I am now Jewish and/or Tenente Henry...

I always thought eating cheese with some pears/apples and chunks of bread was really Hemingway-esque and really foreign to me, but as of late I really like eating Grana Padano cheese (sort of like Parmiggiano but more flavorful), and by "really like" I mean I'm certifiably obsessed--i CRAVE it...

Seriously isn't that the most beautiful cheese on earth? I love slicing it superthin and eating it with the Fairway 5 mix Olives & rosemary...thing...and mini toast that just rocks my little socks. You can't go wrong with olive tepanade but I'm digging the whole olives at the moment--green, purple, red, french, italian, greek, californian, etc...

Did I mention I bring a little tupperware thing of the Grana Padano sliced up, with some olives, and some Zomick's egg challa bread (comes in an orange/white checkered plastic bag--and sometimes breakaway rolls! :))? That or the All from Fairway? yeaaaaah.....

Btw--kalamata olives are overated, the French's (nicoise) and Italy's (Belle di Cerignola) is the bommmmmmb. :)

In Vino + [Mike's Pastries v. Ferrara's]...

There are 2 places in the city I go for Italian: Pisticci's near Columbia, and In Vino in the LES. Both have distinctive, brief menus--all the food is well portioned, well seasoned (or perfectly lightly flavored), culmination of interesting sauces + flavors that sets them apart from other Italian places *anywhere*. (side note: I don't like the lobster tail @ Ferrara's on Grand & Mulberry b/c the filling is more custardy and marscapone-like instead of a sweet cheese like ricotta @ Mike's Pastries in beanown) Here's some torrone instead :) :

Anyway, Annie visited from CA in October with her boyf--so I took her for non-Asian foodies @ Cuba Cafe and In Vino :)...Cuba Cafe will be saved for later when I can find my photos--so back to In Vino.

Anyway, Annie got the Gnocchi w/ gorgonzola cream sauce + walnuts, I got the Papardelle with shrimp arrabiata (which I always do), and Chris got the porcini Ravioli in truffle cream sauce.

The pastas are home-made...per se...but it tastes noticeably different and wonderful ^_^ Anyhoodle, I ran into Albee w/ his boyf there once and they got the risotto special--it was freakin' amazing, but me & Jun still stuck to our usuals.

We [as in pretty much anyone I go with, and I go too often] tend to start with the sottocenere cheese plate (cow's milk cheese with truffle oil and truffle flakes) with apples, walnuts, and a really intensely flavored, dark honey. I don't care much for many cheeses but I LOVE the truffle cheese!! warm, kinda nutty, creamy taste (sorta) with a delicate truffle flavor, but especially fragrant per se with the truffle.

Sometimes I get the crostino di avocado (avocado + goat cheese puree on toast and it's freakin' AWESOME). Jun and I split the calamari salad the last time I was there--white wine sauce w/ tomatoes and...lemon and something whatever. Blah di blah blah. pictures later.