more on home cooking recipes. Still, there is a significant overlap of recipe names. I had no trouble at all finding five recipes with the same traditional Italian name, although the English translation of the name may have been a little different. I give high marks to both authors for giving the Italian names of all dishes in both the text and the index.
I compared the recipes for five dishes:
Gnocchi di Semolino alla Romana
Spaghetti alla Carbonara
Cipolline in Agrodolce alla Romana
Carciofi alla Giudia
Frittata con Zucchini
Although no pair of recipes was the same, I can find virtually nothing in these five recipes which would suggest that one author was presenting consistently superior recipes. I was slightly annoyed with Downie for specifying white coctail onions in the Cipolline recipe, especially since I have no trouble finding cipolline in my local Pennsylvania megamart. My conclusion that Downie relies on the Trattoria and Bettoja relies on the home is in the sources they cite for their recipes. Both appear to give equal time to the influence of the Jewish quarter on Roman cooking.
In Bettoja's case, the focus seems to be on a large number of recipes for each major type of Roman dish. She has, for example, more pasta, artichoke, and fava bean recipes than Downie, and also more dessert recipes. This is ironic since Downie controverts one of my hero Mario Batali's claims that Italians do not go in for sweets.
In contrast, Downie includes many seminally Roman recipes which Bettoja simply ignores. He has excellent recipes for making both Pizza Bianco, a certifiable Roman speciality, and fresh fettucini, including sound recommendations on making the fettucini completely by hand and with the assistance of power mixers and power pasta rolling machines. Most surprising of all is that Downie includes the recipe for Gnocchi di Patate while Bettoja does not. My understanding from Mario is that this is a Roman speciality and every trattoria in Rome serves it on Thursday. Alternately, Claudia Roden identifies it as a northern (Friuli) Italian speciality. Since Downie specifically cites potato gnocchi as the Roman canonical dish for Thursday and thereby agrees with Mario, I have to assume that while the dish may be promenant outside Rome, it is certainly a distinctively Roman dish as well.
Bettoja is a teacher who runs her own culinary school in Rome while Downie is a culinary journalist, so it surprises me that it is Downie who has the superior sidebars on some basic techniques such as how to clean an artichoke (sidebars with step by step photographs) and how to roast and skin sweet peppers.
Even though Bettoja's book is later and even though the books have identical list prices and almost identical page counts, Downie's book is much richer in the quality and quantity of it's photographs, almost all with useful captions. I generally do not count good photography to a cookbook's credit, but in the case of a book dedicated to so photogenic a location as Rome, I must make an exception here. For the identical price, Downie and his photographer and editors have simply done a much better job. Downie's book is also richer in sidebars on general Roman and Italian culinary matters. The sidebar on the sources of Pecorino Romano, which is made in greater quanities in Sardinia than it is in Lazio, was a great surprise. His headnotes for individual dishes are also richer in explaining the history of many dishes such as Fettucini Alfredo and Fettucini alla Papalina.
In the battle of the blurbs, Downie has Mario and Carol Field while Bettoja has Lidia Bastianich and Frances Mayes on her back cover. I think that's a tie.
I would buy both of these books, even with the rather substantial overlap in named dishes. The overlap is actually a plus for amateur foodie scholars, as it gives one the sense of exactly how different two sources can be with exactly the same dish. Bettoja is a great source for pasta recipes and Roman desserts, while Downie has much greater success at evoking the Roman ambiance and in covering deeper techniques. Downie also wins the points on domestic sources for flour and other Italian specialities. Bettoja rather quixotically gives us the telephone numbers of companies in Rome. Not very useful unless you plan to visit Rome in the near future.
Both books are recommended. If you need to choose one, I would pick Downie's book.
nostalgic.......2002-12-08
well, what can I say: having lived in Rome many many years, the title caught my attention. Yes, it is all true, those stories, those foods, those open-air markets, those wild greens sold as "misticanza". I am particularly grateful for the names of the individuals portrayed in the pictures. And something that other cookbooks don't mention, but this does, is the difference between american Globe artichokes and the Romanesco artichoke. My only regret, and unavoidable in my opinion, is that as italian society is evolving, those people portrayed in the book in bringing us the sources of these unique foods, as the old babuska-like produce market ladies that roamed the Appian way and Valley of the Caffarella for those wild greens to sell it like a sort of "spring-mix", are a species destined to extinction. The market Campo de Fiori is not anymore a market for the masses, but a market for the very wealthy, where peaches shipped in winter from Argentina are sold for two Euros each. In a way, the title given to this review reflects the fact that this book is really describing this almost extinct world. How the masses, now living in the suburbs and away from open markets of downtown rome, cope in continuing the culinary traditions of their parents and grandparents in a society that limits the traditional role of the home-maker that has plenty of free time to shop in morning-only markets, is the real question for the future. I say to the authors, see what the supermarkets in the suburbs are packing and selling in the produce section, and you'll see what nostalgic cookbooks will be written 30-40 years from now.
Customer Reviews:
Casual elegance.......2003-10-31
Organized by course, the sumptuously illustrated "Trattoria" focuses on casual dishes as served in neighborhood restaurants throughout Italy.
