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WEEK SIXTY-ONE: May 18-23

Piemonte, Risotto & Napoleon. In their regional cuisines, Italians understand and celebrate their homegrown specialties, much of which are rooted in long traditions.  Piemonte is rich in ingredients ranging from the Alps to the rice paddies of its plains, to the manicured vineyards on the rolling hills of Le Langhe. Our menu this week showcases all of these, embellished with local folklore and historic battle stories.

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WEEK SIXTY MENU: May 11-16

Kicking off Festival Season in the Italian Riviera. Italy's best kept food secret is the "sagra", a festival organized to show off the typical enogastronomic products of a particular area.  During the second week of May the "Sagra del Pesce" is held in Camogli, a stunning seaside village south of Genova on the Ligurian coast, also known as the Italian Riviera.  This week we pay homage to the coastal ingredients and spirit of this beautiful region and perhaps remember some of our own summer getaways and beachside picnics.

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WEEK FIFTY-NINE MENU: May 4-9, 2021

The original cowboys were Italian!  Oh yes they were! The Butteri of southern Tuscany have been an intrinsic part of the Maremma area for centuries, riding and roping long-horned cattle on horseback.  Maybe that explains, in part, why Italians have always been intrigued with the American West. The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, recognized as one of the top ten films of all time, was an Italian-made Western, emblematic of the widely popular genre of movies directed by Italian, Sergio Leone, in the 1960s and 70s that were ultimately dubbed "Spaghetti Westerns."  They were a stark depiction of the Old West, featuring characters who possessed both heroic and villainous traits, the most prominent being "The Man with No Name"...

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WEEK FIFTY-EIGHT MENU: April 27-May 2, 2021

It's A Roman Holiday! The iconic Academy Award winning movie, Roman Holiday, helped to position post-war Italy as a mecca for film, fashion and modern culture.  A story of a nemph-like princess, played by Audrey Hepburn, it recounts her one glorious day on the lam in Rome.  The 1950's viewer is introduced, possibly for the first time, to the seductive Eternal City through her experiences -- like riding on a run-away Vespa, dancing in a piazza, sitting at a sidewalk café or enjoying a gelato on the Spanish Steps. But you can't talk of Rome without celebrating its food.  To taste true Roman cooking, it is essential to eat in it's small "osteria" or "trattorie." Our menu this week highlights some of...

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WEEK FIFTY-SEVEN MENU: April 20-25

Renaissance Masters and Food. Italy boasts some of the longest living citizens in the world.  A crucial reason is the Italian diet with its roots in the past.  Much like today, food was the cultural center of life in Renaissance Italy.  It played an important role in religious holidays and family celebrations and relied heavily on the use of seasonal ingredients. The Italians had some of the best chefs and cooks in Europe at the time.   This week’s menu is an interpretation using ingredients that Italians most certainly enjoyed in the early 16th century, including many fresh aromatics.

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