teatro del sale

 Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved

Last year I had the occasion to meet and photograph the Italian whirlwind that is Fabbio Picchi. Picchi is the mastermind behind Cibreo, Trattoria Cibreo, Cafe Cibreo and  Cibreo Teatro del Sale, all located in the  Sant'Ambrogio neigborhood of Florence, quite near the Mercato di Sant' Ambrogio. The trio of restaurants are just doors apart, creating a little gastronomic empire.

All the restaurants are worth a visit but the most interesting is Teatro del Sale, the private dinner club and theatre. Teatro del Sale is a members-only restaurant/theater/club housed in a former convento. Patrons are required to become a member for a minimal one time fee and then are treated to an interesting spectacle of food and theatre. The theatre part comes after dinner when the room is transformed and all chairs are pointed towards the stage.  The entertainment, which is organized by artistic director Maria Cassi, a famous Florentine actress (and Picchi's wife), can range anywhere from comedy, to a lecture on Bob Dylan's Music to the 1970's children's film, Pete's Dragon. It is ever changing and completely fascinating. Picchi and his staff in an open glass windowed kitchen, are somewhat of a show themselves as guest sit at long communal tables eagerly awaiting his food. In the kitchen they whirl around one another seamlessly preparing the evening's unique menu until suddenly and without warning Picchi charges out of the glass windowed kitchen and announces with great gusto and force whatever the primo piatti may be! Guests then rush the buffet table . After several courses and dessert, at 9:30 or so, the room is cleared for the theatre portion of the evening. Once you have become a member, you are part of the club for life barring that you don't lose your membership card which entitles you to private breakfast lunch or dinner at Teatro del Sale. You may feel free to stop by during the day to have a coffee or a pastry or lunch and to sit in the many comfortable chairs and just relax or eat. The shop is open to the public but you must be a member to partake in breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

While at Circolo, pick up one chef's shirts or pants or handsome silk ties designed Picchi himself. There are also beautiful wine glasses from old recycled wine bottles for sale in his emporio/ piccolo store (and they ship!). His shop is full of sea salt and marmalades and pickled vegetables he has made himself!

If you go to Caffe Cibreo in the morning after the market, do not miss the ciambella, an italian donut. There was a warm and enticing pile of them sprinkled with sugar when we were there. They are quite delicious. If you want to feel Italian you can order a caffe doppio and cornetto integrale con marmelata. 

Try to go ahead of time to make a reservation and to join the club. Dinner is quite hectic and quite a draw so you should definitely cover the logistics well in advance!

a note on Picchi's other resturants...

Cibreo was his first restaurant, opened in the early 1980's . He does a lot of classic Tuscan dishes at Cibreo but no pasta, so be forewarned. If you want pasta go to Trattoria Cibreo, it is less formal and less expensive. 

Don't miss the neighborhood hardware store in the square, it sells everything but the kitchen sink!

Cibréo ristorante            Via del Verrocchio, 8r Firenze Tel. : 055 234 11 00 Fax : 055 24 49 66  Chiuso Domenica e Lunedì. ( closed Sunday and Monday) e-mail : info@cibreo.com                cibreo.fi@tin.it Cibrèo trattoria (detta il Cibrèino)  Via de' Macci, 122r                  Firenze Caffè  Cibrèo Via del Verrocchio, 5r Firenze Tel. : 055 234 58 53 this week's menu

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È ARRIVATA LA PRIMAVERA- COZZE BANANE ZUCCHERO E LIMONE INSALATE DEI NOSTRI CONTADINI ZUCCHINE TRIFOLATE CON LA MENTA PURÈ DI MELANZANE CREPES MAROCCHINE CON PATATE E PORRI ACCIUGHE DA LIVORNO BACCALÀ FRITTO CAVOLFIORE FRITTO POLPETTINE DI MANZO RIPASSATE CON CAPPERI E ACCIUGHE FRAGOLE VERE QUANDO SI TROVANO ECC...ECC...ECC... breakfast....... PANI CALDI CON LE NOSTRE MARMELLATE SCHIACCIATA CALDA CON LA MORTADELLA TORTE - LATTE E BISCOTTI - YOGURT TEA E CAFFÉ LE FRITTATE PIÙ BUONE DEL MONDO E TANTISSIMO, TANTISSIMO, TANTISSIMO

For a complete Florence list see the file cabinet... where I will be adding a list of things to do in Florence over the next couple days.

