AnimaMundi: DI/DO

Just when I thought cooking at home was making a comeback, Mr. Italian Wine Guy thinks we should making dining out in again. Of course, he is in the wine business so it makes sense to encourage people to dine out more often and while doing so order that bottle of Amarone or Nero d'Avola blended with Syrah. Just watch out for those seersucker pants. Red wine stains are murder on them. If you lucky enough to live in or close to a metropolis that has an abundance of quality restaurants, this makes sense, especially if you can afford it. Or if you live on Lipari, in Marsala or Soverato, it would make even more sense given what you could get for 70 Euros or less. Give me a solid pasta with vongole, I'm there. Imported pasta asciutta al dente with plenty of plumb sweet briney vongole with a little tomato and chile. But how many places get it right in the US of A.? Not many @ $15-$20+ a pop. I can name three. Two are/were in NYC. One is the late Vucceria and the other is Barbone on Avenue B. The third is in Newport, RI, at a little place called Pronto. We recently went to a new restaurant nearby in Albany. It's hot now. Everyone's there. ("No one goes there anymore. It's too crowded."-- Yogi Berra) The bar's hopping. The chef has a name he made for himself at Justin's in Albany and in Woodstock. Right down the street is superior place that is now half empty. I order the pasta with vongole @$18. It is non-descript lacking in kick and vitality. A glass of Regaleali rose can't redeem it. On the other hand, K's Thai-inflected noodles with shrimp was more flavorful as were the fried calamari app with hot Asian dip. So, do I go back after they get their legs? Do I want to pay $18 for another pasta with vongole that left me cold? Or do I order something else? The dinner--one appetizer, two entries, one cocktail, one glass of wine--total = $80+ with tip.

Alfonso hits on more than a few viable points about America Norte and its ambiguous relation with food and dining out. Is dining out recreation or theatre or both? Does it always have to be a reality show? Top Chef? People like to go out and dine with friends. Suspend time and cares for a few hours or more. Have a good time and drink some reasonably priced honest wines along with carefully prepared food that gets their attention. What with all the hyperbole, some restaurant entries require an adjective-heavy paragraph on the menu. How many reductions of reductions do you really need? Simple food with fresh ingredients, not tortured into something it isn't. I'll take a humble tavola calda in Italy over offal Babbo anyday. Too much and too little. Over the top and under the radar or the table. At times, dining in seeks to recreate the experience of dining out. Dining out attempts to fantasize being at the home table. You tell me.

If I buy a bag of 50 Rhode Island littlenecks (you Texans don't know what you are missing) for $18, Kathy will steam them to perfection with olive oil, white vermouth, shallots, Argentinian garlic, San Marzano tomatoes, hot red pepper, fresh herbs from our garden. She then tosses them with freshly cooked imported pasta asciutta al dente. We share some red from either Sicily or Puglia. We are silent as we eat, except for an occasional moan of enjoyment. And I don't have to worry about drinking too much wine and driving home or figuring out what 20% of X is.