Tasting Italy

Ready for an epicurean adventure? Read about how 417 Magazine Art Director Cassie Darst and Nonna’s Italian Café Owner Shawn Kraft toured Italy, tasting everything delicious that the country has to offer.

By Cassie Darst

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It all started when my name was tossed into a hat. The hat contained two names: Mine, and that of 417 Magazine Lifestyle Editor Savannah Waszczuk. Whoever’s name came out of the hat would be going on a nine-day trip to Italy. Shawn Kraft, owner of Nonna’s Italian Café, had recently come to 417 Magazine staff with an incredible offer. He was planning a trip to Italy to taste authentic Italian cuisine, learn some new techniques and bring back some of the flavors to incorporate into his menu. He just needed someone to come along and document the trip, on his dime.

When the deciding hand reached into that hat, mine was the name it pulled out. At first, I was in shock. I hadn’t gotten my hopes up. I mean, what are the odds that I would get to go on a paid trip to Italy to tour the countryside, eat mouthwatering meals, take photos of beautiful food and write about the experience? In this case, 50-50. To be fair, there were about four people on staff who could write, could take photos and had a current passport… Oh, and the most important factor: Seniority. But in the end, only Savannah and I could make the early October dates work. Savannah was not a gracious loser.

After a month of preparation, Kraft and I boarded a flight to Verona, Italy with the goal of seeing and tasting all of Italy, no matter what unexpected entrées crossed our paths. Tie on your bibs. The meal starts here.

Day 1

Today we start our Taste of Italy tour.

Kraft’s friend and Rogersville native John Bingham picked us up at the Verona airport, and we set off across Northern Italy to his home in Vicenza.

On our way there, we ordered pizza at Pronto Pizza. Don’t be fooled by the name; it’s not a chain store. The owner, Giuseppe, spoke only Italian but gestured us in with hand motions. Our host

guided us in our pizza selections.

The region is known for its mushrooms and truffles, so we picked a fresh mozzarella, cream cheese and Parmesan pizza covered with three kinds of mushrooms and truffles.

Giuseppe hand-tossed the pizza, then loaded it with toppings before putting it in the wood-fired pizza oven. It came out all melty with a perfectly crispy crust. The mushrooms were sliced very thin and were rich in taste and texture. Needless to say, it was amazing.

First taste of Italy: Awesome.

Day 2
Today we dined at Trattoria Damario in Vicenza. It’s a lunch spot filled with old Italian men sitting at long wooden tables drinking red house wine from unlabeled bottles. There’s a gigantic wood-burning grill layered with horse steak and polenta. Horse is very popular here, and it tastes just like beef steak with just a hint of glue. Just kidding. It was sliced thin and was well-seasoned.
I learned a very important lesson today about the progression of a meal in Italy. The first plate is pasta. The second plate is meat, followed by a vegetable. The meal finishes with salad. If you are not completely stuffed, you can have a dessert and caffè.
That evening for dinner, we ate at Antica Trattoria Moreieta. I ordered the roast beef with black truffles. Close your eyes. Now imagine a glistening perfectly medium rare steak cooked on a wood-burning grill layered with black truffles, dripping with the juice of contentment. That’s pretty much the meal I had. Lucky, I know.

Day 3
In the afternoon we went to visit some friends of the Binghams who happened to live in a villa owned by a real live count. After touring their home, a converted artist’s quarters that’s more than 400 years old, we got to meet the count himself. Count Guilo da Schio owns the Villa da Schio along with the carriage house and winery surrounding it. The count gave us a tour of his villa and then the winery, which had been built into the side of the hill more than 100 years ago.
After visiting the winery and sampling some delicious cabernet from the count, we went to the sagra, which is “feast” in Italian. In northern Italy it is very common for a town to have a sagra several times a year.
People from all over the countryside come to try the town’s local fare. Here is how it works: You are given a menu, and you mark your orders on the menu. You pay for the food, then you then bring your menu to a gigantic tent where everyone sits to eat. Your server takes your ticket and brings you your food when it is ready. Outside there are games and toys for the children and a separate tent for music and dancing. The sagras last all weekend. It made me feel like I was a local, if just for a moment.

Day 4
On Sunday we took a train into Venice for the day to see if we could find something unusual to eat.After we stepped off the train, the waterways were a sparkling sight to behold. The canals were filled with everything from gondolas to large trash pick-up boats. We found a quaint little restaurant in the middle of a square called Trattoria Taverna Capitan Uncino, which translates into Captain Hook’s Restaurant. I ordered the lasagna bolognese. It was wonderful, layered with mozzarella cheese and a heavy meat sauce. Kraft ordered the mussels and spaghetti with squid. The whole dish was black with sauce that would turn any mouth the darkest shade of exploded ink pen. The squid was chewy but flavorful, an experience for sure. Not necessarily one to be repeated.