Night out

[Slutty Rimmer]

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

I am.

It’s a combination of things. Italy exudes a real passion for things in art, design, style and cooking.

Bologna is called la Grassa - the fat one, aka the stomach of Italy.

The restaurants tend to be run by Mom & Pop & kids in the family. All are immersed in the foodie culture of the region and food preparation techniques are handed down through the generations. It’s a passion that blends quality into the overall process, making it more than ingredients. Local markets, vineyards, fishing villages are all in close proximity, hence the emphasis on regional cuisine.

The most important part of an object, which is always more than the sum of its parts, is the attentional guidance which precedes, in every case, the object under discussion. That is care and passion. People create better things, feel better about their lives, and are more successful when they build their own quality into an object or a work of art.

We think of the after dinner drink, grappa here as a sort of burn your throat rocket fuel. In Italy the high end grappa’s are distilled from premium Italian ‘champagne’s’ and are super expensive in the shops.

Like Michelangelo, Da Vinci, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Ducati, Armani or plain old spag bol sprinkled with the king of cheeses Parmigiana Reggiano, it’s not the materials you start with but the soulful quality you put into them. It’s how you immerse in it and talk to the evolution with Italian love.

Sometimes a chaotic country, but boy their art and design are second to none.

And don’t you just love a language where every word ends in a vowel. Made for the opera.

Going to Bologna is a must and if you go at F1 time, it's only 20 min to Imola...

Try telling that to anyone who bought a Lancia Beta !

Kind Regards,
Rimmer.

[Slutty Rimmer]

Originally Posted by Bjorn Brimble

Hospitality is much better in Italy too. Ask for a nocerino after your meal and they just bring the bottle and leave it on the table. No questions asked.

I like it when we’ve decided to end the meal with a brandy or a whisky, and they bring over the Macallan 18 and start pouring. You’re waiting for them to stop pouring when they’ve reached a measure or two and they are waiting for you to say when. Both keep waiting as the whisky reaches ever nearer the top of the tumbler.

The glass breaks the deadlock.

Have had a few aching heads in the past before realising they don’t really have measures in those countries.

Kind Regards,
Rimmer.

[ex nihilo]

Originally Posted by Slutty Rimmer

Try telling that to anyone who bought a Lancia Beta !

Kind Regards,
Rimmer.

Just proves my point that a beautiful woman is high maintenance...

Kind regards,

Federico e i sognatori (ooo love them vowels)

[Bjorn Brimble]

Night out if you’re ever out in the Badger State.

Wisconsin Supper Clubs. An institution sort of a cross between a social club and a restaurant. Still very much going strong today.

Each one is unique, but they feed the soul as well as the stomach in a way traditional restaurants can’t.

The best ones tend to be out of the sticks, the idea is it’s a place away from the church where communities can come together. No-one is ever rushed. You stay the whole evening.

Traditional supper clubs are dimly lit, and many times have wood paneling, and few windows. The bar is always separate from the dining area. They normally have booths, sometimes circular booths. Many of them have various taxidermy hanging from the walls – especially in the more rural areas.

The best supper clubs are family run and have wait staff that has been working there for 20+ years!

Supper clubs are warmer, friendlier, and not pretentious in the atmosphere; there’s more camaraderie.

There is a process to eating in a supper club and it always starts at the bar and ends at the bar. The bar is typically a separate room from the dining.

Always start at the bar with an Old Fashioned. If you head to the one at Ishnala you’ll get pristine views of Mirror Lake whilst you’re sipping.

Then you move to the dining room for your multi-course meal.

Then back to the bar for a Grasshopper or an ice cream dessert and possibly more drinks.

This is how a meal at a supper club can last all night, and let me be clear – it should last all night.

What about the grub?

Overall the food is hearty, and pretty meat/fish-focused. Don’t go to a supper club if you are on a diet, as the portions are large and there are many courses. You’ll never leave a supper club hungry.

Friday is always a fish fry and Saturday is always prime rib; that’s supper club law. After that things can vary a bit. Sunday is normally broiled chicken, and Wednesday is normally clam chowder.

Sounds like a winning formula to me. I wonder if the concept could work over here?

[ex nihilo]

Originally Posted by Bjorn Brimble

Night out if you’re ever out in the Badger State.

Wisconsin Supper Clubs. An institution sort of a cross between a social club and a restaurant. Still very much going strong today.

Sounds like a winning formula to me. I wonder if the concept could work over here?

It might be of some interest in some of the ‘off the beaten track’ locations in the UK. It seems very backwoodsman. And in America you can drive home after a skinful, in your pick up, maybe with a bit of accidental off-roading, without having to worry about the Old Bill. They won’t be on the Uber grid in the backwoods and the Yanks like their grog. Also, rural communities in America have great togetherness and will spend lots of money on themselves and others in the long night drink rounds. They shell out big time, the quantum of which would be a surprise to many Brits.

Wouldn’t be popular in London or the Home Counties, because of the wide array of international supper choices.

Not so sure about the taxonomy either. That always strikes me as weird.

Difficult to re-perform America in the UK. Even the diners and burger joints like Caddy's where the waitresses roller skate around the place don't work here. Can't do cool like the Yanks. Hard Rock and Happy Days are their bailiwick.

Popped into a remote village pub in Yorkshire once. While supping my pint, I was suddenly aware of a huge array of stuffed animals all around me. Fox, ferret, owl, duck, pheasant and others. Weird or what. Finished my pint and was out of there. I was even asked if I wanted to buy some drugs there. I half expected to hear duelling banjos and see Burt Reynolds in tattered clothes, looking like he'd been over the top of a waterfall.

[Bjorn Brimble]

Originally Posted by ex nihilo

Wouldn’t be popular in London or the Home Counties, because of the wide array of international supper choices.

We’d just need to get creative down there.

Mediterranean Monday, Tex-Mex Tuesday, West-Indian Wednesday etc

Once a month you could have a retro night. Might work

But yes, it would probably end up being a bit sh*t over here.

For whatever reason a lot of folk in certain parts of the UK just ain’t interested unless it comes with chips

FFS use your imagination and liven it up a bit

[Bjorn Brimble]

Big debate in Spain at the moment. Should they get rid of their late night culture.

Bars and restaurants are open to 2am on weeknights there.

Rest of Europe are all tucked up bed at 11am. Cocoa time. Things don’t start getting lively until around midnight in Seville, Barcelona etc

Critics says lack of sleep impacts negatively on the staff’s mental health.

Become more like the sensible Swedes then? I don’t think so somehow

[Lisal]

There's been quite a lot of moaning recently about how dead London is becoming at night

Have to say at my ripe old age going out for lunch and having a long lazy afternoon - and then being in by 6 - is the way to go

As to the British livening it up I'm all for leaving people to do their own thing

We've got a few supper club type places and societies down here. Interesting but haven't tried one yet....