andiamotrips - campania, italy with karen phillips

  Karen, have you spoken to Giuseppe lately?  Do you know he opened up a restaurant?  Really?   I asked my friend Luca.   Where? In the city... It has been a couple of years since I had seen Giuseppe.   A couple of crazy years, so, no- I was unaware that after last summer in Ischia, my friend, maître sommelier Giuseppe Di Ruocco had recently opened up a restaurant in Fuorigrotta in Naples.   Bothanica. Bothanica is a green oasis in the heart of the city, not far from downtown Naples.   Not far from the soccer stadium, right next to a very busy hospital.   But you soon forget all that as you turn down the dirt road that takes you into a place world’s away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Naples is like that.   It has hidden pockets of peace that let you take a little break form the city without leaving the city. It is in this little pocket where Di Ruocco and Mario Maselli opened up Bothanica e few months ago.   ...

  Chef Luigi Costigliola and Restaurant Manager Luca Costagliola Ok, but why is the restaurant named Bugiarda? I asked with a smile and giggle.      That was one of my questions during my pre pre-dessert chit chat with Chef Luigi Costigliola and  Restaurant Manager Luca Costagliola in Hostaria Bugiarda ’s cool cozy dining room last Sunday afternoon.   You see, bugiarda in Italian means liar – and I had just spent the last couple of hours with these two cousins who  took me on an enogastronomical journey full of flavors, creativity, some surprises-but no lies. A journey which began soon after Luca showed me to my comfy corner booth and asked me what I’d like to drink.   You decide, please , was my response, but let’s try to keep it in Campania.   Montenuovo Rosé Campi Flegrei  Piedirosso, Cantine Babbo     Luca poured a glass, I sipped as Luigi sent out his welcome- pane e panelle – a fried chickpea sandw...

Summer.  The perfect time to relax and do whatever you want to do.  Last week, my whatever I want to do included going out for a pizza.  My whatever I want to do included trying Kuma 65 in nearby Bacoli for the first time.  I called to reserve a table for 8 pm. I sat down at a table just on the edge of Lake Fusaro with a glass of spumante and a gentle breeze to keep me company.  Kuma 65 is a restaurant/pizzeria with a wide array of menu items which seemed to be calling my name.  Maybe next time , I answered back -  this evening I want  a pizza .  So when Luigi, my serve,r came over to take my order, that was exactly what I told him. But first, let's start with an appetizer -  Kuma 65's cheesecake di tonno rosso /red tuna cheesecake. Red tuna tartare with stracciatella buffalo mozzarella and toasted croutons. Then my pizza Kuma 65's Cetara, which, to me, is a southern Italian summer season disguised as a pizza. Let's begin with the n...

  "Click your heels together three times and say ' There's no place like home' and you'll be there." Words spoken to Dorothy by Glinda the Good Witch in the film The Wizard of Oz.   I thought about those words as I headed out to Bacoli last Saturday for lunch.   I did not have ruby slippers as Dorothy did in the film, but I did have on my favorite pair of black high top sneakers.   Will that work ? I laughed to myself as my son and I pulled into the parking lot off a narrow street in a cozy little neighborhood.   Right across the street from Home- Piccola Osteria Alternative, the Chef Tommaso Di Meo’s newest adventure which he opened up at the end of June. It was our first time home, and we were greeted by the following phrase un our way up the stairs….. what you have never seen, you'll find  where you have never been ...and our very hospitable server, Felice Esposito .  Esposito led us across the attractive dining room to a table by the large s...