Matters of Taste

Giving Thanks for Butternut and Burrata

Butternut squash is the darling of today’s chefs who tuck it into ravioli, fold it into risotto, mash and top it with frizzled leeks, puree it with ginger for a sublime soup, and much, much more.

I’m a huge fan of the homely, hard-to-peel wonder. Last fall, while traveling in Austria, I managed to eat butternut squash soup in a different restaurant every day for 21 days. My post about the adventure includes photos that’ll make your mouth water.

 

But recently, I found a new object of my affection in Napa Valley. That would be the combination of butternut and burrata at Bottega, chef/restaurateur Michael Chiarello’s newest restaurant in the Yountville.

(For those who haven't made the acquaintance of this insanely rich Italian cheese, it's a type of fresh mozzarella that's wrapped around heavy cream. Tear it apart or poke in a fork and you're awash in pure, sweet, fresh cream goodness.)

Bottega's Antipasti menu said simply Burrata. But, the descriptive words underneath made me drool.

“Creamy mozzarella burrata with roasted butternut squash, caramelized mushrooms and shallots, brown butter vinaigrette, balsamic caviar.”

It was a “Be still, my heart” moment.

 

And the dish delivered, big time. Large fleshy, butter-blessed cubes of orange squash mingled with chewy bits of mushroom (the server said porcini) and soft, golden shallot shards. A couple of miraculously moist blobs of burrata clung to the heap, and the clever vinaigrette (who’s ever heard of a butter vinaigrette?) laced the veggies and swirled around the plate.

“Thanksgiving,” I whispered as I ate the last morsel of a portion that could have easily served four.  “This is pure Thanksgiving.”

But I couldn’t wait that long to try it at home. My version (pictured here) wasn’t as lovely as Chiarello’s...my cubes of squash were not as firm and distinct. And I chose to sauté  a cup of chopped sweet onion with the mushrooms instead of the shallots. But the final result was as delicious and comforting as his.

The butternut squash triumph wasn’t the only thing to celebrate at Bottega. A quivering pecorino cheese pudding,  served with a crispy, crumb-cloaked soft-boiled egg and oven-roasted rapini, was fabulous.  As was a salad of roasted golden and chiogga beets dressed with pistachio vinaigrette and Point Reyes blue cheese. And a pasta with Bolognese sauce that sounded commonplace was remarkable for the depth of flavor of its veal, pork and porcini sauce.

 

 The atmosphere at Bottega, too, is a draw. Located in Yountville's historic Marketplace 1870 , the restaurant features roaring fireplaces, a stylish lounge with good-looking people two-deep at the bar, a sprawling outdoor terrace and several pretty dining rooms with views of the bustling  open kitchen. 

For folks who still haven't settled on a menu for today's feast (that would be those risk-takers who were at Vons and Whole Foods last night), here's the recipe for the butternut and burrata special. Plain roasted turkey is an ideal complement for the richness of the dish.

Everyone else can consider it for the December holidays.

Roasted Butternut Squash and Mushrooms with Burrata

Serves 6

 

3 ½ cups mushrooms, any variety, sliced or cut into small chunks

5 cups 1-inch cubes of peeled butternut squash, about 2 ½ pounds

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided use (more, to taste)

4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

12 ounces burrata

 

Brown Butter Vinaigrette

6 tablespoons unsalted butter  

1 tablespoon minced sage

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

Pinch of salt, kosher or gray salt

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees,

Heat a large ovenproof skillet over high heat. Add 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. When the butter has melted, add the squash cubes to the pan and cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the squash is caramelized, about 5 minutes. Slide the pan into the oven and roast until the squash looks brown on the edges, about 20 minutes.

While the squash roasts, make the brown butter vinaigrette. Melt  the 6 tablespoons butter in a saute pan. Brown the sage for one minute, then  pour in the vinegar and let it reduce by half. Don’t stir or touch it. Just keep it on a simmer, gently reducing until thickened. Add the salt at the end.

To sauté the mushrooms, add the remaining 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil to a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, cooking until they begin to release their water, about 8 minutes. Add the shallots to the pan and sauté until brown, tossing so they cook evenly. Season with salt and pepper and add another tablespoon of butter if they look dry. Gently fold mushroom mixture into the squash cubes.

To serve, divide the squash-mushroom mix evenly among 6 plates. With your hands, tear the burrata into medium-small pieces, scattering it over the vegetables. Drizzle with the vinaigrette.

