As many of you know, I am a total sucker for food markets. Yes, they can be touristy and crowded but I love the idea of walking around and trying out different food stalls. And what better place to do it than in the heart of the food district in Bologna? Located in the Quadrilatero area, behind Piazza Maggiore, the main square, is a culinary wonderland of places eat. Mercato di Mezzo is right across the street from Eataly (yes, that Eataly) but is much smaller in scale. Do a lap once over to see what your options are and then divide and conquer. It's a great place for a casual lunch or afternoon snack. I went straight to the salumi counter while my mom went to the seafood counter. I asked for a salumi spread for one (10 euros) and just had the guy at the counter pick a mix of meats and cheeses. It was your usual line of proscuitto, mortadella, salumi and pancetta as well as local sharp Parma cheese. There was a dollop of a cherry jam which was nice to pair with the cheese. The pita and breads were soft and a nice way to make a mini sandwich. I can't stress enough how different and frankly better the meats are in the this city. Thin, fresh and not totally dried out from the curing. I tried to re-create this same dish when I got back home to BK but it just wasn't the same.
My mom did a nice job with the seafood spread as well. We got a mix of octopus salad, squid with really fresh local artichokes, salmon cous-cous, pank crusted cod fish, and a shrimp and squid kebabs (27.50 euros). Again, a great spread and lots of variety to try out. The squid with artichoke was my favorite while the salmon cous-cous was kind of a standard fish and didn't really add much value to the overall experience.
I could have stayed there much longer and indulged in some wine or local beer but we had a train to catch to Cinque Terre but I highly recommend stopped by this entire area for some culinary delights.
Come on an empty stomach or wear elastic waist band pants.
Unnamed Pizza Place in Cinque Terre 3 Forks
Sorry folks, this will be kind of a lame entry with no real name or pictures of food (I'll give a lovely picture of the town instead). But if you're in Vernazza, this place is right off of the main square on the left hand side. It's a pizza place near Gambero Rosso. We had taken a 4 hour train ride to get to Cinque Terre and were exhausted. The town is tiny with not a ton of options to choose from. I wasn't really feeling like walking around to find a place to eat, so we ducked into this pizza place by the Square. We started with the octopus salad (14 euros) and got 2 pizzas, the tuna and the artichoke pizza (9 euros each). The food here was underwhelming compared to all the other meals we'd had in Italy so far. Nothing really terrible about it but nothing really worth writing about it. You can definitely tell that they are catering to tourists and while the prices weren't crazy expensive, when you compare it to the quality of food we had in Bologna for the same if not less, there really is no comparison at all. Vernazza is most definitely a stunning and beautiful place to visit but it's more for the scenery and less for the culinary experience. Even though we went during the off season, you could already sense the swell of tourists so I can't even imagine what it's like in the summer time. If you can, try to come in April/May or September/October because not only will it be cooler, you'll also be dealing with less people.
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