blogfromafar

          We met the Etruscans last fall on our drive from the Rome airport up the Tyrrhenian cost towards Pisa. Jet-lagged and looking for a stretch, we noticed icons on our map that looked like little igloos and indicated “Etruscan Necropolis”. We pulled off in Tarquinia for a gander, a midsize town north of Rome, just south of the Tuscan border (whose name comes from “Etruscan” by the way).

We found the necropolis just southeast of town, a mounded, open field with mini-doorways complete with clay roofs that led into each tomb, layers of lives lived and memorialized there, with us as unintended, unimagined witnesses.  Each tomb had a little light on a timer, not so efficient, so that you had the sense that the first discoverers must have had:  of seeing the bold frescoes come to light slowly.    (more…)

     The great thing about identifying defects in olive oil, and wine for that matter, is that the nose knows all! You don’t even have to taste the bad stuff to find out something’s wrong: a little sniff will do ya!  For example, in yesterday’s food section of the Dallas Morning News, this article mentioned a bargain olive oil from Italy for the low, low price of $11.49 a liter! Well, we just had to try it, so we went down for our bottle of Paesano’s (left, above) and brought it to the store. Well! Let’s just say it’s here and available for a taste test. Good luck with that!  Here’s what you need to know to make an informed decision:

• Italian olive groves are not planted in neat rows on flat ground; therefore the olives are more expensive to harvest. If a bottle proclaiming to be Italian Extra Virgin Olive Oil has that low-low-price, it’s probably not Italian, Extra Virgin, or Olive Oil (those self-renewing virgins in the college years come to mind!) (more…)

     First, the good news. For a real diner, with good (and not good-for-you) food, head out to the Original Market Diner where you can meet Natalie, winner of the Zagat “Sassiest Host” award in 2007 (this article captures her spirit well).

While the main attraction here is the food, the atmosphere has you coming back. Located on Harry Hines near the Dallas Market Center, its clientele includes flamboyant gays, their well-heeled partners, bikers, young grungers, out-of-towners visiting the market, and others enough in the know not to mistake this temple of dough and grease for a used car lot. Four stars, get there!

Then, why are so many restaruants so bad? (more…)