sperlonga paradiso

shortly after touching down in rome, we hopped a train south about an hour and fifteen minutes to the paradise known as sperlonga. this small beach town is situated about halfway between roma and napoli in what is known as the riviera di ulisse, or riviera of ulysses (homer's odysseus). the emperor tiberius built a summer villa in sperlonga around 20CE with sculptures recounting episodes from homer's odyssey in a seaside grotta.

though we didn't visit the villa or museum (open to the public), we did soak up some more modern flavor in town.

we stopped in a small supermercati, and i saw this pony pop near the cheese case. i just snapped a quick, washed-out pic for my friends at home who have a lovely dog named "pony."

although "supermercati" describes quite a different kind of store than our "super market," i think what distinguishes a supermercati from an alimentari are the extras like shampoo, plastic bags, and cleaning products. anyhow...

this picture and the one below are from an alimentari just down the street form the supermercati. this place had all the goods i wanted. it was super small, and the entrance was so low i had to duck a little bit so i didn't swipe my head on the awning. this place was perfect, though. they had a mini milk carton full of simpson's chocolate cookies that i wanted, but didn't really want. i tried to snap them in this photo, but i missed. i was trying to be discreet since taking pictures of everything seems so invasive.

the cookies in the beige bags are a big brand, mulino bianco (white mill), which is basically like our nabisco. these jammies are good, though, and sans preservatives.

this shady shot is of their tinned fish and jarred items. damn, i miss all this stuff. their cheapo canned tonno is the shit, and basically anything in a glass jar is guaranteed to be delicious and salty. sign me up.

after touring both the supermercati and alimentari, we ended up picking up some goodies from a meat shop with a tavola calda ("hot table" aka hot case). it really wasn't a hot case, but more of a cold case, i suppose. m. guzzled a peach nestea, and we shared some frutti di mare (fruits of the sea, aka seafood salad in lemon and olive oil), a piece of pizza rossa, and a bag of taralli that i picked up at the alimentari.

taralli are one of my favorite italian snacks. they're basically cracker rings made out of flour, white wine, olive oil, salt, and a flavor, if you opt for one. i got the fennel seed because that's my favorite. damn, i miss these. i bought some over at PFI the other day, but they weren't nearly as crisp and fresh tasting. they also only had olive oil or garlic flavors, boo.

i'm going to look up a recipe for taralli so i can know the secret and be inducted into this mystery cult of deliciousness.

we ate insalata di mare (seafood salad) all over roma and sperlonga. this one was tasty. i saved a few leftovers in our minifridge to savor later that day. mmm. i love anything swimming in olive oil. there's nothing like fresh, meaty squid. damn this was good.

Grimaldi's: Brooklyn New York

If this is your first time reading this hella rad blog, then you dont know that I love pizza. So welcome to K&S, I love pizza. That being said, when I was recently in New York I really wanted to try some east coast pizza. Months ago I was watching food network and something came on about Grimaldi's. I remember thinking, if I ever go back to NYC I will try it. Well we did and boy, was it an adventure in time and patience.

My mom and I were staying in Manhattan in the Theatre District and we set out that morning walking towards the Financial District. We had no intention of walking the entire way...but we did and yes, that is about 6 miles. After the long walk past several duane reade stores we decided to take a cab over the bridge to ensure we would be on time for our lunch date at Grimaldi's with a new hip hop supergroup "They Live".

As the cab pulled up we had no idea the line would be that serious. It was down the block.

A few minutes later a man came out and let us know it would be about 30min from where we were standing. It actually took like 45min, but it was cool our hip hop friends were running late anyway. The wait was too long, the heat was too much and the complaining people were getting on my last nerve. But I was doing fine actually because I knew once inside I would be able to eat pizza and sometimes nothing in the world compares to that.

When we got seated I got right in the line for the bathroom. I was surprised how small it was inside but that makes a lot of sense why the wait is so long.

