Here we are in the midst of the holidays and this sad abandoned blog. So much to get you up to speed on… we went on out wonderful trip back to England and then went on to Sardinia, Naples and Rome. The food was fantastic in all destinations. Notable culinary take-aways;

1. I prefer roman pizza to neopolitan. What is the difference? Roman is less doughy, more crispy.
2. Naples was authentic, cheap, and the food was delicious. One night, Nick and I had a three course meal each with a carafe of wine and it came to something crazy like 22 euro,
3. I don’t understand why we don’t have enoteca’s here, they are the most amazing thing. What are enoteca’s? The dopest happy hour. They are wine bars that often serve nibblies to accompany your drinks. Hopping from enoteca to enoteca nibbling on cheeses and cakes and drinking delicious wines was probably the closest I will ever come to ‘bar-hopping’.
4. Though often served crispy as a pre-dinner snack with bread, the ancient Sardinian crispy bread, Pane Carasau, is best soaked in a delicious tomato sauce.
5. We should also expand our whole food truck thing to include outdoor markets serving street food. My fam lives in Norwich, and they have an amazing market I went to for lunch a lot – this year it was voted “best large outdoor market in Britain“, check out this amazing list of places to eat.
6. My cuz is killin it with his pizza place, they even just came out with a frozen line.
7. I may like smoked cheeses in the right context. I had the most amazing artichoke and provalone lasagna in Rome.

Here is a quick run-down of some of the restaurants. In Rome Masto was our favorite. Their lasagnas are to die for (we had a gorgonzola +radicchio, artichoke+provolone, and a courgette+grana padano). Ambiance is also on point.Casa Manco, situated in the middle of a cool food market, has the tastiest, crunchy pizza slices. Highlight of the show here was the caramelized onion with mandarin. If I lived in Rome I would be at Pasticceria Barberini all the time. Outside of great coffee and pastries this divine bustling bakery has petit fours to die for. Ivo a Trastavere has delicious food but the service we experienced (or lack there-of) was date-ruining. Thank god for the recovery of amaro and gelato. Al Ristoro degli Angeli is an established Michelin guide restaurant owned by a vegetarian. They had a lot for us and the ambiance was romantic. The best was the burrata with caponata, I didn’t even think I liked caponata but I guess I do done well.

In Naples; Trattoria Nenella was an insane vibrant place reflective of a side of the city itself. If you find yourself in Naples go here and immerse yourself in the singing, yelling and tasty ridiculously cheap food. Also, get Nenella’s salad.

Sardinia: Il Rifugio dei Sapori was a lovely lunch gem, more like a little deli where you can get bits and bobs. No one spoke english and our Italian is shite so we just said ‘vegetarian’ and they gave us a smattering of things, not sure what they were but they were all good.

In England the best meal was Benedicts the environs were a bit fussy, but the food was delicious. Ruths is a lovely Israeli spot with a lot of soul. The food was kind of just ok, will try again next time. The Street Cafe and Woolf and Social were amazing as usual and are definitely my faves in Norwich.

Though there were so many good’uns to choose from, the winner from the fab outdoor market was the delicious Chilean Cocina Mia – finally some greens and spice!

Roasted Persimmon and Beet Salad

• 3 beets
• 2 persimmon
• 1 tsp rosemary
• 1/4 cup of nuts (I used almonds, but pecans, walnuts or hazelnuts also would have been nice)
• olive oil, enough to coat and then another tbsp for dressing
• salt
• apple cider vinegar, a capful
• clove of garlic, pressed
• a handful of mixed greens
• goat cheese to garnish

Preheat oven to 385F. Boil up beets for ~25mins. When done, dunk in cold water and remove skins.

Slice persimmon and beet. Toss in a sprinkle of rosemary, a splash of olive oil, salt, and 1/4 cup of crumbled nut of your choice. Roast for 25 minutes (check halfway and give em a turn).

Make dressing with a clove of garlic, olive oil, a splash of apple cider vinegar and salt.

After cooled, toss in greens and dressing. Top with crumbly goat cheese.