This post will be a little more brief because I lost the use of my left thumb (hopefully temporarily) in a football accident (post to follow this one).
We did our first day of menu training yesterday, which consisted mostly of familiarizing ourselves with every selection on the menu. More importantly, we got a crash course in Italian pronunciation. Nevermind that the lesson was taught by an American, despite the fact that an Italian family owns the place. It went pretty well. This guy is going to be the head waiter, and has decent pronunciation after working with the owning family for five years.
Some things to note...the food on this menu sounds fantastic. A few items to note...and in doing this I hope I'm not creating any legal problems. These recipes are not intended to be resold, reproduced, or shared. This is strictly for entertainment. End, lawyer speak.
On the antipasti (appetizers), there is an option for polpettine di granchio, which are mini crab cakes with pimiento peppers, fresh corn, avocado, and a hint of Calebreza chili flakes, served crispy.
Under the Aqua Terra section, hopefully I found my future favorite dish: Bistecca Fiorentina. Eighteen ounce New York prime steak sliced and served Tuscan style topped with sauteed mushrooms, roasted garlic and shaved Parmesan. Served with Tuscan potatoes and spinach (on the steak I think).
Pasta Sensation (cheesy menu section title) has a lot of good choices. The Papardelle Donatello has extra wide egg pasta stained with Chianti wine (no distinguishable effect to the flavor), with mignon tips in a classic Genovese ragu topped with Gorgonzola (I'd prefer Parmesan or Mozzarella).
And our selection of Brickoven Pizzas looks outstanding. It hurts to type so I'll share these later. Or make you come in and see for yourself.
Today, we have a short training session. I don't know what we're covering, but hopefully it is interesting and worthwhile.
Stay tuned.
Showing posts with label carpaccio annapolis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label carpaccio annapolis. Show all posts
Saturday, April 12, 2008
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Carpaccio Training Day 1 - Wine Tasting
Italian wines are not fun to learn.
While I never claimed to do well learning wines at the Melting Pot, I at least knew the names of most of what we sold. I couldn't tell you if it was oaky or grassy, earthy or robust, cherry or blackberry. I can recognize spicy, and I can tell the difference between red and white (ha...), as well as blushes (only the finest blush for our anniversary please, Beringer White Zinfandel will be dandy [and it's clear from the lack of any information that no one cares about this wine]).
So I know merlots, cabernets, shiraz/syrah, various blends, chardonnays, etc. Those names and terms, I understand. But when you get in to Italian wines, the wines aren't named for the type of grapes. They are named for the region in which it was made. So now, instead of tasting all these things that I recognize, I have to learn all the various hillside names in Italy, and Tuscany in particular.
Couple that with the fact that I didn't really like any of the wines we tasted, and you can see I didn't really enjoy this tasting. But our table did win the spittoon competition. We wasted the least amount of wine out of the four tasting tables. Yay, drunkards.
The only one I could get down with very little trouble was the 2003 (I think) Tassinaia. Vinfolio doesn't have any information on this particular choice. Anything that ends in 'aia' in Italian means 'by the'. I think (and this is a guess) that this one means 'by the pebble'. Not important. What is important is that this bottle is going for $96, and it still wasn't that good.
Anyhow, regardless of the fact that our wine distributors put together a shoddy tasting with crappy expensive wines, we all had a good time. I'm enjoying the time spent with Carpaccio folk. As long as we can keep some of the obligatory restaurant drama at bay for the first few months, and as long as we actually open (looking like the last week in April now), I think it's going to be a great place to work.
While I never claimed to do well learning wines at the Melting Pot, I at least knew the names of most of what we sold. I couldn't tell you if it was oaky or grassy, earthy or robust, cherry or blackberry. I can recognize spicy, and I can tell the difference between red and white (ha...), as well as blushes (only the finest blush for our anniversary please, Beringer White Zinfandel will be dandy [and it's clear from the lack of any information that no one cares about this wine]).
So I know merlots, cabernets, shiraz/syrah, various blends, chardonnays, etc. Those names and terms, I understand. But when you get in to Italian wines, the wines aren't named for the type of grapes. They are named for the region in which it was made. So now, instead of tasting all these things that I recognize, I have to learn all the various hillside names in Italy, and Tuscany in particular.
Couple that with the fact that I didn't really like any of the wines we tasted, and you can see I didn't really enjoy this tasting. But our table did win the spittoon competition. We wasted the least amount of wine out of the four tasting tables. Yay, drunkards.
The only one I could get down with very little trouble was the 2003 (I think) Tassinaia. Vinfolio doesn't have any information on this particular choice. Anything that ends in 'aia' in Italian means 'by the'. I think (and this is a guess) that this one means 'by the pebble'. Not important. What is important is that this bottle is going for $96, and it still wasn't that good.
Anyhow, regardless of the fact that our wine distributors put together a shoddy tasting with crappy expensive wines, we all had a good time. I'm enjoying the time spent with Carpaccio folk. As long as we can keep some of the obligatory restaurant drama at bay for the first few months, and as long as we actually open (looking like the last week in April now), I think it's going to be a great place to work.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
