[2014 Italy] First encounter with Milan

I spent most of yesterday at the conference. I'm here for work, after all. I also got to meet up with my high school classmate last night for dinner. Honestly I'm pretty moved. The two times I visited Italy, he'd always came to meet up, no matter how far away I was. Even though it has been 10 years since we last met, it still brought us right back to high school times! Hopefully next time it won't be another 10 years!

My friend introduced me to the aperitif custom in Milan, which is essentially happy hour. As long you pay for the drinks, you get a light appetizer buffet for free. We went to a pretty popular local place called Noon, it was packed with afterwork Milanese. On the way back to the hotel, we passed by a chocolate store that also sold gelato, so of course we had to stop for some desserts. I got pistachio & papaya flavors, while the pistachio was top notch, it overpowered the delicate papaya one. I'll stick to nut gelatos next time!

I woke up this morning with a sore throat and stuffy nose, but there's sightseeing to be done! My talks don't start until late morning, so off I went to the park nearby. The shady walkway only had a few occasional joggers, I had the lovely sunshine and views all to myself. 

I soon ended up in Castello Sforzesco, a medieval fortress which now houses a museum. But since I had limited free time, I just walked around the courtyard and soaked up some much needed sunshine.

There was a special exhibit of colorful birds going on. Some how they don't really fit in to the surroundings.

North of the Castello is the humongous and picturesque Parco Sempione, about 386,000 sq meters. Unfortunately I'm now getting rather close to the start time of the talks I want to attend, so I had to rush through all the sights. The whole time I was in the park, my thoughts ranged from: "hurry hurry or I'll be late!" to "oh my god this is beautiful I need to take pictures...".

After a long day at the conference, I got a much needed break with former colleagues, who decided to have dinner together by the Milan Cathedral. Although it's closed for the day, the sight was still quite stunning. Unfortunately the square before it was my least favorite part of the Milan visit, because it was filled with aggressive hawkers who wouldn't take no for an answer and insisted on stuffing bird food for the pigeons into our hands.
  

We escaped into the galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, one of the world's oldest shopping malls, now filled with the usual high end brand name stores.

We randomly picked a restaurant. I had no expectations for food in touristy areas, but this scallop risotto turned out delicious.

We also had Milanese specialty: osso bucco & risotto Milanese. Friend's roast chicken & seafood pasta were also quite good. All in all, a decent experience in a touristy restaurant. Although we did have a rather strange argument with the waiter and eventually the manager, who refused to give us multiple copies of the check so we can get reimbursed at our individual institutions. Not sure why they were so adamant about it...but oh well.

I don't know what is it with the Europeans, but they sure know how to light their buildings for the most beautiful effects!

[2014 Italy] Milan, the chic big sister

This entry took me forever to write, because frankly I'm reluctant to bid adieu to Florence. I'm all settled into my luxury hotel room, and the thought of leaving was unbearable. Not to mention Milan means work, no more vacation! Oh well, since these are my last few hours with Florence, I better make the most of it!

After dropping off my luggage with the front desk, I set out towards the train station, an area I've not explored. Also on the agenda was to find some leather goods for mom & dad. Unfortunately, it's Sunday, so many of the smaller shops were closed. Even the church doesn't open until noon. I guess Italians like to sleep in too?

This painting was hanging next to the elevator of the hotel. Kinda liked this vintage view of the Arno river.

[2014 Italy] Under the Tuscan sun Part 2

After Siena, we're off to our lunch destination: Fattoria Poggio Alloro, which translates to Bay Leaf Hill Farm. It's an organic farm located in the Chianti region. The farm was started by a trio of brothers back in 1955, and is still family-owned today. Since then, it has expanded 3 times to to 75 hectares, and produces 10 different types of wine, extra virgin olive oil, various fruits and also the famous Chianina cattle, the main source of Florence's famous steak. When I heard this, my eyes lit up. Could this mean the famous steak is on the lunch menu? Since most restaurants sell this by kg, there's no way I could finish an order by myself, so of course I haven't had the chance to try it. Sadly, the only beef we're getting at lunch was in the form of ragu :(

The endless vineyards we passed along the way were just beautiful~

[2014 Italy] Under the Tuscan sun Part 1

I was uber-excited about today as it's the day of my Tuscany day trip. Ever since watching Diane Lane's Under the Tuscan Sun, I've been dreaming about the rolling hills, endless vineyards, lines of cypress trees and Italian hunks...ahem. Truth be told, during the planning stages of this trip, I I was debating between city hopping and a Tuscany drive-through. But I decided against Tuscany due to my ignorance of the Italian language and fear of driving in a foreign country. As a compromise, I booked a one day bus tour with Walk about tours, which visits Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa, as well as lunch at a farm in Chianti.

