Dear Feastlings,
During the pandemic, it made perfect sense: people were stuck at home, businesses of all sorts were shut down- of COURSE we were apt not to know whether certain ingredients were coming. Now, over three years after we were shut down on Saint Patrick’s Day, we’re still feeling the repercussions. I’ve been patiently waiting to post the Ferragosto menu, hoping for all the ingredients we need to come in, or at least to be told by various purveyors that our ingredients were a lock. Pappardelle alla Bolognese isn’t a worry- beef by now is easily attainable, as are tomatoes and flour and the other veggies and spices.
Eel, on the other hand, is, well, slippery, as it were. We thought it would be a treat to serve the Roman delicacy for Ferragosto, but ordering and transportation appear to be somewhat problematic, so we’re keeping our fingers crossed, but I’ve learned that a promise in 2023 is not the guarantee that it was in 2019. Whatever the case, if we can’t procure it in time- as of now, it will come in on Monday and we’ll have to scamper in to meet the delivery driver and prep it either Monday while we’re closed or Tuesday first thing in the morning, and if it doesn’t show, I’m told there’ll be Branzino instead. Probably. The big rock that was Covid that was dumped unceremoniously into our little pond in 2020 is still leaving the surface rippling all these years later. Whatever the case, we’ll have a bunch of tasty treats for you on Ferragosto, next Tuesday the 15th.
And if you’d like to sample a few Italian wines to whet your appetite while you wet your whistle, we’ll be tasting Italian wines for the third Saturday in a row,
but don’t fret- this will be the last Italian tasting for a bit; next week there’ll be what we’re calling the Secret Knock- the under-the-radar wines that we folk in the industry know and love and keep for our greedy selves whilst the public is served Big Name, Big Box wines that lack character and refinement. More on that one next week.
For now, here’s a little reminder to enjoy all things Italian this week, and we’ll carry on from there.
Salve, Ragazzi.
Con molto affetto,
Doug