 

Feeding the Hungry: Food 4 Kids Backpack Program

Everyone is fixated on food this week. That’s what Thanksgiving is all about.

So it seems particularly appropriate to also spend some time thinking about the people who don’t have enough to eat.  The San Diego Food Bank launched a program in 2007 to provide food for chronically hungry elementary school students. Specifically, the Food 4 Kids Backpack Program provides food to feed them on weekends when they’re at home and often left with nothing to eat. (Photo from the San Diego Food Bank Website.)

Every Friday, eligible kids in some dozen San Diego, Vista and Chula Vista schools, receive backpacks with child-friendly items such as peanut butter, pop-top canned goods, cereal, juice boxes, fruit cups, raisins, pudding cups, granola bars, shelf-stable milk and macaroni and cheese tucked inside. The food is placed in a backpack for the student to carry home, avoiding the stigma (and hassle)  that might accompany a bag of groceries.

According to a Food Bank press release, “charitable donations are down this year and hunger in San Diego County is up.” To help address the problem, San Diego food bloggers, led by Alice Robertson and Caron Golden , are spearheading a fund-raising drive. The program costs a mere $6.00 per week per child to fund (that’s about two Starbucks grande lattes); a donation of $250.00 will fund a child for the entire 36-week school year.

Donors can contribute on line at FirstGiving.com. In addition, there will be a backpack and food drive on Saturday, December 12^th, from 9 am – 12 noon, at the Little Italy Mercato at Date and India Streets. Non-perishable, kid-friendly food items and backpacks in good condition are requested.

Around the World in Three (Delicious) Days…

The Culinary Institute of America (CIA) calls its annual conference in Napa Valley “Worlds of Flavor.” I’d call it Buffet without Borders, a three-day pig-out on great food,  and a crash course in how food-lovers around the world share tastes and techniques with one another, fostering communication and understanding in the process. 

Last weekend, I joined some 700 food and beverage professionals (chefs, restaurateurs, sommeliers, manufacturers, food service operators, caterers and food and wine journalists among them) to explore the developing trends that will impact the way we eat in the years to come.

“Frontiers of Food: World Street Food, World Comfort Food” was an in-depth look at the “casualization” of the fine-dining scene, and the growing variety of international flavors in fast food operations and volume food service.  “Americans increasingly want a whole world of new flavors, from Asian to Latin and Mediterranean, within easy reach, on a 24/7 basis,” said Greg Drescher, executive director of strategic initiatives for the CIA.  Indeed, one need look no farther than a taco truck in L.A., a Bahn Mi wagon in New York City, a dumpling kiosk at DFW, or the long lines of students jockeying for space at Harvard University's do-it-yourself stir fry stations to understand the phenomenon.

 

Founded in 1946, the CIA is considered the top culinary school in the country. The original campus in Hyde Park, NY is now joined by facilities in St. Helena, Napa Valley and San Antonio, Texas. "Worlds of Flavor" takes place at the sprawling Greystone Napa Valley estate. 

This year the imposing stone mansion housed a highly animated marketplace of hawker chefs from Singapore, street food vendors from Delhi and Mexico City, and faithful facsimiles of Spanish tapas bars, Bangkok market stalls, and the meze hot spots of Greece and Turkey.

 

The Opening Night General Session featured Rick Bayless of Frontera Grill and Topolobampo (Chicago) fame narrating a video of  his daughter and himself at their favorite taco stand in Mexico City; witty Turkish master chef  Musa Dagdeviren cooking lamb over open fire behind the main Greystone building; cookbook author Paula Wolfert making the paper-thin Moroccan crepes known as warka using a hot pan and a paintbrush; and  Paul Bartolotta of Wynn Las Vegas fame giving credit to the grandmothers of Italy for his impressive career.

Opening Night (photo left) also featured the “World Marketplace,” a two-hour graze-a-thon in Greystone’s historic Barrel Room, where participating chefs from around the world served samples of their fare. Dozens of stations offered the likes of white gazpacho, shrimp ceviche with local popcorn, fresh mozzarella from Apulia and lahmacun, a Turkish fried bread topped with minced lamb, vegetables and lemon juice.

