I’d always heard the coffee in Naples was better than the coffee in Rome; better in fact than anyone else’s. 

In Italy, food and wine is so regionalized; every area thinks theirs is the best. But it’s so true. Each region specializes in certain wines, certain pastas, certain cheeses, etc. In each area, it truly is best to eat and drink what the region dictates. Start tasting, and you too will soon realize, Italians have earned their bragging rights.

So, what is it about the coffee in Naples that makes it so special? I've just returned from a 10-day research trip to Italy. A visit to Naples and the Amalfi Coast was on my list, so I was itching to try the coffee and find out for myself. And now I know. I immediately noticed two things the baristas in Naples do distinctly differently from those in Rome:

1)      All the espresso machines I saw in Naples are hand-pulled rather than push button. Unfortunately, I did not snap a photo of their machines, so instead, I’m posting a photo of my personal machine. This is a hand pull (not automatic push button) machine that I have been using for nearly 30 years. (Actually, this is the second machine in 30 years. The first one bit the dust after 20 years, and I replaced it with the exact same thing.)

To be honest, I'm not sure why hand-pulling tastes better than push-button. Maybe it has something to do with the amount of pressure that builds in the machine before you pull. Regardless, everyone in Naples is pulling; everyone in Rome is pushing.

2)      They keep their cups really hot! All the coffee bars had their espresso cups submerged in very hot circulating water. They either used tongs, or quickly stuck their fingers in there to snag a cup. These hot cups keep the coffee at the perfect temperature for drinking. Genius.

In Rome, clean cups are stacked above the machine, which is a warm place, but not a hot place. This is always my complaint when I make an espresso for myself at home; my coffee is never hot enough. By the time the espresso is done dripping into my little espresso cup, it is cooling down quickly. From now on, I'm going to preheat my espresso cups at home with hot water. This is a light bulb moment.

Additionally, there were some different coffee drinks available in Naples which I’d never had before. Here you see lined up and ready for the day, an assortment of plastic cups which have been pre-drizzled with chocolate syrup, Nutella syrup, etc., ready to be filled with coffee concoctions. Interesting, no?

Aside from that, I had a fantastic espresso drink called a “caldo-freddo”. It means “hot-cold”. The barista started with the perfect shot of espresso in a hot cup. He added a spoonful of sugar, and gave it a quick stir. Then….here comes the good part…..in goes a dollop of creamy loveliness from this machine. It was like a melon ball size scoop of soft serve vanilla gelato!

Lastly, a nice drizzle of chocolate syrup to top it off. It was decadently sweet, but not cloyingly so because the portion was so small; so just-the-right-size. It was creamy and chocolaty with that perfect balance of coffee in the background. 

Seriously Delicious.

Yes. It is true. Naples has the best coffee...on the planet.

Ah Rome. I have just returned from a ten day research trip to Rome, the Amalfi Coast and Umbria. As usual, I intended to blog my way through this most recent trip to Italy….but sigh, life got in the way. I was so busy meeting up with old friends, meeting great new friends, eating, drinking wine, driving a stick shift again, strolling, sightseeing…..the list is really endless. Suffice it to say, I was busy. My morning alarm went off at 7a.m. every day, but I wasn’t going to sleep until between midnight and 1 a.m. every night! With all those waking hours, you’d think I would have had more time at the computer. But I did not. Oh well. Here are my “better late than never” blog posts:

 Whenever I arrive to Rome, my routine is basically the same: Drop bags off, shower, and hit the streets on foot. Rome is a wonderfully walkable city, and the best way to get over jetlag is to just get out there in the fresh air. I always arrive hungry (because that's usually the state of my life), and in need of a coffee (which coincidentally, is also the usual state of my life). I had a lot of appointments in Rome during the first three days of my trip. However, I always leave time to just stroll the streets of the city either alone or with friends. Walk along with me, won’t you?

In the top photo, you see a selection of pizza by the slice. It was all so delicious, and look how fresh that basil is!

The luscious whipped cream concoction you see above is one of my very favorite treats in Rome. It is called a caffe granita con panna and it is a surefire jetlag cure. The barista places some unsweetened whipped cream in the bottom of the cup, tops it with two scoops of coffee granita; a sweet, frozen, caffeine-laden concoction then tops the whole thing off with more unsweetened whipped cream. It is so delicious, so refreshing, and so delicious! Did I say that already?

Below, a few street scenes:

Are these not the most adorable dogs? They were all blissfully napping in the sunshine. I was thinking I should join them, but there was so much more to see.





Yard art anyone? I love this outdoor shop. I wish I had bought something from here when I lived in Rome, so I could have had it shipped back to the U.S. with all my other household goods. Instead, I stop in here once in a while to do some wishful shopping.....and leave empty-handed.

Okay, I had to do a double take when I saw this street performer! He appears to be floating in mid-air! Street performers want you to toss a few coins in their bucket to have your picture taken with them. They are in every city, but usually it's the same old tired golden mummy or creepy Statue of Liberty. Kudos to this guy for coming up with something new.

One of the things I love most about Rome are its neighborhood covered markets. The produce and other products available are amazingly fresh and delicious. Here are a few photos compiled from several markets I went to:

And last, but certainly not least, I always try to set aside a day for cooking with my kitchen cohorts. We made an amazing lunch of  a spaghetti carbonara, homemade gnocchi with amatriciana sauce, a spring vegetable dish called vignarola alla romana, carciofi agrodolce and agretti. Delizioso!

Do you see now why I had no time to blog at the computer? 
After Rome, I headed off to Naples.....what fun! I can't wait to tell you all about it. Stay tuned for the next post-trip blog. A presto!

I’m beginning to think about what to pack, which means a trip is fast approaching. I’ll be in Italy April 14-23 researching new itineraries, meeting lots of new connections, and checking in on old haunts to be sure these places are still as wonderful as I initially found them.

I start with a couple of days in Rome. I have a few new faces I’m scheduled to meet there, transportation routes and logistics to check for an upcoming tour, several new restaurants to try and of course, time set aside to visit with old friends. I will have a cooking day with my old kitchen cohorts which will be incredibly fun. Hopefully, by the end of this trip, I’ll finally get a handle on making gnocchi.

After Rome, I head off to Naples for a couple of nights. There, I’m very excited to experience a wine tour and a scenic tour as well as meet new guides, hoping to find new colleagues for future tour groups. I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to sample lots of the wines of Campania, and to be able to report back on the best ones.

I end my trip with a day or two in Umbria, meeting with winery folks, ceramics makers, artisanal food producers, drivers and guides; always trying to add new colleagues to my ever-growing list of great people to work with.

Friends think I’m on a boondoggle vacation; flitting around Italy, eating and drinking my way through ten days of pleasure. It’s not exactly like that actually. My days are filled with appointments, and I spend a lot of time rushing from here to there. Yes, I eat well, and I drink well. Please. I’m in Italy and I will take full advantage of great food and wine opportunities. I am not stupid. But foremost on my agenda are connections, people connections.

My clients work hard for their vacation dollars, and then they trust me with their time and money. I do not want to disappoint. I want to have lined up a string of great places to see, restaurants to eat in, food producers to meet and wineries to taste in. Then there are the bits the clients don’t really “see”. I need to be sure the hotels I choose are the right ones; clean and with great service, the drivers safe and courteous, the guides knowledgeable and entertaining. A lot goes into making someone’s dream vacation a dream come true.

So stay tuned for future blog posts from Italy, where yes, I will be eating and drinking my way through ten days of pleasure. But, more importantly, I’ll be hoping to meet a lot of great people along the way.

Italy, here I come!