 

 

 

notes from the road/sicily

Photographer Paola Ambrosi DeMagistris writes in from her travels in Sicily.

This tasty "dentice" was dropped by the local fishermen as soon as we sat at our table at the "Ristorante la Combusa" in Castellamare del Golfo...the chef covered it in coarse sea salt from Trapani and cooked it for 40 minutes...thanks to the salt the fish was amazingly moist and kept all its freshness and flavors...nothing needed to be added...I just sqeezed a few drops of lemon and enjoyed it with an "insalata siciliana" of tomatoes, red onions, green olives and oregano...YUM!

This is a great little restaurant right on the harbor in this tiny fishing village.

Ristorante La Cambusa‎

Via Don Leonardo Zangara, 67 91014

Castellammare del Golfo Trapani, Italy

39 09 24 30155

 

it's a smorgasburg!

I love a market! especially one serving up all sorts of irresistible things to eat. The SMORGASBURG just might top all the others!

Starting May 21,2011 The Brooklyn Flea will be launching a veritable food extravaganza in Williamsburg called "SMORGASBURG". You can find it at the new Williamsburg Flea site on the Water at 27 North 6th St. (btw. Kent Ave. + East River), every saturday from 9am to 5pm. There will be over one hundred food vendors so come HUNGRY!! and stay all day. The market will have prepared foods as well as provisions and a green market.

For a complete low down on the project or to view vendors  go to:

http://www.brooklynflea.com/2011/04/25/smorgasburg/

the danes

 

© Ditte Isager

The worlds top 50 restaurants awards were announced recently, and NOMA takes first place again!

If you get a chance you should peruse the gorgeously photographed book NOMA, photographed by Danish photographer Ditte Isager, styled by Christine Rudolph. The name NOMA is an acronym of the two Danish words "nordisk" meaning Nordic and "mad" meaning food.  NOMA is known for its reinvention and interpretation of the Nordic Cuisine. In both 2010 and 2011 it was ranked as the Best Restaurant in the World. A trio of Danes, Chef René Redzepi, Isager and Rudolph teamed up to create a Nordic sliver of exquisite beauty. I am most inspired by Redzepi's use of the local and wild ingredients. 

It is one of the most beautiful books I have seen in a long while. It also happens to be up for several James Beard awards including photography!

 Here is a link if you want to buy the book on line.

http://www.phaidon.com/store/food-cook/noma-9780714859033/

eat your kale. it is good food.

 

Kale is one of those vegetables that I was sort of unsure about as a kid. We grew a few different varieties in our garden and being very hardy, kale was always amongst the last of the vegetables standing as the frost spread it's beautiful patterns across the ground. Which meant kale had quite a long run at the dinner table at our house. I was lover of spinach and broccoli rabe and couldn't really get enough of them, but kale was another matter altogether. Perhaps it was the way that it was cooked that turned me off. To me, It was simply in the same category as collards and turnip greens, they all seemed bitter and tough to my childish palette. In my adult life I have had a change of heart towards this miracle Brassica. I simply cannot eat enough of it! I think the trick comes down to how it is cooked and what it is paired with. I can't imagine making a tuscan white bean soup without it or any winter vegetable soup for that matter. My favorite way by far to make it is inspired  by a recipie from the Lucky Dog Farm Store in Hamden New York. They make a very simple but addictive raw kale salad. 

Below is my interpretation.

 Lucky Dog Raw Kale Salad

Take a good sized bunch of organic kale of any variety. I like Cavolo Nero (also known as Tuscan or Dinosaur) or Russin kale

 With a large knife, Chop the entire bunch into medium size pieces

Mince and chop 3 cloves of garlic

Add  the garlic to the kale and a healthy healthy dose of olive oil and  pinch of celtic grey sea salt. 

Massage the garlic, olive oil and sea salt into the kale  with your hands until the kale starts to soften.

Set aside for a half hour or so before serving as it will continue to soften and breakdown.

This salad stores well and is great the next day.

add salt to taste.

This is a bright green, raw salad, full of iron and calcium and antioxidants. It is my daughters favorite!

what more could I ask for?

 

Copyright © 2011 Andrea Gentl all rights reserved