The tour began bright and early at 8:30, departing from the Florence train station. After checking in with driver, I got on the bus and just picked a empty seat. Now that I've taken the tour, I can tell you one big tip: sit on the right side of the bus! Almost all of the sights pointed out along the ride were on the right, and since we're heading south, the sun is always on the left. So not only did I miss out on some prime photography moments, I was also completely fried by the end of the day. Lesson learned!

 Thankfully the windows were super clean, so I did manage to get some awesome pics of the Tuscan countryside. *swoon*

[2014 Italy] Iron leg itinerary - duomo dome, Boboli Garden & freezing sunset

I decided to start the day at a different breakfast spot, you know, for variety. This was some tiny storefront right by the duomo, across the street from Eataly. I walked in because I saw the cornettos in the display case. Cornettos are Italian croissants filled with custard cream, two of my favorite things, so it was a no-brainer. Also got a latte to go with it. Remember to order "caffe latte" in Italy, if you just ordered latte, you'd get milk only!

In hindsight I should have known to avoid tiny storefronts. The cornetto was dried out and the latte was weak. Lesson learned.

I'd planned to spend this morning visiting the other parts of the duomo complex included in the admission ticket. Unfortunately, plenty of other people had the same idea, so I stood in line for an hour waiting to climb the dome. But with a beautiful violinist serenading me the whole time, it wasn't too unbearable.

[2014 Italy] A date between the market-o-holic and the Renaissance man

 For the past couple of days, I've been curious about the group of white tents on Piazza Repubblica. When I finally walked up close, I realize it was a cup tasting event for espresso! Well of course I gotta try it, especially since it's FREE! Fast forward to the next morning, I'm dragging myself reluctantly out of bed with two big dark circles under my eyes. I'd forgotten about my "no coffee after 2pm" rule...

 Since I acted like a tourist yesterday and had breakfast in the hotel, I decided to do things as the locals do today: have breakfast at the bar. The first place I saw after I left the hotel was Cafe Gilli, a palatial-looking cafe with endless display cases of mouth-watering pastries. This looks like a good choice, I said to myself. Indeed it was. I ordered a cappuccino and croissant, the coffee was rich and creamy and the croissant passed my standards. Best thing of all? It only costs 2.5 euros! You can't even get a coffee at Starbucks for that price! No wonder I don't see any here in Italy.

[2014 Italy] Uffizi gallery, Duomo & strolling in Firenze

I woke up in sunshine (the curtain were just for show, they wouldn't close all the way) and the sound of church bells an hour before my alarm. Despite that, I felt rested, probably because this hotel was super quiet. This being my first day, I decided to take it easy and have breakfast in the hotel. It was pretty standard fare: croissants, cold cuts, cheese, yogurt and of course espresso drinks and drip coffee. I wasn't sure if it was included, but I didn't get charged when I checked out, so I guess it was.

This morning is devoted to the Uffizi gallery. Although I'd remembered to jot down my reservation number, I forgot what time it was for (duh!), so I decided to head over right after breakfast.

This pic was taken at the Uffizi courtyard after dark. It's so much quieter and enjoyable at that hour.

[2014 Italy] ORD->FLR

My flight was on a Monday evening, so I went straight to the airport after work. (with my seemingly already heavy luggage...whatever happened to traveling light?) The flight was schedule to make an hour long stop in Rome before arriving in Florence right before 4pm on Tuesday. I was worried the whole flight: what if I can't make the transfer in 1 hour? But then the optimist in me said: if the airline sells that flight arrangement, they will get you on that flight! Ok. I'll take that.

Rome airport was a surprise. Since it's such a popular travel destination, I've always thought Rome is a big metropolitan city. But the airport was tiny and old, and we had to take a bus from the plane to the gate (the only place in the US I remember with this arrangement was Alaska's airport). I was worried the whole time that I won't make the transfer, but I certainly did not expect I'd be stuck in Rome for extra time. After boarding the outbound flight, and even waiting on the tarmac for a good amount of time, the captain announced there was a technical problem and we needed to go back to the gate. And so I spent an extra 2 hours in Rome...

I arrived in Florence close to 6pm. Even though the bus stop for the bus into the city center is right by the airport exit, my legs had a mind of their own and carried me to the taxi stand. I anxiously confirmed the price with the cab driver, as the guidebook warned about dishonest drivers and skyhigh prices. He looked at me matter-of-factly and said: 25 euros.