Appetizers include crostini, bruschetta and grilled shrimp wrapped in prosciutto and zucchini. First courses include classics like lasagna Bolognese and Tuscan vegetable soup as well as an elegant, time-consuming eggplant and walnut ravioli in tomato-pesto sauce.
Main courses offer a similar range, from Neapolitan-style braised beef Braciole or duck with Vin Santo to swordfish rolls stuffed with shrimp. And for dessert - Tiramisu, plum cake or sweet gorgonzola with baked figs and honey. This balanced presentation is capped with accompanying photographs of the finished dishes which are absolutely irresistible. Also included is a chapter of basics - pasta making and stocks.
The Author Knows Her Stuff.......2000-09-19
An excellent choice for a gift book for those who love authentic Italian Cooking, or even better for yourself. You would have to do months and months of research to gain the knowledge contained in this book. The pictures will make your mouth water, and the instructions will easliy guide you as you learn the secrets of the Tratorria. I highly recommend it. Purchase and enjoy this book, and maybe, if you're lucky, Mary Beth will send you her secret recipe for Lasagna.
Book Description
This is how popular Italian cook Ursula Ferrigno starts out this fantastically illustrated book that includes recipes inspired by and taken from some of the best trattorias all over Italy. More than just a cookbook, this book is a travelogue, filled with colorful images and mouth-watering recipes sure to transport the reader into the world of home-style Italian food. The healthy recipes teach readers to make family food simply and without fuss, using good, fresh ingredients.
Average customer rating:
- OK, but some problems
- enough, enough
- enough, enough
- enough, enough
- Best available in English
|
Gambero Rosso Rome: Restaurants, Trattorias, Pizzerias, Wine Bars, Snacks, Wine Shops, Gourmet Foods, Home & Table, Hotels
Manufacturer: Gambero Rosso
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Culinary Arts & Techniques | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Food & Wine | Wine | Drinks & Beverages | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Dining | Food & Lodging | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Italy | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
Rome | Italy | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1890142034 |
Customer Reviews:
OK, but some problems.......2004-05-07
I used this book on a recent trip to Rome. While I found the book fairly useful, and have no major disagreements with the other reviewers, I have two major problems with it:
1. It is 5 years old. While the release date is shown as 2000, the copyright is 1999, meaning the data was probably collected in 1998-9. I found that some restaurants no longer existed (after spending a long time trying to find them). As we all know, a lot can change in 5 years.
2. I found the book very difficult to use. There are no maps. I would have liked to use the book for answering the question "What restaurants are near to where I am right now?" While there is a section listing the restaurants by area, it requires a lot of cross-checking with the reviews, and the names of the areas did not always correspond with the names on my map. Once I found a restaurant that sounded promising, it always took some time to find it on my map (look up street on the map index, find street, determine how close it was to where I was. Repeat for next restaurant).
I think that this book would be great for someone living in Rome (or there for an extended period) who is familiar with the areas and streets of Rome. However, for the casual visitor who is there for a few days, the difficulty of using it out-weigh the benefits.
(...)
Again, for someone living in Rome and familiar with it, the Russo book would be great.(...)
enough, enough.......2003-03-26
I bought this book and I read another reviewer who said it left some worthwhile restaurants out. I cannot say if this is true or not, but I can say that every recommended restaurant I visited (there were four of them) was very good, a step above other restaurants that we happened to stop into.
I not criticize anyone, but if you are visiting Rome for only a few days or even weeks, there are plenty of good restaurants to try here. Maybe some were left out, but more than enough were left in. I think you would have to be in Rome for a very long time to miss the others.
It is a good book. I loaned it to my cousin, who is going to Rome soon.
enough, enough.......2003-03-26
I bought this book and I read another reviewer who said it left some worthwhile restaurants out. I cannot say if this is true or not, but I can say that every recommended restaurant I visited (there were four of them) was very good, a step above other restaurants that we happened to stop into.
I not criticize anyone, but if you are visiting Rome for only a few days or even weeks, there are plenty of good restaurants to try here. Maybe some were left out, but more than enough were left in. I think you would have to be in Rome for a very long time to miss the others.
It is a good book. I loaned it to my cousin, who is going to Rome soon.
enough, enough.......2003-03-26
I bought this book and I read another reviewer who said it left some worthwhile restaurants out. I cannot say if this is true or not, but I can say that every recommended restaurant I visited (there were four of them) was very good, a step above other restaurants that we happened to stop into.
I not criticize anyone, but if you are visiting Rome for only a few days or even weeks, there are plenty of good restaurants to try here. Maybe some were left out, but more than enough were left in. I think you would have to be in Rome for a very long time to miss the others.
It is a good book. I loaned it to my cousin, who is going to Rome soon.
Best available in English.......2003-03-20
The Gabero Rosso guides are legendary in Italy. Serious Italian food and wine lovers will rarely try something new without a recommendation from a friend, and often that friend is the Gambero Rosso guide. And I, along with many of my friends, won't travel through the countryside without a copy of the Gambero Rosso restaurant guide -- that way when we get hungry, we can quickly locate a great place to eat, call ahead and find ourselves sitting down before tasty meal very quickly and easily.
