FEBRUARY 2011

GASTRONOMY ON THE AMALFI COAST

02012011  The restaurant "Alfonso a Mare", member of a chain of restaurants named "Costa Diva", Le vie del cinema (The Roads of the cinema), has created "La Consuelita", a typical dish that has taken the name of the character played by "Francesca Bertini" in a movie that was filmed in the restaurant of Alfonso a Mare. Restaurant | alfonsoamare.it
02022011 012011 If only the pizza at Vico del Carmine in Florence could mimic Naples as well as its decor! We were served pizzas that had thin, nowhere near crunchy (I'd say soggy even), crusts and which were topped with what could arguably NOT be mozzarella - as the pungency was a real brow-raiser. It was far from the kind of pizza you would hope to find in a neapolitan alleyway! Vico del Carmine | Appuntamento Pizza
02032011 Three different generations have taken over the ancient and typical dishes. It is now more than twenty-five years that don Matteo has ben managing the place with great passion and love. Enrico Caruso, Giovanni Amendola and many other big names and personalities visited and were guests of the Pizzeria “Vicolo della Neve”. The famous painters, from Salerno, Clemente Tafuri, Alfonso and Tullio Grassi decorated its walls with their excellent paintings. History | Ancient Pizzeria Vicolo della Neve
02042011 Campi Flegrei’s eight-mile-wide caldera is so low and unassuming that much of metro Naples was built on top, and yet a full eruption would be one of the largest in human history, the kind of geological event capable of plunging the world into a minor ice age. This time, scientists are determined to give the three million residents of greater Naples abundant warning. What Could Possibly Go Wrong: Deep-Drilling a Supervolcano | Popular Science
02052011 Cynthia was travelling with a girlfriend in Italy for six weeks when she met Simon. He was on his way back home after living in Britain for six years when they met in a Naples hostel. “From the moment Simon and I met we struck up a conversation and very easily talked all night long,” says Cynthia. “We met up again once he arrived in Sydney and the rest is history!” Love in Naples | The Age
02062011 A year later we came back to Italy, this time together, and actually visited the same little patisserie. (My husband later said he had planned on proposing to me right there at the same table we had sat at the year before). He did later propose on a hotel balcony in Positano -- at sunset, overlooking the sea, with Pavarotti singing in the background. Much better choice. My miracle girl | MarketWatch
02072011 Six of the 15 guestrooms are in the original 1777 Palazzo Bruno, including four upstairs rooms with 18th-century ceiling frescoes. Many regulars prefer ground-floor rooms 51 to 55 because they open directly onto the magnificent, long entrance terrace and enjoy postcard views of Positano framed by ivy trailing off the shady trellis. 10 best secret hotels in the world (Albergo California, Positano, Italy) | msnbc.com
02082011 Procida is a small island – you can cross it easily on foot, though there’s a good bus service, too. On Procida you’ll find the little bar in which Mario Ruoppolo (Massimo Troisi) shyly romances barmaid Beatrice (Maria Grazia Cucinotta). It’s Bar La Taverna del Postino on the seafront of the tiny fishing village of Marina di Corricella, on the northeast of the island. Marina di Corricella, a near-vertical warren of pastel-coloured houses linked by a zig-zag of scalatinelli (staircase streets), is simply one of the most striking places you’re likely to visit. Il Postino film locations | movie-locations.com.
02092011 An excellent small hotel in a little village of the island of Procida in the Bay of Naples. Private house in a lemon garden, at only 200 metres from sand beach, rocky beach and from touristic and fishermen harbour of Chiaiolella, formerly residence, with restaurant in the lemon garden, cooking only fresh fish from owner's son in law boats, vegetables from our garden, self made wine available and Limoncello. Hotel Celeste | RealAdventures
02102011 Lemon trees are part of the Campania landscape (to which Capri belongs). Their fragrant fruit is ubiquitous: drizzled on grilled fish, tossed in fresh pasta, baked into cakes and frozen into sweet granita. But on Capri, the lemon's most common form is as an after-dinner (or lunch) digestivo known as limoncello. Served freezer-cold and in a tiny frosted glass, artfully-bottled limoncello finds its way into many a visitor's carry-on bag to be shared at home with friends. Be warned: Limoncello, made with organic lemon zest, pure alcohol, sugar and water, can deliver a nefarious hangover. Destinations / Capri | Islands
02112011 Elle Decor: How would you define your professional style? Kelly Wearstler: It’s dictated by my clients. I take their interests and run them through my filter. ED: What is the last place you saw that made you think, I wish I’d done that? KW: The J.K. Place hotel in Capri. It’s very intimate, and the attention to detail is incredible. Women in Design: Kelly Wearstler | Elle Decor
02122011 Vietri La Fenice - A small hotel, which overlooks the Mediterranean sea, is the inspiration for Vietri s La Fenice dinnerware. Each piece is hand painted with a vibrant scene depicting the Italian coastline. La Fenice is the ideal complement to variety of Vietri patterns. Bring the atmosphere of the Amalfi Coast into your home with Vietri La Fenice! Vietri La Fenice Dinnerware | Distinctive-Decor
02132011 The villa, located along a small alleyway in a quiet, residential area, sits atop a rocky ridge against one of the most beautiful backdrops in the world. Its location on the upper part of Positano offers wonderful panoramic views over the entire town and the Li Galli islands. Villa Oliviero is one of the most enchanting properties along the Amalfi Coast. Villa Oliviero - Positano | Villas of Distinction
02142011 Best vacation taken: The Amalfi Coast in Sorrento the week of my wedding. It was phenomenal. 10 Things About Me: Malin Akerman | Elle
