Savory – A True Love of Mine

What Katie Ate in Milan: Sabatini Pizzeria

On our final night in Milan we found ourselves wandering the streets in search of a fancy bar that I had read about in a guidebook. Unfortunately, I am pretty much the worst navigator in the history of the world and had not only forgotten the map but forgotten the name of the bar. We walked for what seemed like hours until deciding to just give in and find somewhere less fancy and more filling. Hubs thought that he recognised the area of the city we had wandered into and remembered eating at a great pizzeria with his family years ago. After wandering aimlessly some more, we decided to employ the fail-safe method we had developed of finding somewhere good to eat in Italy – the white neon sign. It seemed as though the white neon was the secret code for “this is not a tourist trap but a pretty nice place to eat”.

The interior of Sabatini is large and welcoming with staff who are clearly experienced and genuinely happy to see you. After some banter with our waiter where I tried my hand at a little conversational Italian again, we settled in to do the other favourite activity of restaurant-goers which is people watching. Which is when I saw this…

Oh yes, that is a full sized motorbike in the of the dining room

It was then that hubs realized that we had actually stumbled upon the pizzeria that he had visited years earlier with his family. Win!

One thing I love love love about Italy is that you can’t have a meal without some slices of crusty bread
or, in this case, crusty bread AND bread sticks! Carb heaven!

That conversational Italian that I mentioned before? Yeah I ordered wine in Italian. No biggie.
And before you say it, no, I didn’t order fish wine by mistake…

My pizza came exactly how I like it with a thin but soft and bubbly base, enough tomato sauce and a healthy dose of olives, mushrooms, ham and marinated artichokes. Really, marinated artichokes should be added to everything.

For our last night in Milan, this restaurant was perfect. We had a relaxed dinner of delicious pizza with friendly and attentive staff. I particularly loved the way they had all the desserts spread out on a table so that you could see what you would get when you ordered. Unfortunately, we were so damn full of pizza that there was to be no dessert! Until I caved and stopped at a gelateria on the way back to the hotel. And i’m not even sorry.

So I can now have the pleasure of saying that we ate “probably the best pizza in Milan”
at Sabatini. So Italian!

Sabatini Ristorante PIzzeria

Address: Via Ruggero Boscovich 54, Milan
Opening Hours: 7 days 12pm-3pm for lunch and 7pm-11pm for dinner

What Katie Ate in Milan: Giannasi Chicken Lunch and Fish Tea

I’ve never been one for learning languages. Its like maths, I can learn the rules but I find it ridiculously difficult to apply them in contexts that don’t require me to list the conjugations of a specific verb. But, as we were visiting family in Italy, I thought I should make a concerted effort to at least be able to say some basic things to them in their own language. I began using the DuoLingo app on my phone which actually got me quite far because each level is broken down into tiny lessons that I could do on the short train trip to work or while waiting for dinner to finish cooking. It was also great to be able to practice speaking the language through the app as well. All this meant that I came to Italy is a decent understanding of some (quite basic) Italian. The longer we were in Italy, the more confident I got with trying to speak some of the language while we were out and about. Mostly, my translations of the menu and attempts to order food (my primary goal) were met with kind smiles and reassuring nods. Until the day we went out for a roast chicken lunch.

We decided to venture slightly further out of the city centre and try some of the food that is served in the suburbs when people go home for lunch. My research led us to Giannasi, an old school kiosk serving rotisserie chicken from a recipe that they had used since the shop opened in 1967.

Really, looking at that succulent, golden chicken, why would you change the recipe? After all, if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it!

There was a huge crowd of locals waiting to buy their lunch but it was quite orderly and, when we had reached the front, I felt confident enough to try ordering our meal in Italian. It went a little like this:

Me: “scusi, due polli e mezzo”

Him: “taglio?”

Me: “si, si! E due te pesci”

Him: *quizzical look* “pesci?”

Me: “Oh! No! PescA!”

In my enthusiasm, I ordered two half chickens cut into quarters and two FISH teas. Not quite the PEACH teas I was going for! The server was kind and laughed off my mistake and I left triumphantly with my chickens and teas but a little red faced too.

As most people seem to return to their apartments to eat, there is no seating at the kiosk. You can sit down in the small park nearby but there is little shade from the hot Summer sun so be prepared to tan it up a little while you eat. Really, you will probably be so involved in sucking every last shred of gorgeously marinated chicken off the bone that you won’t notice anything else! Apparently these chickens are “aromatized” for 24 hours before they are broiled again before serving.

But, if you’re not a huge fan of chicken, there is still plenty of choice for you. Giannasi are also renowned for their arancini and risotto, as well as their vast array of marinated and chargrilled vegetables. We wanted to try some of the grilled eggplant but were so full of tasty chicken that we just couldn’t fit it in! The prices are very reasonable too. I can’t quite remember how much but I think our lunch was something like 6 euros all up?

And how was the fish tea? I hear you asking cheekily!

I feel like I need to begin an immediate petition to bring San Benedetto Peach Tea to Australia
This stuff is delicious. And cool to look at too!

So, my lovelies, have you had any embarrassing ‘lost in translation’ type moments in your life? Please spill the beans!

Giannasi 1967
Address: Piazza Bruno Buozzi, 20135 Milan, Italy
Subway Stop: Porta Romana
Open: 7 days, 7am-8pm (Sundays 8am-2pm)

Lunch At Your Desk: The Bitsa Lunch

Now Lunch At Your Desk is clearly not part of my series of travel posts but I thought we needed some more lunchspo to keep us on track! We will resume normal programming in the next post.