This year’s conference included almost 40 seminars covering everything from “Hot, Sweet. Sour, Salty: Balancing Flavor in the South Asian Kitchen” to  “Fresh From Barcelona: Tapas, Cava and the Flavors of Catalonia.” In addition, more than 25 Kitchen Workshops were held in the massive CIA kitchen. There Roy Choi, of Los Angeles’ Kogi BBQ fame, taught the fine points of Korean barbecue and Suvir Saran, creator of Michelin-starred Devi in New York City, shared insights on "Mastering the Indian Tandoor."

 

As a lover of street food, I was fascinated to hear masters of that art from Singapore and Delhi, Mexico City and Bangkok. Rick Bayless, who moderated a session called “World Street Food, World Comfort Food: What We Want to Eat Now,” talked of the challenges involved in incorporating street food into the American landscape without sacrificing the authenticity of the experience. “What I love about street food is its thrilling immediacy,” said Bayless, a thought echoed later in the evening by former Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl who spoke of the appeal of getting food straight from the hands of the person who prepared it.

Suvir Saran told a charming story about the man who sells “the best chaat in Delhi,” explaining that the guy parks his rolls Royce next to his cart each day. He doesn’t sell chaat for the money, Saran says, because he doesn’t need the money. He does if because he wants to make the best chaat possible.

It’s impossible to wrap up the three-day “Worlds of Flavor Conference” in one tidy blog post. But in coming days, I’ll share some of the insights, techniques and recipes I learned while attending the Seminars and Kitchen Workshops.

Teaser: What country gets credit for the variety of elegant desserts available in Thailand and Thai restaurants around the world today?

 

Gearing Up for Turkey Day

Jan Norris, my good friend and longtime colleague, has a popular blog in Florida (she was Food Editor of the Palm Beach Post for eons) that’s currently featuring yummy Thanksgiving Day recipes. If you haven’t yet set your menu in stone, consider the likes of a quivering Cornbread Puddin’ with pepper jack cheese, Vidalia onions, cumin and coriander; and a Grand Marnier-spiked Pumpkin Cheesecake Crème Caramel (recipe and photo from Good Housekeeping) that can be made a day or two ahead.

I contributed two of my favorite Turkey Day recipes to her round-up: The World's Best Cranberry Sauce and a luscious puree of yams and poached pears that's seasoned with ginger and fresh tangerine juice.  You can see them all at JanNorris.com.

 

Living A Dog’s Life...and Happy About It!

Last night my husband attended a dinner meeting at The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA. The group dined in the Lodge’s A. R. Valentien restaurant on yummy things like seared halibut with baby red artichokes; warm lobster salad with Little Gem lettuce; and chicken cooked under a brick and served with wilted spinach.

Geena, our vivacious black lab, and I stayed home and dined on Wellness Super 5 Mix (Geena) and Trader Joe’s whole wheat spaghetti with Monte Bene Tomato Basil Pasta Sauce (me). 

When my husband walked in later carrying the traditional doggie bag – in this case, a small shiny paper box, Geena and I both sat up expectantly. Lucky for me, it was the human who got the treat this time, not the dog.

And what a treat it was. Tres Leches Cake, from the kitchen of Executive Chef Jeff Jackson, is a sublime creation of sponge cake soaked in condensed milk, whole milk and heavy cream. A popular dish on the potluck and church-social circuit, this traditional Latin American dessert (translation: three milks) is often soggy, overly sweet and piled high with frosting.

But the A. R. Valentien version, by pastry chef John Harmeyer, is an elegant, individual, dome-shaped package with a deliriously smooth, moist texture and a rich, caramelized creamy taste. Topped with cinnamon-scented whipped cream and tangy pomegranate seeds, it’s served with a fresh quince-apple puree and a weensy poached apple.

By the way, we did give Geena a dog biscuit so she wouldn’t feel left out. She ate it, but not before giving us a look that said “You cheated me!”

Seattle Forecast: Hot Tables and Awesome Eats

Silly people talk about the weather in Seattle. The smart ones talk about the food.

 

Every time I visit the city I am blown away by the talent and creativity of its chefs and restaurateurs and the vitality of the dining scene. Even in the current shaky economic environment, new eateries are opening and old ones are jammed with loyal fans.

While visiting our son there recently, I visited two new (2009) and noteworthy restaurants, the kind of eateries that make me want to slap myself upside the head and shout “Why the heck can’t every city have food and service and value and charm like this?”

Anchovies & Olives is the latest tour de force of Ethan Stowell, a trend-setting chef/restaurateur who landed on the culinary map when he opened Union in downtown Seattle in 2003. Together with his wife Angela and business partner Patric Gabre-Kidan, he went on to create the effervescent Tavolata in Belltown and the simply hip How To Cook a Wolf in Queen Anne, each a perfect match for the neighborhood’s spirit.

