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Just tell me it will get better

Just tell me it will get better

Old Apr 1st 2008, 2:47 pm
  #106  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by chicagojlo
Still looking for an 'Italian' restaurant here that serves Italian food rather than the Americanised interpretation. Eggplant parmigian is an Italian dish, it just doesn't involve chicken-fried eggplant! And what's with the mozzarella, never saw that rubbery kind in any part of Italy I went to!

Wow, find myself agreeing with chicagojlo. It must be April fools day!!!!!!!!!


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Old Apr 1st 2008, 2:51 pm
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

This is not bashing American food
But, what is with the BEEF Kababs? "Lamb"

BEEF Gyro? "Lamb"

UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Reg. Frank R.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 3:30 pm
  #108  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by frrussre
So are you telling us that pappy crap "Italian Bread" in a paper bag, is good, nice or edible? Its the one they sell in every super mkt, about 15" long, comes in paper bag costs about $1 - $1.50. Please let us know?
Well, if that's what you consider Italian bread, no wonder you don't like it!
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 3:34 pm
  #109  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by frrussre

Wow, find myself agreeing with chicagojlo. It must be April fools day!!!!!!!!!


Reg. Frank R.
Erm...
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 3:40 pm
  #110  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by frrussre
So are you telling us that pappy crap "Italian Bread" in a paper bag, is good, nice or edible? Its the one they sell in every super mkt, about 15" long, comes in paper bag costs about $1 - $1.50. Please let us know?
Are you discussing, Italian food sold in USA or Italian food sold in England/Italy? There are tons of great Italian restaurants in UK, have you been?
Reg. Frank R.
This is where I get my Italian bread: http://www.vitalesbakery.com/

This is where I get olives, olive oil and lemon ice, as well as my other Italian groceries: http://www.shopviviano.com/


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Old Apr 1st 2008, 3:50 pm
  #111  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by frrussre
So are you telling us that pappy crap "Italian Bread" in a paper bag, is good, nice or edible? Its the one they sell in every super mkt, about 15" long, comes in paper bag costs about $1 - $1.50. Please let us know?
Are you discussing, Italian food sold in USA or Italian food sold in England/Italy? There are tons of great Italian restaurants in UK, have you been?
Reg. Frank R.
I've been to Italy more times than England in the past 20 years; if I'm going to sit on a plane for over 10 hours, I want to go somewhere where the weather is good and the food is great, so I've been going to Italy for my vacations for years. I've been to Rome, Umbria, Tuscany, Como, Milan, Bologna, etc. I hope to retire there perhaps. I have found several restaurants in the Bay Area that sell comparable food. The only thing I can't find is the thin crust, white-dough pizza that is commonplace in Italy - but 'Pizza Antica' in Lafayette, and some place who's name I can't remember off the main square in Sonoma, do a pretty good imitation. 'Caffe Delle Stelle' in downtown Walnut Creek is pretty good too. If you are going to places like 'The Olive Garden" then you are lost ...

As to bread - not sure what 'pappy crap' you are referring to, but many stores around here sell fresh baked bread in paper bags, which sounds like what you are referring to. This bread 'spoils' within a day (so it's fresh and has no preservatives). If you don't like that bread, then it's just a matter of taste. I think the 'mass market' grocery stores have started doing their own and selling it in similar packaging, but it's probably not the same. I decided long ago that life was too short to spend time shopping in places like Safeway, so I couldn't tell you what their versions are like. But there are bakeries such as 'Acme' and others in the Bay Area that deliver great breads every day to the better stores. That's the bread I'm talking about.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 3:52 pm
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Ok I am late with the Trader Joe thing but I have just visited their website and I am not impressed with the site and the selections they have. I am able to get most of the items they have elswhere. In other words I do not think they are all that special.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 3:54 pm
  #113  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by Giantaxe
Well, if that's what you consider Italian bread, no wonder you don't like it!
NO, I am describing what millions, 100's of millions of Americans eat everyday, not a few yuppies, euro's, hippies & ????? eat everyday. Whose bigger Walmart/Publix/A&P/Stop & Shop or Wholefood/trendy fresh bakers. First of all, most people can not afford to buy $3-$5 loaves, they buy WONDER Bread, cheap packet Italian bread is a !@$%$%^^&&^*& treat. They can't afford medicine, they certainly are not shopping for the luxury items. West Palm Beach FL (Close to Multi Million $ homes) median income $44k, compare to some places $29k median income. Whoopee.

I have wined & dined in some of the Worlds most expensive restaurants, I have also savoured the flavor of Egg & Bacon sarni in the greasy spoon. I have had a mug of tea & a sausages in half vienna loaf at the roadside coffee stall. LETS NOT KID OURSELVES, this is not a conversation about Scottish Smoke Salmon & Caviar.
Reg. Frank R.
Feel better already, anyone remember Shoreditch Church coffee stall, before it got Yuppised. What about the Ace of Spades? Some great coffee stalls, down on the A2. Fresh homemade Pea Soup, at Norwich Market.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 4:15 pm
  #114  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by frrussre
NO, I am describing what millions, 100's of millions of Americans eat everyday, not a few yuppies, euro's, hippies & ????? eat everyday. Whose bigger Walmart/Publix/A&P/Stop & Shop or Wholefood/trendy fresh bakers. First of all, most people can not afford to buy $3-$5 loaves, they buy WONDER Bread, cheap packet Italian bread is a !@$%$%^^&&^*& treat. They can't afford medicine, they certainly are not shopping for the luxury items. West Palm Beach FL (Close to Multi Million $ homes) median income $44k, compare to some places $29k median income. Whoopee.
What a terrific non-sequiteur! Nice diatribe too.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 4:17 pm
  #115  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by Steerpike
As to bread - not sure what 'pappy crap' you are referring to, but many stores around here sell fresh baked bread in paper bags, which sounds like what you are referring to.
The two of you are talking cross purposes here. Most of the "Italian bread" sold in your average US supermarket is bad enough to ignite a war with Italy and provoke a foreign policy breakdown. The only thing Italian about it is the name.