Im going to go out on a limb here and say that I think my number one problem that often prevents me from bringing my own healthier lunch to work is Time.

Or lack thereof.

Is this true for you too?

Well, if it is the case and you don’t fancy the weird deliciousness of the last minute apple and peanut butter sandwich that I shared with you last time (and I can only partly blame you for that because it does sound weird – but delicious! I promise!) then perhaps this little lunch might be your saviour.

I introduce, The Bitsa Lunch. Im not sure if the term ‘bitsa’ is used widely elsewhere but in Australia it’s often used to describe a dog that has no discernable breed. Its a ‘bitsa’ you know, bits of this and bits of that…

And that is that way that I would describe this simple and tasty lunch. Its a little bit of this and a little bit of that and a whole lot of stuff-I-found-at-the-back-of-my-fridge. It comes in many different variations, but the beauty of this lunch is that with a few pantry staples, you can pick and mix everything you have in your kitchen to make a filling and nutritious lunch.

First we begin with a base, something bready and filling like:

bread (thick slices of sourdough are the best if you still have some left over)
wholegrain crackers
pumpernickle bread
flatbread

Then we add some veggies like:

raw carrot sticks (much maligned as being only a vehicle for dip – I could eat whole carrots every day just by themselves)
leftover veggies from dinner last night e.g. steamed asparagus, green beans, broccoli
marinated olives (my fridge is never without a tub of marinated olives. Im in an Italian house now. I would die.)
cherry tomatos

Then we have some extra tasty things like:

chunks of cheddar cheese (strong and bitey is how I like mine! It counterpoints the soft or sweet veggies and bread + cheese = food from the gods)
Spreadable cheeses like the ubiquitous laughing cow cheese
Dip – homemade or otherwise
Pickles
Tuna

I always keep a plate in my desk drawer at work as well as a knife, fork and spoon in the mug that I use to store my pens and pencils. That way I can bring a bunch of small tupperware containers or snaplocks with each part of my lunch and then just lay them out on the plate for some leisurely eating. It is hands down the quickest fresh lunch that you can prepare and will make you the envy of all your coworkers with their greasy takeaway. It also has the added bonus of making you calm down, slow down and enjoy your food. What better way to begin the second half of the day?

So peeps, what pantry staples would you include in your bitsa lunch? Leave a comment for me below!

What Katie Ate in Milan: Eataly, Light of My Life

As I sort though all my travel memories to decide which ones to share with you, they’re basically all related to food. I defy anyone to go to Italy and pass any moment of the day with an empty stomach. It just wont happen. Mostly because of places like Eataly.

Eataly is everything you want in Italian food under one roof. The three level building combines a bookstore and cookware shop with myriad dining counters, a deli, bakery, fishmonger, grocer, olive oil dispensary and many, many more culinary delights! We were too late for lunch here but stopped by to pick up a few things for a casual dinner before going to the opera that night. Actually, considering the time we spent wandering through the store, its quite amazing that we made it to the opera at all. Let me walk you through some of the highlights…

First you can buy all the flour to make your pasta, breads and Italian sweets

Then you fall into a trance while staring at the mesmerising display of chocolate and caramel sauces

Until you hear the siren call of the chocolate hazelnut spreads (think super fancy Nutella)

Then you might try to break yourself out of your sugar coma by visiting the bread counter
(they also sell offcuts of loafs used at the sandwich bar earlier in the day if you don’t want a whole loaf)

Only to be sucked back in by the hypnotic sway of the hanging legs of prosciutto
Swoon!

A little bit of cheese makes a more balanced meal

Oops… did I say ‘a little’? How about a whole fridge full?
Berlin, eat your heart out.

And by now you’ve decided that you can’t be bothered to make your own pasta
So you buy some fresh pasta from this counter

Don’t think you’re getting out without a bottle of freshly decanted olive oil
or vinegar.

Seriously, Italy, well played.

Walking through Eataly was like disappearing down the rabbit hole. The delicious and mesmerising rabbit hole. We must have spent hours there annoying the poor workers who were trying to restock from the lunch crowd to prepare for the deluge of diners that would inevitably descend in the evening. It took all my strength not to fill my suitcase with jars of olives, chocolate spread, oil and try to sneak in a few cheeses. Surely customs couldn’t begrudge a girl a leg of authentic Italian prosciutto bigger than her head? Surely!

But instead we satisfied ourselves with a hotel-room picnic dinner of bread, crackers, cured meats, cheeses and tapenade.

stop drooling

And I bought the world’s tiniest bag of pasta.
No, its a magnet. But it is actually filled with real pasta.

Dear Eataly, I love you and i’m coming back. I promise.

Eataly
Address: Piazza XXV Aprile, 10, 20121 Milan, Italy
Nearest Metro: Garibaldi
Opening Hours: 10am-midnight

Sabatini Ristorante PIzzeria

Giannasi 1967 Address: Piazza Bruno Buozzi, 20135 Milan, Italy Subway Stop: Porta Romana Open: 7 days, 7am-8pm (Sundays 8am-2pm)

Giannasi 1967
Address: Piazza Bruno Buozzi, 20135 Milan, Italy
Subway Stop: Porta Romana
Open: 7 days, 7am-8pm (Sundays 8am-2pm)