Napoli

We enjoyed some amazing food in Naples or as our tour guide said, Naples is in Florida this is Napoli. Napoli is know for the city that founded pizza. The story goes that the queen of Italy, Maragarit, was visiting Napoli and they created a pizza in her honor. They used mozzarella cheese, tomatoes and basil, white,red and green , the colors of the Italian flag. We asked our guide where we should get pizza and he gave us directions to a place, 15 people from our tour sat down and enjoyed some of the best pizza I have ever had. Most of the table order Margarita pizza which looked more like cheese pizza with a huge crust not like the Margarita pizza we get in the US.Here are Katie and Colin enjoying there pizza.



We had the local special with Spinach and sausage and a white sauce instead of a tomato based sauce. The spinach had a flavor I have not used to but the pizza as a whole was wonderful. One pizza was shared between two people and it hung over the plates.



For dessert we wanted to try another Napoleon special, sfogliatella. Our guide book had suggested that we find it. So we pointed to the word and asked our waiter if he knew where we could get some and he brought one out. It is a Phyllo dough thinly sliced in one piece and wrapped in a clam shape. The filling is ricotta cheese with orange flavoring. The restaurant was a great fine and we were happy to taste all the treats of Napoli

Imago

Our first night in Rome we dined with Brain's parents, Jim and Debra, and our good friends Katie and Colin. We were celebrating the Larson's 35th wedding anniversary and our first night of our Mediterranean vacation. The restaant to host such a special occasion was Imago at the top of the Hassler Hotel that over looks the Spanish steps. The decor was very lush and red and three of the four walls of the restaurant was windows that over looked Rome. As we dined we saw many famous sites that we would see up close later in our trip. When we sat down the waiters brought the ladies tiny velvet stools to place out purses on. We chose the inspriation mael which would be five courses that the chef felt like preparing. We would have no idea what would be coming out.

The first course was a breaded sea scallop stuffed with Buffalo milk mozzarella, celery leaves and black truffle. In other word absolutely dedicate and wonderful. Second course was a beef tartar with arugula, green beans , cucumber and strawberries. What seems like an unlikely combination was actually a very light and refreshing course.



The third and forth courses were heavier and both pasta. A fantastic pasta course with roasted pear tomatoes, chickpeas and pine nuts. There was no sauce just fresh Parmesan cheese. I would have never thought to combine these items in my pasta dish. The fourth course was a ravioli with a cream spinach sauce. As listed on the menu it was " an idea of ravioli, stewed baby octopus and dried raspberries." It sounded a bit scary but was oh so tasty.



The final course was veal with asparagus. It was so fantastic.



After five course of dinner it was now time for dessert :) As you can see from the pictures it was light when the meal started at 7:30pm and around 10:00pm by the time the desserts came. The first dessert was strawberry shortcake in a cup but it was all mostly liquid with cream and strawberry cream and pieces of crust and strawberries. Next came a dessert that I do not remember but it had a chocolate shell and I eat the whole thing. Finally truffles. I like how Brian's face is reflected in the glass table. Then finally, finally and then they gave the women to go boxes of truffle to take which us. What a fabulous experience.