Anchovies & Olives is another savvy marriage. In a rave review, The Seattle Times said the restaurant brings “a refined edginess to the burgeoning dining scene on the Pike/Pine periphery of Capitol Hill." (Photos by Geoffrey Smith.)

A&O’s “décor” revolves around the kitchen, a front-and-center presence that greets you at the door and reaches out  – with sizzling pans, hissing pots and general “we-love-our-job” attitude – all the way to those sitting at the cozy back-corner bar.

The kitchen’s prominence is appropriate…because A&O is very serious about food, specifically seafood with an Italian temperament. Food that’s unselfconsciously creative, refined, in sync with the season, and oh-so-delicious.

I flipped over the raw hamachi, its pale slivers accented with tiny bits of grapefruit, plump currants and pink peppercorns; and the escolar crudo (right), which was brilliantly teamed with tiny dice of cucumber and apple, punched up with spicy coppa sausage and cooled down with flecks of fresh mint.

A six-pack of raw oysters (below) – Kumamoto, Virginica and Chelsea Gem –was impressive; even more impressive were the spectacularly light fried oysters served with lemon aioli.

Three or four seafood entrees are offered each night, along with a half-dozen or so pasta dishes and a couple of salads. On the night we visited, poached haddock took a star turn in an al dente risotto brightened with basil and saffron.  Deftly sauteed scallops, sublime on their own, were nothing short of genius with nubbins of eggplant, cauliflower, pine nuts and red bell pepper puree. And the kitchen’s housemade agnolotti -- plump pillows of dough hugging a fragrant mix of just-picked chanterelles and Manila clams – were moistened with a ham-steeped broth that made us forget the cold, blustery weather outside.

On the night I visited there was but one dish that didn’t feature seafood. But when that dish is a savory ragout of fall-apart-tender pork cheek, Brussels sprouts and onion mostarda, tossed with tongue-tickling strozzapretti pasta, one dish is all you need.

A&O’s wine list is short but interesting. Service is low-key, friendly and knowledgeable. The final tab is remarkably gentle for such first-rate fare. Oysters are $3 each; a very good salad of beets, arugula and pistachios is $9. Main “plates” and pasta dishes average $14. A three-course prix-fixe, with ample choices, is $30.

Anchovies & Olives is located at 1550 15^th Avenue in Seattle’s Capitol Hill.; 206-838-8080.

 

The Tin Table is the other newcomer that impressed. This captivating spot, also in the super-trendy Pike/Pine area,  has the unlikely address of “second floor” in the historic brick Odd Fellows Hall building. (Photo by Ernest Stepp.) To reach it you navigate a deserted foyer, a wide, creaking set of stairs, and a long, creaking wood-planked corridor that also leads to the from-another-era Century Ballroom. But once inside the restaurant's door, you’re wrapped in a warm, stylish, slightly funky aura and welcomed heartily by the hospitable staff.

That I am still salivating over the Brussels sprouts with pancetta and brown butter, and the handsome tuna burger served with herbed greens, shredded cabbage and spicy mustard is a true testament to the quality of food here. We visited on Halloween night and the joint was jumping with Lady Gagas,  Reno 911 sheriffs, Mexican wrestlers, and feeble attempts at Balloon Boy. The poor kitchen had a lot of competition for our attention, but the food was easily up to the task.

Risotto with wild chanterelle mushrooms had an inviting earthy aroma and a nutty, buttery taste. The fresh, sweet flavor of a Dungeness crab cake was punched up with andouille sausage and roasted corn. And a deceptively simple spiedini, or skewer, turned out to be the ultimate comfort food – chunks of rustic house-baked bread and fresh creamy mozzarella, all drenched with an in-your-face anchovy-herb olive oil.

The menu is divided into Nibbles (the shoestring potatoes dusted with truffle salt were flying out of the kitchen); Garden (I loved the arugula salad with roasted golden beets, Grana Padana and a sherry vinaigrette); Sea (the mahi mahi fish tacos with achiote seem to be legendary even though the place has only been open a few months); and Range (it was tough to pass up something called a Floozy Burger).

