Mother Nature sure has a way to provide influence over one’s day to day activities.  The cold temperatures and blankets of snow that covered most of the country over the past few weeks have kept me inside more than usual and finally presented the opportunity to get through the pile of food magazines and articles on the corner of my desk.  During this time I noticed a common underlying theme with food articles and Italian food recipes. As a result, over the past couple weeks I have focused this blog on my thoughts and words towards the importance of ingredients and the responsibility we as consumers have to know where our food comes from.

This past weekend the family ventured out to visit my wife’s nephew who happens to be a freshman attending University of Colorado, Boulder.  Remembering back to my college days, I always enjoyed visitors because it meant a time for some fun, laughs and more importantly a good meal outside of the dining hall.  I was excited about the trip because of all the great food related ‘things’ happening in Boulder, and this would present an opportunity to see if what I had been reading and writing about was happening within my local dining scene.  Chefs and restaurateurs have been on a mission with a focus to support local farmers, incorporate sustainability into their operations and insist on quality ingredients. In addition, a few have raised the bar even higher with a commitment to the environment by incorporating wind power, biodegradable paper products and composting all of the food waste.

Anxious to see how this ‘mission’ was being executed, we decided it was a must to have an Italian lunch, starting with some antipasto, at an Italian Trattoria whose food is inspired by the cuisine and culture of Northern Italy.  The menu along with daily specials and signage within the restaurant brought a smile to my face; focus was driven to support local ranchers, farmers and foragers, which relates back to Italian traditional foods.

After reading through the menu, there were too many great choices and so not to miss out, we decided ‘family-style’ it would be.  Our meal started with selections of antipasti which included a Fritto Misto consisting of shrimp, fennel and zucchini, then Salami E Pepe (hard salame with black pepper), ‘house-cured’ olives and mozzarella. Next course a salad with four perfect ingredients – endive, toasted hazelnuts, grana padano cheese and truffled citrus dressing.  We decided on Chitarra all’ Amatriciana with locally cured guanciale and the Gnocchi alla Bolognese with ‘house-made’ ricotta gnocchi for our pasta course.  Of course what kind of respectable Italian meal would this be without ordering a couple wood fired pizzas?  Our choices were: ‘Bresaola’ – described on the menu as house made ricotta and mozzarella, Bresaola, arugula, grana padano with balsamic vinegar.  ‘Salsicca’ – described as ‘house-made’ fennel sausage, fresh oregano, Fontina and chili flake – plus why not throw a local organic egg on top just because.

Today was a huge success. Our family-style Italian meal, filled with quality Italian meats, allowed us to experience the restaurants vision to the fullest extent.  Great quality ingredients, manipulated with simple execution filled our palates with joy.  And to the chef and staff, I say thank you for a great food memory….

Grazie mille,

Michael