The problem for the causal tourist has always been that the Gambero Rosso restaurant guides are not published in English.
Now there is at least this book. While the Rome guide obviously lacks the vastness of the national editions, it is the best available English-language resource for anyone in the Eternal City looking to find a great meal at a restaurant that isn't already listed in every other guide book.
Granted, this book suffers from some of the shortcomings of the Gambero Rosso series as a whole: it generally doesn't reward restaurants that do something out of the ordinary, no matter how good, and the growing sector of ethnic and fusion restaurants in the capital are ignored. One might even criticize the choice of Rome for Gambero Rosso's first English-language restaurant guide, since Florence, Bologna and Genoa all have culinary traditions superior to that of Rome (no doubt Rome's 30 million tourists a year were the deciding factor there). But for any ex-pat living in Rome or any English-speaking visitor who wants some solid advice on where to eat his or her tripa or tagliateli, this is the book you want.
Book Description
Just Noodles takes a different tack on strategic planning and adapts its principles to fit the needs of small business. Strategic theory taught in business schools and used in practice is designed for the Fortune 500 company. However, the theory is the same and equally applies to both the corporate giant and the family business. This text compiles relevant economic, strategic and game theory principles and explains them in a useful and understandable format for the small business. Theoretical knowledge is coupled with experience and insight to offer steps used in finding solutions to problems facing the small businessperson.
www.saltmineconsulting.com
Customer Reviews:
Review of Strategic Decisions for Small Business: It's Just Noodles, This Ain't no Trattoria.......2007-04-21
I picked up the author's blog: Blogging in the saltmine, and was intrigued by his views. His book is an excellent primer for the uninitiated, and a refresher for those embroiled in the fray of competition. He covers no new ideas, as the field is incredibly broad, but he presents the basket of knowledge in a way to cause one to take a hard look at their actions. The author reminds us that the basics of "blocking and tackling" are important; the small businessperson should periodically step back and evaluate his position. It is a short read but chock full of perspective!
Hendrix Serves Up A Classic Dish- With Spice!.......2007-01-08
While statistics concerning the failure rate of small businesses are
often subject of debate, there are no doubt a great number of small businesses that encounter great difficulty within the first years of opening their doors. The difficulty surfaces once the business outgrows its current facilities, capital structure, or skill set of the owners who suddenly find themselves in over their heads. As business owners are starved for knowledge, Just Noodles serves up a healthy portion of business know-how, set off by a balance of entertaining anecdotes.
Targeted for the audience of small business owners ready to take their ideas to the next level, Just Noodles tackles questions often asked, but rarely answered in bite-sized portions. No matter your background, Just Noodles dishes up the opportunity to learn how the financial community evaluates a business; what to expect to hear from lenders; the appropriate time to bring in a consultant or business coach for an outside perspective, or how to correct small issues before they become big problems.
Whether you received a formal business education or learned it through the School of Hard Knocks, this book provides a strong collection of simple examples highlighting many important keys to understanding business. In short, Just Noodles reminds the reader that fundamentals will always
matter. From the flashback to economics texts with an entertaining discussion of Guns & Butter to understanding product life cycles and application of strategy for success, Just Noodles uses lighthearted,
yet accurate case studies for illustration. The author truly delivers a digestible collection sure to satisfy any small business reader's hunger.
R. Blake Hendrix draws upon years of experience in public accounting, banking, and small business consulting, delivering to the table a steaming plate of reality for business owners faced with difficult choices. Hendrix entertains while he educates. For example, he describes an amusing parallel of Southern fishing techniques with important and often less sexy ideas on dissecting a business in order to analyze the keys for continued success.
Reviewer, D. Scott Cooksey, is an author and speaker based in Tulsa, Oklahoma who has served countless business and individual clients in financial services for nearly 15 years. Cooksey offers workshops, training programs and personal appearances to address leadership.
Average customer rating:
- Northern Italy: A Taste of Trattoria
- DELICIOUS!
|
Northern Italy: A Taste of Trattoria
Christina Baglivi
Manufacturer: Mustang Publishing Company (TN)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Hospitality, Travel & Tourism | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Italian | European | Regional & International | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Italy | Europe | Travel | Subjects | Books
Dining | Food & Lodging | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
General | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0914457721 |
Book Description
Delightful guide to the delicious mom-and-pop cafes in Northern Italy.(1995)
Customer Reviews:
Northern Italy: A Taste of Trattoria.......2006-11-10
I love this book, it's the best travel book to find where the locals go to eat. And, when you aren't traveling you can almost smell and feel the different trattorias by reading the vingettes about each one. I've given this book as gifts to several people traveling in Italy and they have all found it fun to follow the maps and find an out-of-the-way place with great food. Once in Venice the cook saw the book and was so happy he showed it to everyone in the place and gave us more of their house wine -- not something that happens on the normal tourist route.
DELICIOUS!.......2000-10-29
I just returned from a 2-week trip to Italy, and this book pointed us to at least 6 unforgettable meals that we would have otherwise missed. A charming guide.
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