[2014 Italy] Pre-trip preparations

The annual international conference is here again, and this time, it's in Milan. I have to admit: I wasn't very excited in the beginning. Yes yes, Milan is the fashion capital of the world. But for someone who's not really in pulse with fashion and don't care much for designer brands, it's not too exciting. Even if it's Italy. But then I thought: well it has been a while since I visited Europe, so why not get a vacation out of it? Boss said yes, so two weeks it is. Rick Steves' guidebook in hand, it took me a while to decide where to go. I was torn between a driving trip in Tuscany vs. major cities. Eventually, my fear for driving in a city where I don't speak the language triumphed, and I decided on Florence and Rome. I almost wanted to squeeze in Venice, just so that I can see it in better light and wipe away the cold and gloomy Venice I visited 10 years ago (has it really been that long already?!), but scratched it because I didn't want to spend valuable time traveling between cities. After long hours of cross-referencing tripadvisor and chowhound for dining options, the final itinerary is as follows:

[Chicago]Restaurant Week 2014: Tanta

Tanta opened in the River North area of Chicago back in August 2013. In the short time since its opening, Tanta has been on every food-related website, touted as THE hottest opening of 2013. How could I ever miss the opportunity to try such a place?

So I did some research for this post, and found Tanta's owner to be Gaston Acurio, some celebrity chef from Peru, who I'd never heard of. But he did have an extensive list of restaurants according to Wikipedia, so celebrity status confirmed.

Tanta's interior sure fits the see and be seen type of restaurant: dark wood interior, passionate music and colorful art. Unfortunately I picked Super Bowl Sunday for my dinner, so the bar was pretty dead. Surprisingly there was still a good number of people dining here.

We started out with two little baskets of fried plantain chips, accompanied by a peach-colored sauce that tasted oddly like spicy thousand island dressing...in a good way. The chips were thin & crispy and not greasy at all, a good start.

 Since I've read several posts about Tanta's ceviches, I was excited to see it on the RW menu. It's an assortment of very fresh, raw pieces of seafood, marinated in a spicy citrusy sauce. But it was accompanied by those strangely alien looking giant corn kernels, which everyone at the table mistook as garlic at first. I love corn, but this is unlike the sweet, juicy corn I remember from summer's farmer's markets. This was rather waxy and tasteless. Meh. The piece of sweet potato masquerading as carrot was more up my alley. I wouldn't mind replacing my corn with that. While I was generally satisfied with this dish, I have to say this definitely sent a shiver down my spine when combined with the snowy day out. I think ceviches should be served only in summer...

 For the main course, I got the arroz criollo, which tasted pretty fantastic on the first bite: it's like a bite of extra shrimpy paella loaded with lovely morsels of seafood. I have no idea what ingredients contributed to the flavor, but I liked it. But after 5 bites, I was ready to raise the white flag. It was just too greasy in large doses. While the criolla salad (marinated onions, grape tomatoes, arugula & peppers) on top was crisp & zesty, it was overpowered by the rice. I think this dish would be much more interesting if they reduced the amount of rice and paired it with something less assertive. The giant corn kernels made an appearance here too. Though I didn't mind them as much because they disappeared behind the strong flavors of the rice.

Dessert was such a disappointment. After the exotic ceviche & arroz criollo, this pie de limon was simply key lime pie sans crust, plus a scoop of mint lime sorbet. I appreciate the fact that it wasn't cloyingly sweet, and the custard was silky smooth. But...YAWN....zzzzz.....

Interestingly, the other dessert choice was passion fruit cheesecake. The friend who ordered it commented on how tart it was, until he realized passion fruits are naturally tart. Just goes to show how processed most passion fruit desserts are. (Not that I have anything against it...)

So my take home lesson from Tanta was: don't go to a restaurant with high expectations. Not that I didn't enjoy the food, but it was definitely not the kind of mind-blowing experience I was expecting. Having said that, I do appreciate that Tanta is one of the few, if not the only Peruvian restaurant in town. So I'll pop back in when I get tired of American cuisine...in summer...for the ceviche.

Tanta

118 W Grand Ave.

Chicago, IL

(312) 222-9700

[Chicago] Restaurant week 2014: Embeya

I can't believe another year has gone by and it is now restaurant week again. For my first round in 2014, I chose Embeya, a newish restaurant not too far from home, right at the start of Chicago's famous Restaurant Row. Just a few days before my reservation, a friend asked: why would you pick a pan-Asian restaurant? That sure got me worried, as I've never met a pan-Asian restaurant that I like. Being an Asian myself, I associate certain food terms with very particular types of food/flavor, but most pan-Asian places I've been to simply dowse their food in coconut milk or soy sauce (or both! gasp!) and proudly called it Asian. Well, Embeya calls itself "progressive Asian", whatever that means. So I walked into the restaurant on this brisk Saturday with a good amount of trepidation.

I was greeted by the friendly hostess...but what I was really grateful for was the heater right beside the door. Chicago really upped the game with winter this year. The decor of the place was pleasant enough, dark & sleek with some Asian touches.