Poggio Antico was still under some kind of renovation and was closed for business as late as 6/6 when I was there. The winery sends their visitors to Boccondivino which provides wine pairing of poggio antico wines. And Boccondivino, is very very good on almost every aspect, except only served me two glass of wines even I ordered and paid for three.

Just return from a 24 day trip to Italy, 2 weeks in Tuscany, 1 week in Romagna, and a weekend in Rome. Didn't go to many restaurants that I researched before the trip as I found it unnecessary just after a few days. Will write some reports over the time. The best surprise is the region of Romagna, food is much lighter than Tuscany and, IMO, better. And you can eat very well at 10 euro a person, never had a bad meal there. Local wines are cheap and lack complexity, but nonetheless, delicious.

Rome, surprisingly, not as expensive as I thought. Although prices vary depend on the location, the food is nonetheless consistently good.

Biggest disappointments:
1. Steaks. Veal, on the other hand, very good.
2. Hosteria Giusti. Drove 2.5 hour there, was the only table for the day. Every dish was over salty, I barely touched my pasta, and none of the dishes was impressive. Either the kitchen has a bad day or the lady lost her touch after losing her husband.

Jen, great effort. I hope that others will follow to add their reviews.

Summer truffles and autumn/winter truffles are similar look but completely different species.

went to the website of Osteria Fernanda. Their lunch menu is much smaller and much lower priced compared to their dinner. Is this unusual in Rome or it is a phenomenon that restaurants start to pick up.

I will be in a conference at Bertinoro, and did not do any research on Ravenna, but i found a thread on Ravenna on this board. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/6565...

There are plenty of Michelin stars along the coast from Ravenna to Rimini, and there is San Domenico in Imola.

Jen, thanks for your advice. Cured meats is the main purpose of me driving all the way to eat at Giusti.

I felt exactly the same way when saw their reply. I was about to give up on hope. Since it will be 2.5 hour drive away from my base in Tuscany, i can easily find excuse for not going. Giusti will be my only meal in Emilia although I will hit Romagna later on my trip for 6 days. I love Balsamic vinegar and plan to snap a couple of bottles from Giusti.

after waiting for a week, I got a reply yesterday. heading there on in less than a month.

Agree with David, Florence is not known for food in modern time.

just send a request for reservation through the link. Hope that it works and I will get a response.

Fred, nice to have you here. I look forward to having the latest edition of your book. I understand that the struggle between publisher and Amazon on pricing of kindle is very complicated. But I think that accompanying iPhone applications can add a lot of values to the print version guide books. For example, Rick Steves has made some very nice self guided tours for iPhone. For restaurant guides, I think that either an stand alone application (like the one by Michelin) or a lighter version that integrates with some GPS navigation applications on iPhone could be very helpful to travelers who already own the book and an iPhone. Another nice solution is to offer kindle version only bundled with the print version.

Your best bet is to call the place and ask if they can do it.

never hurt to have a long list of plan B's. unexpected things happens and your appetite may or may not go as planned either.

I believe that weekday lunch deals are a trend. for example, Antonello Colonna (http://www.antonellocolonna.it/spazio-open.asp) offers 15 euro lunch menu on weekdays. and you can also check the blog by Katie Parla
http://www.parlafood.com/category/rom...

Speaking of iPhone application, Michelin just released Italy 2010 today at $9.99, a deep discount off the printed version. And this time they did it right by making everything offline.

I bought the kindle version of Florence, Chianti, Siena & Surroundings (Travel Adventures) by Emma Jones. Not a bad read but does not cover all Tuscany. A problem of travel guides on kindle is poor quality of maps, and I love maps.

diddo. I think that all restaurant guides, wine guides should have a kindle version. but unfortunately very few are available. Technology wise, this should be really easy, guess publishers are still living in 20th century.

Amazon will have them in stock on May 3rd, very timely as I am going to Italy the end of May (although it will unlikely make into our luggage) I read people complaining about the last edition was not fully updated. Hope that he did a better job this time around. I think that I saw Fred Plotkin post here some time ago and hope that he will show up again.

anyone been to Babette? close to Spanish steps and open Sunday night

believe or not, people grow and eat broad long beans in China, maybe a slighter short version compared to Romano beans. But you can not find them in chinese grocery stores and Chinese restaurants in US. Chinese restaurants in US usually have very limited varieties of vegetables, even in New York. Grocery stores are getting much better but I don't remember seeing broad beans, long or short.

here is a picture of how they show in chinese dishes http://food.k369.com/d/file/2009-08-0...

I never had fresh borlotti beans, and do not remember last time that i had flat green beans, had to be more than 20 years ago in China. Do they deep fry eggplant in Rome?

For good or bad, with the globalization of food sources and local green house vegetables, we rarely think about what are in season anymore.

Maureen, can you let us know what are the summer vegetables in rome? I don't even know what is seasonal in New York, tomato can be from Israel and grapes from Chile, the only exceptions are apples and corns in early fall.

Heard that reservation need to be made a month ahead for this place. But the meat displayed on their website does not look appealing to me and not being dry aged.

sad, remind me how powerless we still are compared to the mother nature.

I sense that porchetta does not get much respect these days, at least within Rome city limits. I thought that it was an ancient etruscan and rome tradition, Nero's favorite meal, and is eaten in banquets and festivals before became street food sold in trucks. Anyway, I will make a stop at Er Buchetto and Aristocampo. And thanks to Jen, I will hunt for porchetta in Monte San Savino too. If I am unfortunately stranded in Rome by another volcano eruption, will hit viterbo and/or Alban hills. But are Alban hills volcanos themselves?

thanks for everyone who replies above. I am very interested in comparing the regional differences of porchetta, and suggestions on finding good porchetta in Tuscany, Umbria and Le Marche are very welcome. Given that Lazio claims to be the home of porchetta, it would be unfair not seeking it out in Rome. Unfortunately, it seems that their availability in Rome is not that great.

Look like that more than a fair share of seafood restaurants stay open on Sunday.

I am glad to see your report on it. I noticed befored that Crispi 19 is #2 on tripadvisor, but I do not find it being mentioned on this board and was thinking that it must be a very touristy place, not necessarily bad food, but very much cater to tourists. La fate, La Taverna dei Fori Imperiali, also rarely mentioned, is #6 and #17 respectively on tripadvisor.

Nancy, thanks for the info. it is very surprise to me that there is ONLY one place in rome that serves the real thing from Ariccia.