02152011 This variation of caprese salad was created by chef Mark Mollica, and inspired by his time in Naples, where mozzarella cheese is made from buffalo milk. "It's definitely one of our best selling dishes," Mollica says, "we run out every night." Healthy recipes | Natural Health
02162011 An Italian concept from L.A. restaurant superstar David Myers, Pizzeria Ortica has a traditional menu with a decidedly city feel. Pizzas are in the style of (where else) Naples, Italy, and the basics are spot-on, including the crust, which is made using a 300-year-old biga (dough starter) from outside Naples. Hand-stretched and baked in an oak-burning oven, the pizzas are hard to resist. Pizza! Pizza! | Coast
02172011 A trip to the Amalfi Coast inspired this recipe. Giant lemons abound there, and Delizie al Limone is the traditional dessert served in many of the nicer restaurants. This version is my heroic attempt to recreate this delicacy using advice from several of the local women, and a few talented Houston friends. Delizie al Limone | TasteBook
02182011 Join Chiara Guerrieri in the Graeco-Roman town of Paestum and savor the flavors of an ancient way of life while also pleasuring yourself with the practice of yoga. From the stunning Amalfi Coast, to Pompeii, to the even more ancient city of Paestum, this is Italy's coast with the most. Yoga in Italy with Chiara Guerrieri | Yoga Journal
02192011 People sheltering from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79 died instantly when a 500°C heat wave stopped their vital organs then vaporised their brains, say volcanologists. Alberto Incoronato of the University of Naples Federico II studied 80 skeletons of people who hid in chambers in the coastal cliff face at the foot of the volcano, near Herculaneum. All were found in relaxed poses. Boiling brains | NewScientist
02202011 With The Fires of Vesuvius, Mary Beard has produced a lusciously detailed, erudite account of life in ancient Pompeii, and in keeping with her earlier work, she first clears the evidentiary ground. She reveals how a city badly roughed up by earthquakes, rebuilt, shaken again, partly evacuated, blasted and blanketed by volcanic ash from Vesuvius in 79 CE, then tunneled into, looted and finally forgotten was rediscovered in the eighteenth century, excavated, rebuilt, bombed by Allied forces in 1943 and reconstructed once more, becoming the "city in a bottle" dramatically if misleadingly packaged for tourists. A City Unbottled: Mary Beard's Pompeii | The Nation
02212011 Richard Fortey describes the "Temple" of Serapis near the Bay of Naples, where Lyell in 1830 challenged a static concept of the Earth with a simple observation: He noted that the borings in the midsection of the marble columns there were apparently caused by rock-eating marine clams, indicating the rise and fall of the sea and the ups and downs of a dynamic crust over vast stretches of time. Fortey calls the "Temple" of Serapis near the Bay of Naples a geological "holy place for rationalists," recognizing the oxymoron: The scarred columns evoke a rational explanation that defies many a religious conviction about the biblical brevity of Earth's history. A Restless Planet | American Scientist
02222011 David Savage have shared with us about The Sustainable Neighborhood, green housing development in southern Italy who Andrea Salvini and Barbara Berni as project architects. In collaboration with Italian architect Barbara Berni, this mixed-use residential project was conceived as a large-scale, green building development on nearly 12 acres in the province of Caserta in southern Italy. The Sustainable Neighborhood in Caserta, Italy by Andrea Salvini | Architecture Design News
02232011 No wearing noisy wooden clogs in Capri. Italian mayor bans sand castles | Foreign Policy
02242011 Moscow's favorite cuisines of late, Melanzana does manage to create something fresh and new with its fusion of the two. The pizzas would seem to be the stronger of the two sections, given that Melanzana has a dedicated pizza chef, Pasquale Cinotti of Naples, who has 37 years' experience making pizzas. The collection of pizzas offers all the classics, such as margarita (290 rubles), four cheeses (420 rubles) and four seasons (470 rubles). Aubergine-o-licious | The Moscow Times
02252011 Ischia Thermae introduces a technologically advanced Anti-Aging formula. ?Active Vita System? utilizes nano technology delivery deep into the skin. Nanotopes of vitamins, A,D,E and SK-Influx deliver moisture, tone and elasticity, qualities of youthful skin, to the face and body. Nano Technology | Spa Magazine
02262011 Recently back from wrapping up the shooting in Naples, Italy, for her first international venture Fire In My Heart with the actor of Ben Hur fame, Omar Sharif, Sonali Kulkarni recounts her pasta days. "I had real yummy food in Italy. Even their roadside pastas and spaghettis are great," she says. Besides, she tried out a variety of salads there too. "That country has some incredible variety when it comes to salad. You can fill yourself with salads." The taste still lingers in her memory, she adds. From poha to pasta | The Hindu
02272011 Down the coast, the region of Campania, with Naples as its capital and the Amalfi coast and Positano and Ravello as some of its other draws, has captured some of Cinecittà's heat, business and ability to promote. Rino Piccolo of the Campania Film Commission points out that 'of course, we can offer the skilled crews because we're so close to Rome, where you find the very best Italian human and technical resources for film production. Going for the gold | Film Journal International
02282011 Catarina Ravaglia, Elite, is 16. Catarina is from Italy. Catarina prefers flats to heels, mainly owing to her being much taller than her friends. Catarina likes the word 'patient', Kings of Leon and brogues. Catarina has travelled the world but is looking forward to seeing more of her home country this summer; Florence and Naples top the list. Top 5 Biker Jackets on the Top 5 Faces for February | i-D