Let’s start with what’s most important - Protecting healthcare and human rights. As this seems to be a theme lately, here is your monthly line up of links to get involved, donate, call your local government. Please do something to contribute to the change. We are teetering on the edge of something terrible, something that will take decades to repair. Don’t sleep on making an impact when it is most vital - NOW!
If you’re feeling like life in this country is a never ending drag and the people who are supposed to guide us into the future have hit the “return to the past” button, then let’s take a much needed break, together. Jump on board because we are taking a 2 minute, all expenses paid trip to Italy. We’ll be having lunch on the veranda in the warm summer air. The smell of jasmine is dancing on the breeze and the light splash of Lake Como can be felt at your feet. We are sitting at an old world-style restaurant called Locanda dell’Isola Comacina. There is no menu. When you sit, no one asks if you have any allergies or dietary restrictions. They just feed you what they’ve made for the day and keep the light crisp wine flowing. You finish the first bottle and they bring you a second without any inquiry. The assumption is that you’ll head out for a nap and then a jump in the lake to prepare yourself for the evening that follows - usually cheese and more wine in a wine cave. It’s the world’s most perfect lunch. The food is light and flavorful but oh so simple. Your table is filled with little bowls of individual vegetables, each cooked in its own unique way. After, a half chicken that has been lightly fried and finished in the wood oven arrives. Followed by lake trout so delicate and fresh it barely needs to be seasoned. The meal is finished with a small bowl of the richest vanilla gelato drizzled with Aperol syrup and a small slice of orange to cleanse the palate.
The servers have worked here for at least a decade but most likely for several decades and they are so happy that you’re joining them. How could they not love their jobs? They take a small boat to a beautiful island in the middle of a magical alpine lake. The ritual of getting there is joy inducing. Lake Como was a place of lore to me before visiting. I only knew it because George Clooney lived there. We didn’t see him on our visit, though we’re plotting our return and I will make it my mission to have a casual run in. Our return will be for Aaron’s 40th birthday (in a few years) and will hopefully include lots of friends. We’ve given plenty of advanced notice and I try to remind people every time I see them. The place is that incredible. Take your final deep breath of crisp lake air and lets, begrudgingly, head back to America. Insert big huffy sigh here.
American ambition has destroyed the beauty of lunch (and many other things). It’s been whittled down to a plastic wrapped sandwich that’s been sitting around waiting for the speck of free time allotted to consume it. The sandwich isn’t even temperature safe and most of the time we don’t pause to enjoy it. Lunch shouldn’t just be sustenance to get us through to dinner. If you do it right, you should be replacing at least one dinner a week with an extravagant and slowly enjoyed lunch. This could be a late afternoon affair on a summer Friday, any weekend day or some solid forward thinking for the next government holiday. I was a chef working 60+ hours a week and I could still fit a good lunch into any of those options, though my preference was a Monday when the rest of the city was at work.
As a chef I will say that lunch is one of the hardest menus to be creative with because people are looking for light and quick. It doesn’t have to be a celebration to enjoy something out of the ordinary though a celebratory lunch is one of my favorite types. I have a long list of memorable lunches that I drift to when I need a moment of reprise –
- An early afternoon at Locanda dell’Isola Comacina
- A blizzarding birthday celebration at Café Spiaggia
- A boozy pre-beach lunch before a surprise engagement celebration, again at Café Spiaggia (gone but never forgotten)
- Any time I get to eat at Lula Cafe
- A sweltering 4 course lunch at Septime in Paris (so worth the heat and so worth the 2 am wake up to snag a reservation)
- 6 whimsical courses at Franceschetta 58 in Modena
- My last normal meal with friends at Little Goat Diner for my baby shower (the day before the world closed for the pandemic)
All of these lunches were enjoyed at restaurants but this wouldn’t be Shared Plates if we weren’t taking that incredible restaurant experience and recreating it at home. Lunch is important and it deserves more than just a plastic wrapped sandwich and a few minutes scrolling through your phone. Bring back the lunch HOUR or two!
This menu was super fun to make and enjoy. If we weren’t new residents, we would have invited friends over and sat and savored and conversed with a group. We’re still building our group but, luckily Aaron and I are very good at sitting and savoring and conversing, even when it’s just toddler nap time on Sunday. Plan a little bit ahead so that you can feel stress free when it’s time to serve. All this food can be made the night before and just assembled to serve. Mangia!
The Menu :
Stone Fruit and Mozzarella with Pistachios, Balsamic and Herbs
Fontina and Green Olive Relish on Baguette
Quick-Porchetta with Fig Mustard (It’s a Quicketta!)
Cherry Berry Crostata with Sour Cream Whip
Wine Pairing :
We have dubbed Scarpetta Frico Rosato our house wine for the summer. It’s super light and crisp and has really great depth for a bottle only costing $12. It’s a perfect one to keep flowing throughout this meal. - Scarpetta Frico Rosato