The line for the bathroom is right next to the kitchen. So you are able to catch a full view of the pizza chefs and the historic coal fired brick oven.

While we were still waiting on our friends we ordered some chianti and after the wait outside my mom and I pretty much pounded our first glass. I dont even remember what it tasted like.

First came out the veggie pizza my mom ordered which she asked for mushrooms and onions.
The sauce was bubbling and the smell was amazing. The smokey crust looked so damn amazing. I couldnt wait for it to cool down so we could eat.


They Live asked me to order them a pepperoni pizza with ricotta cheese. It also looked extremely tasty with the scattered basil and chunky tomato sauce.

The four of us killed two large pizzas. I dont think They Live ate anything before meeting us because they stopped talking when the pizza came out. The pizza's were both very good but I did like the pepperoni a bit better because of the salty meat. The mild fresh mozzerella cheese and rich sauce were extremely kick ass. The only thing that didnt hold up was the crust. The ends were perfect but as the crust got to the middle it was a bit too soggy for my favor. I love a thin crust as long as it doesnt turn into mush. Taste wise, I will admit...they have something going here.

Everyone agreed that this pizza was good, but I don't know if anyone thought they would wait and hour to eat it...I think I might. After our late lunch we headed back to the city and all made the trek over the Brooklyn bridge. It was beautiful even though we got caught in the rain but the sun was out and it didn't matter, I just had pizza.

19 Old Fulton Street, Brooklyn NY

Autogrill - Ciao: Roma, Stazione Termini

rome's termini station has several quick food options ranging from mcdonald's to autogrill to spizzico. with the exception of mcd's, the other chain restaurants in termini are quite novel due to their foreign-ness. we meandered from restaurant to restaurant to check them out and grab something quick to eat before our train departed to sperlonga.

after refusing the "road house grill," we settled on what i think was autogrill-ciao because of their bright colors and clean interior. now that i think about it, perhaps this was gusto? dangit.

anyways, there was a back room after the sandwich counter that housed all sorts of tasty candies, breads, snacks, and fresh produce. there was also a cafe tavola, but then again, what place that serves food doesn't?

M. was in serious need of diet coke (or pepsi, which, btw, has very little market share in rome, at least). we picked up a coca-cola light, which you must pronounce "coe-kah laaaaiyt" if you want them to understand what you want. this made M. lol, but he grew to enjoy ordering his coca light's over the course of our stay in roma.

i also ordered him a vasco di gama panino, caldo, which was a small, toasted sandwich with an olive-studded bun, ham, and cheese. nothing crazy, but a nice, cheap, simple fast food 'wich in one of the craziest train stations in europe.

benvenuto a roma!
(welcome to rome!)

delta sky lounge crown club

so i was gone for a couple weeks....and planning on blogging about the places i went and things i ate along the way here on K&S. unfortunately, google apps weren't so awesome in italy. wtf, right? i couldn't log into my gmail consistently, and thus no logging into blogger. damn you!!

anyhow, that just means that it's going to take me at least a couple weeks to get all these food pics up here on the fabulous Ketchup&Soup. So here we go...

what's the best part about a 12 hour layover in JFK after missing your initial flight to NYC and thus your international connection? oh wait, NOTHING.

however, we did decide to fork over $50 to (stupid) delta to use their sky lounge. open bar, wifi (which was not working, btw), tv, chairs...it actually made what could have been horrendous quite bearable. nothing like getting a bloody mary at 634am to enjoy with your nutella and walnut fig bars!

new rounds of snacks came out every few hours, so we mowed down on some serious eats to get our money's worth out of the lounge. M. started with a bagel, jam, butter, cream cheese, mini cinnamon bun, fig-walnut bar (SO BOMB), and a puff pastry twist.

we went through a lot of drinks. i started stacking. it passes the time.

wtf is "cheese food"??? i don't know, and i didn't have one, but M. did. i bet it was just kind of gummy and salty. if it ain't actual cheese, i'm not down with it.