On the other hand, San Francisco offers much better choices for this sort of thing. Early on, it had a large Italian immigrant population, so there is some spillover benefit from the old days, and yuppie culture tends to lean toward high eating standards. (Before Starbucks taught Americans to drink espresso, it may have been one of the few places in the US where you could get a decent cup of coffee.)

If you haven't traveled through the Midwest, then you don't know how bad the food can be. There are places in the US where a "salad" still consists of a few shards of iceberg lettuce and three gallons of ranch dressing. That certainly isn't true on the coasts or Chicago, but in many places, it's par for the course.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 4:21 pm
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by Steerpike
I've been to Italy more times than England in the past 20 years; if I'm going to sit on a plane for over 10 hours, I want to go somewhere where the weather is good and the food is great, so I've been going to Italy for my vacations for years. I've been to Rome, Umbria, Tuscany, Como, Milan, Bologna, etc. I hope to retire there perhaps. I have found several restaurants in the Bay Area that sell comparable food. The only thing I can't find is the thin crust, white-dough pizza that is commonplace in Italy - but 'Pizza Antica' in Lafayette, and some place who's name I can't remember off the main square in Sonoma, do a pretty good imitation. 'Caffe Delle Stelle' in downtown Walnut Creek is pretty good too. If you are going to places like 'The Olive Garden" then you are lost ....
Ah, a man after my own heart... I'm hoping for a place in Umbria myself; six months in SF, six months in Italy sounds ok to me.

I guess I'm going to be labelled a "yuppie", but I have at least half a dozen Italian restuarants within walking distance of my apartment that I would consider as good as good places I've eaten in Italy (Trattoria Antica, Frascati, Ristorante Milano, Venticello, Pesce and Amarena). I'm trying to remember where I dined in the WC area (lived there until a couple of years ago), I recall a place on Mt Diablo Blvd in Lafayette that was pretty decent...
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 4:24 pm
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
The two of you are talking cross purposes here. Most of the "Italian bread" sold in your average US supermarket is bad enough to ignite a war with Italy and provoke a foreign policy breakdown. The only thing Italian about it is the name.

On the other hand, San Francisco offers much better choices for this sort of thing. Early on, it had a large Italian immigrant population, so there is some spillover benefit from the old days, and yuppie culture tends to lean toward high eating standards. (Before Starbucks taught Americans to drink espresso, it may have been one of the few places in the US where you could get a decent cup of coffee.)
A fair enough point, of course, but given that the OP was specifically talking about SF, it's also only fair to point out the availability of good food there.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 4:28 pm
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by Giantaxe
Ah, a man after my own heart... I'm hoping for a place in Umbria myself; six months in SF, six months in Italy sounds ok to me.

I guess I'm going to be labelled a "yuppie", but I have at least half a dozen Italian restuarants within walking distance of my apartment that I would consider as good as good places I've eaten in Italy (Trattoria Antica, Frascati, Ristorante Milano, Venticello, Pesce and Amarena). I'm trying to remember where I dined in the WC area (lived there until a couple of years ago), I recall a place on Mt Diablo Blvd in Lafayette that was pretty decent...
You've been in San Francisco too long
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 4:33 pm
  #119  
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by RoadWarriorFromLP
The two of you are talking cross purposes here. Most of the "Italian bread" sold in your average US supermarket is bad enough to ignite a war with Italy and provoke a foreign policy breakdown. The only thing Italian about it is the name.

On the other hand, San Francisco offers much better choices for this sort of thing. Early on, it had a large Italian immigrant population, so there is some spillover benefit from the old days, and yuppie culture tends to lean toward high eating standards. (Before Starbucks taught Americans to drink espresso, it may have been one of the few places in the US where you could get a decent cup of coffee.)

If you haven't traveled through the Midwest, then you don't know how bad the food can be. There are places in the US where a "salad" still consists of a few shards of iceberg lettuce and three gallons of ranch dressing. That certainly isn't true on the coasts or Chicago, but in many places, it's par for the course.


Would you mind marking out the bad food boundaries on a map? I'm sure it would be helpful to new expats. And just a tip for when you start on that project, you'll find Chicago in the midwest.
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Old Apr 1st 2008, 4:36 pm
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Default Re: Just tell me it will get better

Originally Posted by another bloody yank
Would you mind marking out the bad food boundaries on a map? I'm sure it would be helpful to new expats. And just a tip for when you start on that project, you'll find Chicago in the midwest.
Come on RoadWarriorFromLP! Hell if you're gonna eat on a shoestring budget you get shoe string food. There are excellent places in the Midwest to eat. Those salads you speak of are at places like Olive Garden and Red Lobster. You didn't go too far off the highway to find some good stuff here. Either that or you just ain't got the wallet for it.
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