Planes - Austin to Newark, Newark to Roma Fiumicino
Trains - Leonardo Express to Roma Termini
and - Roma Termini to Bologna Centrale
Automobile - Fiat 500 to Ca'Dorio, Baiso, Emilia Romagna
It was a looooooong day of traveling, Dec 25-26, but totally worth it. Flights were easy and great. Got to Rome early - got through passport control easily.
We made it out of the airport in record time, and caught the Leonardo Express train to Rome. After disembarking at Roma Termini station, we walked over to the Mercato Centrale, which is more of a food hall than a market. It. Was. Glorious.
...and mostly empty, since it was 8am Rome time. Nice.
Hart says that everybody was occupied and busy, but he felt like he belonged. I get it....we were tourists, but everyone was just cool and welcoming and we tried our Italian and they answered in their English...just felt calm and good.
He was melting with jet lag, but then he had a cappuccino. "Hands, down, the best bit of caffeine ever. The cream flowed into the coffee unlike anything I have ever had."
Hart is right about the cappuccino - it was almost like an emulsion - the coffee, milk, and foam were seamlessly blended, with a strong beautiful illy core. Thought coffee in Italy would be different and better, but had no idea how MUCH.
When he saw the cornetto - he was impressed by the size (which was impressive), and he thought it was delicious (and it was, though not on the level of some croissants I've had in France or SF).
The pizza, says Hart, was spectacular. 100% agree. More on this below.
We polished off the cornetto and half the of pizza - packed the rest for our travels.
To sum it up - I ask that when/if you read something hyperbolic about Gabriele Bonci, don't give in to skepticism. Especially not about the potato pizza. Potato pizza, you say? How can I explain the utter amazingness of this bite?
Spectacular is truly an understatement. The potato is not mashed, not chunks, but some otherworldly texture that was beautifully seasoned and still potato-y.
The crust was a revelation. Crackling crispy outside, yeasty springy goodness within...all of that yields to the potato...this bite was frikkin' outrageous.
We planned to have dinner at our agriturismo, La Borgaccia, in Baiso, but when we got there, we took a nap that lasted all night. At some point, Hart had the sweets - torta della nonna, and the chocolate cookie thing, and I had the last three pieces of pizza. Even cold, still spectacular.
Setting the bar high, Bonci....
...and off to Emilia Romagna...