we ate these little thimbles of hummus on a variety of honey mustart twists and mini pretzels. it was actually quite tangy for a jarred, airport hummus.

more snacks. my favorite, of course. there were blue cheese stuffed green olives, the above mentioned pretzel mix along with candied peanuts, colorful goldfish, and a spiced nut mix.

a little bit later, a "lunch" round of goodies came out. this was hotly anticipated as the sky lounge started to get more populated. some tasty crudete. crisp and refreshing! the mini cups in the ice bath on top are little desserts. i didn't have one because i forgot, but i think they were little chocolate mousses, butterscotch puddings, and vanilla custards. they were pretty cute, actually.

these mediterraneal pinwheels weren't too bad. tomato tortilla wrapped around spinach, kalamata olives, red onion, and feta. tasty little bits.

the best offerings are featured here: mini polenta cakes topped with roasted red pepper (lacking flavor but nice w goat cheese), turkey noodle salad, and a crab and shaved fennel salad (SO GOOD). i went in on that crab salad at least three times. yummy.

a nice cheese plate helped round out the meal with some sort of gouda, pepper jack, cheddar, brie, and goat cheese. i think i had enough of that goat cheese to pay for my sky lounge entry!

and lastly some cookies. i was already stuffed from eat and drinking all day that i think i only had a pastry twist or two from here.

lesson learned: if ever have another layover longer than 4 hours, i WILL buy a day pass to the sky lounge and drink the crap out of their bar. thanks for the 12 hours, delta. i hate you so much.

My trip to Newburg, Wisconsin 2009

West Allis, Wisconsin is where I was born. I lived in a suburb of Milwaukee for the first 13 years of my life, then we relocated to hell, or what some refer to as Spokane, Washington. Regardless, I turned out just fine, sort of...

My dad still lives in Wisconsin, 30 some miles north of Milwaukee in a village called Newburg where he lives with my step mom in a very rural area. My dad is also a firefighter and the local fire department holds an annual fundraiser every year in June. This "picnic" is a 3 day beer drinking, cover band featuring, carnival ride having, greasy food serving insane party. This year, myself along with my brother and our significant others took the trip to visit and support my dad. Below are a few pictures and comments from the trip including some insane food sampled along the way.

first night at my dads and he wanted us to get in on the schlitz because apparently
its back and better than ever. Not bad.

after a few beers we drove to Cousins for some sandwiches. These sandwiches are so good and so simple.
Its gotta be the bread or oregano. I had the club sandwich.

the following day we drove to Port Washington (where Dustin Diamond lives, and yes, I did see him at the grocery store)
and we got down on Friday Fish Fry at Newport Shores.

I started with a dinner salad, it was pretty standard along with the honey mustard dressing

i also decided to go with the blatz in a bottle, my grandpa use to drink this by the case when we were kids.
it tastes pretty good ice cold, pretty malty...but when warm, its a bit much.

for lunch i had the baked potato with the fried lake perch. The fish was decent, a bit dry but nothing like a local favorite.

the restaurant is right on lake michigan with a pretty nice view of the water.
the decor is dated but it works. average age of other patrons about 85.

Later that evening...

later that night we went to the first night of the fireman's picnic on the park grounds in Newburg.
we drank at home and then took it to the streets. First stop, the carny food wagon for a walking taco.

basically you get taco fixings on top of a bag of smashed doritos.
apparently i ate a lot of this, i dont remember.

the next day...

the next day we went to another part of the area called Grafton and we hit up a spot called Vino 100 for a Saturday wine tasting.

with our australian wine's we shared some garlic jack. wisconsin sure makes some good cheese.

