the Restaurant d’ltalie. The way into the restaurant
is through the dark and narrow hotel corridor, but a
large skylight gives brightness to the restaurant, and
the walls are light in colour. The Italian naval officers
patronise this restaurant, as do the business men of
the city, for their mid-day meal. There are tables all
round the room. The fixed-price lunch seems to be
universally eaten. On one of the days I lunched
there the menu contained gnocchi , which are a specialty
of the house, a savoury stew of the white flesh , of
chickens and their livers, and some excellent mutton.
The sheep which feed on the meadows between Leg-
horn and Pisa give excellent mutton, a meat which,
as a rule, is none too good in Italy. The proprietors
bustle about with as much energy as any of their
waiters, show their customers a great dish of fresh fish
just brought up from the harbour, call their attention
to any specially delicious cake that may be on the bill
of fare, and would be broken-hearted if any luncher
or diner was in the least dissatisfied.
The former Grand, a house of marble halls, is now
known as the Palace, and is under the management
of Spaini & Co. The cookery is distinctly good, and
the officers of the British navy usually make this their
dining place whenever any of his Majesty’s ships are
in the harbour.
The Casa Rosa on the pier is a pleasant place for
a meal in summer.
Acqui della Salute , the cure place just outside the
walls of Leghorn, is one of the pleasant places to
which the well-off people of Tuscany go yearly to
drink waters for the sake of their livers. There are
Italy 263
two large hotels there, one of which is managed by
Bertolini, the most famous of Italian restaurateurs, and
there is a little restaurant not attached to any hotel.
The Corallo , the water which comes from the prin-
cipal spring, is not one to be drunk unless one is going
through the cure, for its effects are immediate and
severe.
AFTER DINNER
Leghorn has its big opera house in the principal
square, its comedy house, and its summer variety
house, but my experiences began and ended with an
evening at the opera. The company singing was not
a first-class one.
Lucca
Lucca is too serious a place to care much about the
inner man. But the fascinating old town is a place
to visit, and the visitor cannot do better Universo, Piazza
than go to the Universo. Open eggs delGiglio
and a filetto alia Parigina are safe and sound dishes,
while if he should be there during the season of the
famous Brobdingnagian asparagus from Pescia, he
will have a real treat if he eat it a burro e formaggio ,
in other words alia Parmigiana. For morning and
afternoon refreshers go to Carlo Caselli’s carlo Caselli,
in the Via Filungo. Mine host is a ViaFilungo
gentleman of culture, with a profound knowledge of
Lucca, and will discuss the antiquities of the place
with you while you discuss his excellent vermouth
and bitter.
Rome
A man who loved strange experiments in eating,
once asked me in Rome to dine with him at a very
cheap inn outside one of the gates, and he explained
how the dinner was arranged. He had found a hostel
which did not provide food, but if you bought a lamb
l6 4 ^the Gourmet's Guide to Europe ✪ Pasticcio di Maccheroni
Page 145 · 1 recipe record on this page
Presented as published in 1903. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
the Restaurant d’ltalie. The way into the restaurant is through the dark and narrow hotel corridor, but a large skylight gives brightness to the restaurant, and the walls are light in colour. The Italian naval officers patronise this restaurant, as do the business men of the city, for their mid-day meal. There are tables all round the room. The fixed-price lunch seems to be universally eaten. On one of the days I lunched there the menu contained gnocchi , which are a specialty of the house, a savoury stew of the white flesh , of chickens and their livers, and some excellent mutton. The sheep which feed on the meadows between Leghorn and Pisa give excellent mutton, a meat which, as a rule, is none too good in Italy. The proprietors bustle about with as much energy as any of their waiters, show their customers a great dish of fresh fish just brought up from the harbour, call their attention to any specially delicious cake that may be on the bill of fare, and would be broken-hearted if any luncher or diner was in the least dissatisfied.
The former Grand, a house of marble halls, is now known as the Palace, and is under the management of Spaini & Co. The cookery is distinctly good, and the officers of the British navy usually make this their dining place whenever any of his Majesty’s ships are in the harbour.
The Casa Rosa on the pier is a pleasant place for a meal in summer.
Acqui della Salute, the cure place just outside the walls of Leghorn, is one of the pleasant places to which the well-off people of Tuscany go yearly to drink waters for the sake of their livers. There are
Italy 263
two large hotels there, one of which is managed by Bertolini, the most famous of Italian restaurateurs, and there is a little restaurant not attached to any hotel. The Corallo , the water which comes from the principal spring, is not one to be drunk unless one is going through the cure, for its effects are immediate and severe.
Leghorn has its big opera house in the principal square, its comedy house, and its summer variety house, but my experiences began and ended with an evening at the opera. The company singing was not a first-class one.
Lucca
Lucca is too serious a place to care much about the inner man. But the fascinating old town is a place to visit, and the visitor cannot do better Universo, Piazza than go to the Universo. Open eggs delGiglio and a filetto alia Parigina are safe and sound dishes, while if he should be there during the season of the famous Brobdingnagian asparagus from Pescia, he will have a real treat if he eat it a burro e formaggio , in other words alia Parmigiana. For morning and afternoon refreshers go to Carlo Caselli’s carlo Caselli, in the Via Filungo. Mine host is a ViaFilungo gentleman of culture, with a profound knowledge of Lucca, and will discuss the antiquities of the place with you while you discuss his excellent vermouth and bitter.
Rome
A man who loved strange experiments in eating, once asked me in Rome to dine with him at a very cheap inn outside one of the gates, and he explained how the dinner was arranged. He had found a hostel which did not provide food, but if you bought a lamb
l6 4 ^the Gourmet's Guide to Europe
Records on this page
Pasticcio di Maccheroni