Monday, April 30, 2012

Pasta Pesto & Co.

I sometimes find myself thinking back to this pesto pasta and how it was the best ever.  And how it was 7 Euros.  And how we were in a most amazing location: on a hillside in Cinque Terre, Italy (in a hostel dining room), watching an orange and pink sunset over the ocean with a leetle bottle of house red to share between C & I.  The kind of meal you'd think back on to remind you how freakin' awesome life can be.  At the time, I felt less than great taking this memento from the hostel, but seeing as it's been a source of inspiration, it can't be all bad.
It's a good thing I'm allergic to walnuts so I could shave that option off.  Lord knows I'm troubled by decisions.
The Cinque Terre Hostel was a steal, especially since we visited in the off-season (a September weekday), and we shared a dorm room with some chatty ladies from England.  They offered breakfast and dinner at a pretty reasonable price; we instead satisfied the former with a local coffee (Italian is my favorite- tied with Icelandic coffee).   We used to eschew hostel meals in general (except free ones)- but after passing up a decadent looking paella in Malaga one time, we decided hostel chefs might get us as close as possible to an authentic eating experience.  And then we met the chef, who was just an Italian dude from Cinque Terre, so we went with it.
 
Sometimes you want a Big Salad, sometimes you make it a Double.
We got the guy to make us a Double Salad even though it was after 6:30, because that's our style.  But then I felt bad because I realized it was a limited item because it was super labor intensive to cut all that veg for us.  And then we chose Linguine with Pesto and it was just perfect.  I think the main ingredient of pesto here (in Italy) is not Basil, but Parmesan and Olive Oil, so you can't really go wrong- but it was seriously a treat.  I think we got a pizza too. Comeon, we had just run a marathon and we literally hiked 18 miles that day so we deserved all that excess.  
The menu doubles as a translation tool!
As for the menu itself- it was funny.  Someone had obviously fallen in love with that ridiculous font and just ran with it.  It says to me: "Clown Parade!  One Night Only!"  Then, the menu was printed on thin, recycley paper and held together with twine, booklet-style (see below).  There was an industrial hole-punch involved.  Makes you want to belt out Italian songs in a kitchen stirring a big ol' pot of something with a big ol' spoon.  Oh yeah, we did get a pizza too.  Waay too much food for us, but that's what you do in Italy- Julia Roberts told me so.
*Otherwise known as American Junk Food; here, prepared with grace.
This is the front page, where they just went wild checking out all the fonts.  Let's break it down:  
Makes you feel like an idiot for ever eating in a real restaurant.

1. the food is good
-true.
2. it's cheaper than in the restaurants
-yes, way.
3. no extra fees
-there were not.
4. we only use high quality ingredients
-can't vouch for provenance, but it was tasty.
5. we have an "open-space" kitchen, so you can see the chef at work
-I've never been to space.
6. our suppliers are the same as those of the local restaurants
-that makes sense.
7. we offer organic foods and special dishes[...]
-we try not to be pains in the butt, generally.
8. we offer a wide range of local traditional courses
- so many courses!
9. you can meed people from all over the world
-I guess one could.
10. you can dine on our         outdoor patio among the flowers and aromatic herbs of our garden... and at no extra cost!
-Thanks, Pasta Pesto & Co!

No comments:

Post a Comment