Saturday night was fun, b. and I worked in the beer tent and served hundreds of people pitchers of beer and mikes hard. It was a lot of fun, didnt take any pictures... but feel free to check out the fire department's photos here.

sunday is the finale of the picnic, they have a parade including all the firetrucks and a lot of other things
like tractors, dancing grannies, kids, classic cars and marching .bands


after the picnic we headed to the park grounds to hang out and drink a few beers.
we stopped by the carny food wagon and got a snack. they were out of deep fried pickles so i got the deep fried cheese.

i swear this is american cheese, my brother said it was cheddar...regardless it was a
bit much. the first bite was hot and tasty, after that it became thick , strange and solid. damn, what a healthy snack.

Monday...

monday everyone wanted to go get some custard, naturally we went to Kopps.

you can read my other posts about the amazing custard at kopps. i ate mine so fast i didnt take a photo, it was hot and it was melting. I got the standard vanilla. the flavor of the day was mint chocolate chip or this other monday mystery special of chocoalte custard with chocolate covered peanuts. my brother and L. also got a burger. b, loves these burgers, they are huge and greasy.

that night we went to the firehouse to say goodbye to the locals and watched my dad cook steaks for the guys.


the last thing i remember about monday night is playing quarters with my family and a few brave locals. i fell on the floor.



Well that was it, 5 days of kicking it in the midwest.
Below is my favorite random photo from the trip:

siam on broadway no more = rom mai thai to the rescue!

the other day i gave my girlfriend a ride to the airport (NJ-bound). since her plane was departing around 10:30, we decided to hit up siam on broadway for a tasty pre-flight meal. her fiance dislikes most asian food (though sushi is a new and surprising development!) and hates thai most of all. though recently engaged, dining is probably their one point of contention: thai, chinese, and japanese are M's absolute favorite cuisines.

M lives on first/cap hill, so siam on broadway is her spot, err, was her spot. we walked up to the joint, engrossed in gossip, and only realized that siam on broadway had gone out of business when i reached for the handle and the door didn't budge. the business hours sign was still on the door, but the interior was devoid of decoration, people, and any evidence of cookware. SHIT! what to do, what to do.

luckily we turned around, and the bright, shiny, newly renovated rom mai thai beckoned us from directly across the street.

since it was a tuesday and on the earlier side for dinner on the hill (7:00), the restaurant only had a few occupied tables (which quickly changed over the course of our meal). the interior is lushly decorated in shades of yellow, emerald screens, maroon tablecloths, and richly carved wood.

rom mai thai's menu is extensive, but M rarely deviates from her tried-and-true tom kha soup and phad thai. unfortunately my camera is kaput, so i asked M to snap some quick pictures, but only after we both destroyed the tom kha. i suppose i'll let you know that it was complex, tangy, spicy, lemongrass-y, and all around bomb. often tom kha is just meat, mushrooms, and green onions, but rom mai thai serves theirs with carrot rounds, broccoli, meat, mushrooms, and zucchini. mmm. refreshing.

moving on...M's phad thai was actually damn good. i'm generally not a fan of phad thai because it's often too sweet or just lacking excitement for me. RMT's had me going back for seconds. the noodles were perfectly al dente so it's not just a blob of soft rice noodles that give too easily. the flavor was just right for me, too...the only thing i would have changed was the chili level, but it was M's dish, not mine :).

since there were so (too?) many items on the menu, i just went with the phad kee mao with tofu. interestingly the server said that the heat system was 1-5 stars (i went conservatively with **** since i'd never been there before), but online it says 1-4!! hmm, indeed.

anyhow, the wide rice noodles are my favorite because they trap pockets of singed sauce in their folds. the tofu had a nice, crispy skin and soft interior. M noted that she's often had tofu that's over-fried and dry on the inside. sounds gross. the tomatoes were a bright contrast to the deep, umami savoriness of the dark soy sauce. there was a nice balance of spice, salt, sweet, and acid. success!

thanks rom mai thai for saving us when we had been craving thai food all day just to find that our planned location had mysteriously gone out of business. looks like M and i will have our thai dinner dates with you from now on. kisses!