Tin Table prices are another part of the happy story. Where else are you going to find appetizers such as salt cod fritters with roasted garlic sauce for five bucks? Where else pan-seared halibut “On Melting Early Girl Tomatoes and Lacinato Kale” for just $15? (No fair Seattle people answering this question….they seem to have plenty of places offering great food and great value.) A roasted beet salad with frisee, pine nuts, currants and marinated feta cheese. Eight dollars. Reeeeallly?

The Tin Table is located at 915 E. Pine Street in Seattle; 206-324-7263.

 

DO-IT-YOURSELF: Great Restaurant Dishes at Home

There’s just one thing better than stumbling upon an out-of-this-world dish while vacationing in some far-flung city or village.

And that’s getting the recipe for the dish so you can re-create it at home whenever you want.

Over the weekend, I translated one of those recipes from German into English and tested it in my kitchen using ounces and tablespoons instead of grams and Esslöffel.  The charming  servers, candlelit sidewalk tables and mid-summer-night neighborhood scene at Restaurant Skopik & Lohn in Vienna, Austria were missing.

But the Ziegenkäsemousse mit Rot Paprika Chutney (translation: Goat Cheese Mousse with Red Bell Pepper Chutney) tasted every bit as good. (This photo was taken in June when the chutney featured yellow cherry tomatoes and pears.) I'm convinced that the whipped cream in the recipe is the key ingredient. Nobody does whipped cream like the Viennese do whipped cream.

Next week I’ll be teaching a cooking class at Great News! Discount Cookware and Cooking School  in Pacific Beach (858-270-1582). The theme of the class: The best restaurant recipes I’ve discovered in my 30 years as a food critic. Skopik & Lohn's sensational goat cheese mousse will be among them. Class members get to enjoy all the finished dishes with a glass of wine.

This is a perfect hors d’oeuvre or appetizer for Thanksgiving Day….just a little nosh that perks up the palate but leaves plenty of room for the main attraction.

 

Goat Cheese Mousse with Gingered Red Bell Pepper Chutney

SKOPIK & LOHN, Vienna, Austria

Makes about 4 cups

6 ounces goats milk yogurt

4 ounces quark (Vermont Butter & Cheese Quark is available at Whole Foods)

2 ounces soft fresh goat cheese

6 ounces heavy cream, whipped

Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

3 tablespoons snipped chives

1 envelope gelatin

½ cup water

Sprinkle the gelatin over ½ cup water in a microwavable cup; let sit for 5 minutes. Then place cup in microwave for 10 seconds to warm slightly. Stir to be sure there are no crystals remaining.

In a large bowl, blend the quark, yogurt and mashed goat cheese with an electric mixer at low speed or with a whisk. Add the chives and salt and pepper to taste. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream. Gently fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Serve two small, egg-shaped portions on each appetizer plate, along with a spoonful of chutney (follows) and thin toasts or crisped pita bread. The mousse can also be mounded into one serving bowl and served with crackers and crudités.

Gingered Red Bell Pepper Chutney

Makes about 1 cup

3 red bell peppers, divided use

2-3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger, divided use

2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar

4 ounces water

1 clove garlic, minced

Pinch salt

Leaves from 2 stems fresh thyme

1 tablespoon sugar

Wash, dry, seed and chop the 3 bell peppers into approximate ¼-inch cubes. Place the cubes from 2 of the peppers in a small, heavy saucepan along with 1-2 tablespoons of the grated ginger, balsamic vinegar, water, minced garlic, salt, thyme leaves and sugar. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cook slowly until the peppers are very soft and almost all the liquid is evaporated, about 25 minutes.

Add the remaining cubed bell pepper and cook 5 minutes longer. Season to taste with salt and add the remaining grated ginger to taste. Serve at room temperature or refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Re-thinking the Cuisine of Venice....Dishes to Go Back For

My post from a couple weeks ago about the abysmal state of dining in Venice, Italy drew some interesting responses from folks who had actually dined quite well in Venice, thank you very much.

 

One longtime colleague of mine, Scott Joseph, who was restaurant critic for the Orlando Sentinel before launching his own Web site, had me drooling over a plate of fritti -- the lightly breaded and fried wisps of "whatever" that the Italians do so well. In this case, it was breaded and fried wisps of a delicate local fish. Joseph wrote that Victor and Marcella Hazan of cookbook and cooking school fame, had taken him to Fiascheterria Toscana for this memorable treat. I’m kicking myself that I missed it. (Coincidentally, we did find an extraordinary fritto misto on our last night in Rome at Ristorante Matricianella.  A rolled paper cone was piled with bits of broccoli, artichoke, potato balls, mozzarella and more, each morsel wondrously light and delicious.)

