andiamotrips - campania, italy with karen phillips

The sun sets early this time of year.  And by the time that Chef Luciano Villani of La Locanda del Borgo sent out this main course, it was already after 4 pm, the second hour-ish of a lunch which began a couple of hours earlier.  No problem, no rush. And this was worth the wait. A cube of tender, really tender ,  boneless veal shoulder- reale di vitello in Italian,   One of the most prized cuts on the block.  The chef served it with a topinambur sauce.  A what?  Topinambur..also known as Jerusalem artichoke, sunchoke, sunroot, or earth apple.  Grande.  To the side was an nearly roasted artichoke with a surprising spectacular licorice sauce... Marvelous.

  I went back to the   La Locanda del Borgo Restaurant in Telese (Bn) nearly 14 months after my first visit.  That afternoon at lunch I was treated to an exciting array of dishes by Chef Luciano Villani that embrace not only quality products  the Benevento area, but from the entire Campania region as well.  Like this amazing appetizer.  Check it out: A compact pallina, ball, of minced Marchigiana beef from the Sannio area.  The chef carefully placed on top seasonal field salad and - wait - a specialty.  Peschiole from Variano Paternora, a cross between peaches and nectarines.  The chef sprinkled extra virgin olive oil powder on top. An amazing appetizer with gusto!

And so here we are.  The end of a long and lovely meal at Palazzo Petrucci i n Naples. The end of the meal that means the arrival of the dolce...the dessert. Dessert which most of us have a tendency to want to pass over.   No...I don't have any space , we say.   Ok, just a bite.  To make the chef happy , we say to ourselves. As the server made his way down the long staircase that connected Palazzo Petrucci's kitchen to the dining room below, I was just a little curious as to what pastry chef Lucio Paciello decided to send down,   Something chocolate? I wondered. Far from it. A pistachio dacquoise .   Dacquoise ?  A soft cookie made with egg yolks, dried fruits and sugar Paciello wrote me afterwards.  But there was  much  much more!  Mango sauce, lime ganache and a pistachio parfait.  Was there space?  Yes there was. I made sure there was . Light and fresh was my humble opinion.  As I took my second bite, Sommelier Sergio Martinelli had a surprise or two h

My first visit to Palazzo Petrucci in the heart of Naples was full of fabulous flavors and surprises.  A pasta dish  like this one by by Michelin star chef Lino Scarallo is just one of the reasons why.   Scarallo chose fidelini pasta- a long  pasta whose diamater is smaller than spaghetti.  A wise choice for the sauce which embraced it.  Caffe' - Neapolitan caffe' - whose strong personality melded with fresh ginger and scampi making it subtle...elegant. A fusion which is imaginative, creative, friendly, impressive and fantastic. Like the city of Napoli itself.

Chef Luigi Salomone A visit to the seaside town of Castellammare Di Stabia was the perfect choice that unusually warm November afternoon.  My destination was Piazzetta Milu' to check out the new menu by Chef Luigi Salomone .  One of the dishes that caught my eye - and taste buds! - was his guinea fowl alla diavola.  The chef served this game bird in three ways spicy alla diavola versions.   The breast with its skin crunchy and croccante .   A boneless thigh spicy and piccante .   And what's this?  Ravioli shaped like a crest stuffed with flavorful fowl.  Maitre Sommelier Emanuele Izzo chose to pair this   marvelous main course with  Helletto Rosso Veneto IGP 2009.

Maesto Alfonso Pepe So there I was, one Saturday morning in St Egidio Del Monte Albino having a coffee while googling the pastries at Pepe Pasticceria . Several months have passed since I met Maestro Pastry Chef Alfonso Pepe for the first time during a charity  dinner  at pizzeria ,. That evening I had the chance to speak with the chef as he awaited his turn to present his delicious highly sought after desserts.  It was back then, over a slice of pizza, that I asked Pepe if I could swing by his place if I was ever in his neck of the words.   Certo! Of course , was his reply. So to assume I was patiently awaiting to be escorted to Pepe who was in his laboratory preparing panettone wouldn't be exactly true.  Goosebumps and butterflies in my stomach would pretty much describe the scene.  Plus, the Maestro was preparing panettone!!   The traditional Christmas cake that has put his on the podium as being the best in Italy back in 2014. Quite a bit going on as I reached

November has arrived.  And though the calendar says we are well into the Autumn season, the weather in Campania has been unusually warm.  One way to tell the change in seasons is by checking out the new menus in some of the regions favorite restaurants. Like some of the items that I had a chance to try recently by Chef Lorenzo Montoro of O steria Al Paese in Nocera Inferiore (Sa),  This chef is known for taking simple seasonal ingredients from the territory and focusing on their fantastic flavors. In fact, he spends his days between his family's farm Masseria Piglioucco/ Montoroerbe  and the restaurant. Chef Lorenzo Montoro To get things started, an egg yolk cuddled in broccoli leaves  on top of cauliflower and   caciocavallo cheese. Truffle shavings on top added a boost of down to earthiness . Next, a couple of appetizers, once again, highlighting the simplicity of country cooking, with a slight gourmet flair.  Chick peas; creamy soup and crunchy chips.

C hef Antonino Maresca and Chef Giulio Coppola I decided to accept Chef Giulio Coppola' s invitation to attend a cena a quattro mani that he would be hosting at his restaurant in Gragnano.   Ok, chef, I'll  accept,  but under one condition.  I asked the chef if it would be possible for me to sit in the corner of the kitchen instead of at a table in the dining room,  I mean, the kitchen would be the best place to be to see and feel the excitement of the evening.  I really wanted to witness the sparks and chemistry between  Chef Coppola and his guest for the evening, top pastry Chef Antonino Maresca. And so there I sat, and stood, and watched, and tasted, and quietly asked questions, and tasted again as the evening went from the aperitif to the final dessert. Here's what went down.... Aperitif: Potato croquettes, fried puffed packages of ricotta and cigoli , rice sartu' with pumpkin squash, and cream of tompimabur and gorgonzola with dark chocolate shavings