Sushi & Rome, Florence & Bologna

I know I promised to stay off this forum, but I have been good and generally reclusive for more then a year after moving here permanently. Thus, give me a little rope please.

I am asking for advice and will offer no thoughts or opinions. What do you folks consider the best Sushi Restaurant in town? Because of my proclivity for alcohol beverages and my atavistic need for an actual bar, I would prefer a place that serves booze.

As an aside, Donna & I will be vacating the comforting benign environment of Prospect for a holiday in Italy at the beginning of March, and I was hoping that some of you "risotto heads" may have dining suggestions for our three destinations of Rome, Florence and Bologna.

Thank you so much.

Phil G

Oh so good to hear from you again, Phil. I'm sorry that I can not give you any answer to your question, however. =gayle

PHIL! I had no idea you were still in the 'Ville. Welcome home, dahling.

Sake Blue and Oishii are two of my stand outs. Sake Blue has (or at least did as of a year ago) The Java Men perform every Tuesday night, so if you're a jazz fan - go (if they're still playing there, that is). One of the best jazz bands in the city, for sure. The website doesn't list events, so you'd have to call. And to be clear, Sake Blue is an incredible "Japanese Bistro". Oishii, on the other hand, has a whole different vibe (efficiency sized, although I haven't been to the second location recently opened up), and they're well known for over-stuffed rolls. Some people think this is bad? I don't get it. Very fresh, friendly, and affordable. You've probably been there, though, so I won't go on and on about it unless you want me to.

Have fun on your vacay, and maybe drop us a little note here on your travels if you can, please? Peace.

It's so nice to hear kind and welcoming words from you all. Thanks so much. We went to Sapporo last night on Bardstown Road and the food was good, not necessarily great, but the energy in the restaurant was fun. What I can't become accustomed to is why folks avoid sitting at bars in restaurants. We love eating at the bar, usually comraderie, conversation, congeniality. At 9:00 PM, while the restaurant was packed, the bar was empty. Coming from Wisconsin where the bar is the focal point of almost every institution including theological, it's very strange sitting at empty bars in restaurants that are full.

This was our first foray into Sushi here in Louisville. I was quite serious in saying I have been reclusive for my year here. Thus, I appreciate all your suggestions and will try them all eventually.

Take care and thanks again.

PG

We love Hiko-A-Mon in Westport Village for the sushi. Their cocktails however leave a lot to be desired. They do have a fairly nice wine list.

Hi Phil! I wish I liked sushi more than I do, it leaves me lukewarm. My kids like Asahi, though.

Please come back with reviews from Italy. Rick and I are going in June to Rome, Florence, Venice and one week at a castle in Chianti.

I ran across this today; makes me want to go.


Eating Bologna, Italy

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/kris-lopr ... ref=travel

I have not been back to Florence in just over a decade, and never took good notes the decade or so ago I was there. But there is a restaurant called Cibreo that is off the hook amazing, very fine dining though - a several hour you need a jacket to get in affair. They used to operate an Osteria next door, which used to offer the same items a la carte in a communal dining setting. Not sure if you are into wine, but the two wine bars that I can recommend are: Le Barrique and Le Volpe L'Uva (the latter is right next to the Boboli Gardens if you are sightseeing and a nice place to stop midday).

http://www.edizioniteatrodelsalecibreofirenze.it/

http://www.levolpieluva.com/Le_volpi/Home.html

http://www.enotecalebarrique.com/

The Tuscan countryside is peppered with small towns throughout the Chianti Classico region, each of which usually has one or two very nice but relatively casual places to eat. My wife and I spent a week driving around the region drinking wine and just eating pretty much wherever we ended up at dinner time and never had a bad meal. There are far worse ways to spend a day there than renting a car and heading out into the countryside. Also, the Mercato Central is fun food-centered tourism, you can buy great stuff like olive oils that you'd pay three times as much for here (this may no longer be true, the last time I was there was pre-Euro) and all kinds of great cheeses, and it's just a good place to stroll around for an hour. The Antinori family (Tuscan winemakers royale) operate a wine bar with heavy food emphasis amid the main shopping district if you are there, great wines including some of their really high end stuff are accessible to all since they glass pour everything they make and the food is quite good.

This is from an email I sent to a friend about my go-to spots in Rome:

Here's the 3 spots in Rome I would definitely go back to if I went there:

Ristorante Settimio
Via delle Colonnelle 14
near the Trevi fountain if I remember right. The phone number is 06 678 96 51. The staff speaks English, but we were the only Americans there the night we went (which I consider a good sign).

Enoteca Cavour 313
Via Cavour 313
right down the street from the Coliseum, but not really a tourist spot. Awesome wine list and really good cheeses (most of which are hard to get here) and salumi.

Dar Poeta
Vicolo del Bologna 45/46
this is the pizzeria in Trastevere. It is in a weird corner and hard to find, but totally worth it. I think they don't open until after 7 at night.

Be careful, there are two Settimio's. The one I have been to is close to some sight-seeing, so could be convenient. My wife literally wept at our meal there. When we were last in Rome, we rented an apartment in Trastevere, which is on the south side of the river, a bit off the beaten path. Dar Poeta is loud and a touch hard to find, but well worth it. Don't pass up the dessert pizza with shaved apples and Grand Marnier.