Another friend sent me a clipping, from the Boston Globe, that raved about a grilled monkfish dish at Antica Locanda Montin. This family-run eatery in the  Dorsoduro neighborhood has been in business since 1950.  Neither the decor (pictured below) nor the  monkfish preparation has changed in the past 30 years or so. The story’s author, Joan Wilder, describes how the  meaty tail of the fish (which some fans swear tastes like lobster) is grilled with lots of olive oil, salt and pepper. I’ve always been a monkfish fan, so I’m  kicking myself about this miss, too.

 

Lastly, I appreciated the Comment on my post from San Diegan Lisa Wilson-Wirth who  raved about  La Calcina, “an extraordinary B&B”  that’s owned by La Piscina, one of the (pretty good) restaurants that we did find in Venice. During dinner on the restaurant terrace (on the magical Zattere waterfront), I remarked that La Calcina looked very charming but I knew nothing about it.  Now I know where I’ll stay when I return to the city called La Serenissima to eat all the good food I seem to have missed.

 

Wake Up and Drink the (Best) Coffee

This week’s Wall Street Journal featured a front-page (Marketplace) story about yet another David taking on the Starbucks Goliath. Italian coffee maker Illy-Caffe, a household word in Italy for decades, has announced plans to join forces with independent cafes across the U.S. in an effort to splash its name around amongst the coffee cognoscenti.

The story in a coffee bean shell: Illy signs an agreement with your favorite local café to provide them with espresso machines, cups, recipes and intensive training. In return, the café agrees to use only Illy Caffe for three years and broadcast that fact to the world via signs, logo gear and patio umbrellas.

 The WSJ muses that Illy’s efforts may seem “odd” given the fact that Starbucks has been closing stores and lowering prices on some drinks. Moreover, “There has also been a surge in lower-priced coffee competition from McDonald’s Corp. and Dunkin’ Brands,” the article continues. “On the other hand, world coffee consumption has been growing for the past five years, partly because young people are drinking more of it outside the home.”

I say hip-hip-hooray for Illy Caffe. I don’t know how successful this move will be from a financial standpoint, but I do know that consumers will be drinking far better coffee because of it. Much as I love the consistency of Starbucks products (a latte is a latte is a latte) and the fact that they provide espresso drinks in cities and towns formerly ruled by cheap drip coffee, I find Starbucks coffee mediocre. Moreover, I’m all in favor of giving local coffee shops and cafes a boost in business, something that, presumably, will happen if they join the Illy program.

I became an Illy fan years ago. Until then, I was a diehard whole bean person, intent of getting beans locally roasted and grinding them myself each morning. I still respect that approach, but I find that Illy produces a better shot of espresso than many locally roasted coffee and upscale purveyors such as Peet's and Tully's. It’s also easier to purchase (available in many supermarkets); and more convenient since you can have an unopened, vacuum-sealed can on hand for emergencies.

And, while we’re on the subject of a cup of joe.

 A few weeks ago, I was sitting at a wobbly sidewalk table in front of Sant' Eustachio Caffe in Rome, just a stone’s throw from the Pantheon. Like the name Illy, Sant' Eustchio is synonymous with coffee-taken-very-seriously. The company has been around since the 1930s and the café has always been wildly popular with locals and savvy tourists alike. (This photo is from a terrific Web site called RonInRome.com...don't leave for Rome without checking it out. In fact, don't drink another cappuccino without reading Ron's primer on the perfect cup of Italian coffee.)

We sat in the warm sunshine of a bright October day and sipped our intoxicatingly fragrant, smooth, intensely flavored cappuccinos and watched the non-stop show that is any Italian piazza. Inside the café, people stood four-deep at the stand-up bar, belting back thimblesful of espresso before hopping onto Vespas and into Smart Cars and zooming away.

While Illy is a vast world-wide operation these days, Sant Eustachio is still more of an artisan affair, with beans roasted in the back of the Rome café, and a far less extensive export operation. Both coffees cost somewhere between $13 and $15 for a can that weighs about 8.5 ounces. Sant’ Eustachio is available from Gustiamo.com, a sophisticated yet user-friendly Web site peddling hand-selected Italian food products. It’s also available at Amazon.com, but shopping at Amazon isn't nearly as delectable an experience as browsing Gustiamo.com.