February 25, 2026

Wednesday

Torino, Italia

Italian electricity is a funny thing. The heater was on in the bedroom/living room and when the one in the bathroom was activated poof – off went everything. After trying the circuit breakers nothing was happening. Texted the owner and asked what to do. It is 06:00. He wasn’t awake yet. It was light enough to get dressed and go for coffee.

This morning it was a quick trip to Caffeteria Antonelli for a cappuccino and brioche. The surprise this morning is that is brioche felt like it was made yesterday. This is not a normal procedure in Italy. It is 07:05, and there isn’t really anyone else here, but even when that has been the case elsewhere the brioche have always been fresh. The cappuccino was great.

Back from coffee, still haven’t heard from owner. Texted again. Finally at 08:00 he wrote back. Try the meter? It is right above the circuit breaker box. No. Flipped the switch. Positive results, problem solved. Put Mary’s coffee on the stove and fired it up. Turned off both heaters first. Coffee made. Cappuccino served.

The plan today is to go over the Serra’s and look in the other large suitcases to see what we will need while we are here and prepare at least one of them for not being opened until we get to Sonoma, although two or three would be best. The idea being to live out of the small suitcases the night we are in Milano the night before our flight and the night in San Carlos.

We went to lunch at Trattoria Toscana on Via Vanchiglia just around the corner. We have eaten here before and really love it. The food is good. It appears to be a family run place. The key to getting in is pressing the doorbell on the outside. Otherwise, the door is locked. Not sure why this is, but it is.

We arrived just after 12:30, when they open. There were already a few tables occupied. We were buzzed in and shown to a table. They do have a menu but they also have a board listed with “today’s plates” (aka Piatti del Giorno). Now in America you assume that what is the plate of the day is the bottom of the barrel stuff they are attempting to clean out the kitchen with. Here it is the things that are freshest.

Deciding is difficult. Tagliatelline al Ragù Taccio just dosen’t translate well. I thought perhaps there wasn’t sufficient room to write tacchino (turkey), but the waitress wanted to tell me it was manzo (beef). Of course, she could have said carne (meat). The second item of the day was gnocchi in crema di tartufo. Truffles just aren’t my thing.

The third special was ribollita Toscana. Ribollita is a traditional hearty peasant vegetable and bean bread soup. As a peasant dish it was designed to reuse leftover – specifically stale, saltless Tuscan bread, white beans (cannellini) and cavolo nero (kale). Good soup but kale isn’t my thing. The last one took some work. Busiate Melanzane guanciale ricotta sautata. Busiate is a long curly pasta shaped like a corkscrew. It is a pasta used often in Sicilia. The shape helps it hold the sauce. Melanzane is egg plant. Egg plant is good here. Covering the same territory again, but guanciale is salt cured pork. Very good. Ricotta sutatua (or more commonly called salted ricotta, dry or aged ricotta) is a dairy product typical of southern Italy, particularly Sicily and Sardinia, obtained by dehydrating fresh sheep's ricotta. So, guessing this is a Sicilian dish, pasta, egg plant, pork (bacon) and ricotta.

The remaining four things on the menu probably need less explaining. Rosticciana al forno patate. Rosticciana is basically spare ribs. Al forno patate, basically means oven backed with potatoes. Bocconcini di vitello all’Ortolana is veal bites with vegetables. The meat is floured, browned, and then braised with a mix of vegetables such as zucchini, peppers, eggplant, carrots, and peas, or as I suspect broccolini in this case.

Brasato al barolo polenta. This dish is braised beef in Barolo wine with polenta is a classic Piedmontese dish. It's based on a prime cut of beef (usually the "priest's hat") marinated overnight in Barolo wine and then slowly cooked for several hours, served with creamy polenta, often taragna. The priest’s hat is a triangular-shaped cut of beef taken from the top of the shoulder. It is called priest’s hat because the shape is that of the traditional priest’s hat in Italy (cappello del prete). Usually very good. Coniglio al-vino e olive. Rabbit (convoglio) with wine and olives is a classic Italian main course, often associated with Ligurian tradition (which includes Taggiasca olives and pine nuts). It's a tender white meat that lends itself to flavorful, moist cooking. Not a big fan of olives, not to mention that rabbit has too many small bones.

Priest’s Hat - not worn now days

There is a multi page menu also available with many other dishes. However, here it is best to go with the plate of day. We both ended up with Tagliatelline al Ragù Taccio. It turns out that the meat was probably turkey. It really doesn’t matter the dish was very good. I also got an insalata mista, mixed green salad. We shared a cheesecake with berries for dessert. We also had a half-liter of the house red wine, which I think she said was a Montepulciano. Again, it really doesn’t matter it was good. The whole bill was € 55 about $65. Well worth it.

After lunch we went back to the apartment, where it was nap time. A half-liter of red wine will do that. At 16:30 we headed over to Serra’s to sort through the other two suitcases. We grabbed somethings, like the house keys, American plug chargers, and the like, which we will want in San Carlos and Sonoma. Kissed the girls good night and took off for the apartment.

That was our day. Not overly interesting.

Buonanotte e ciao,

Enrico e Maria