@brittarnhild
I have been such a good student today, working hard on my project, so I decided to give myself a special treat for lunch, spaghetti vongole at Trattoria alla Scala. Many years ago Mauro took me to this restaurant to teach me about spaghetti vongole the real way. He presented me as a famous food writer, and we really had a feast, a lunch which lasted for several hours. Trattoria alla Scala can be a bit hard to find, but with Google Map as my helper, it turned out to be just a piece of cake. I put the nake into the map and was told I could walk there in 6 minutes. Which I did.
The spaghetti vongole was just as good as it was the first time I had it. The best vongole in Venice, except.......the one from Mauro´s kitchen. I recognised several of the people working there, among them the owner, and by using internet on my cell phone I could show them what I had written about the place back in 2009. The owner laughed, pointed to his stomach and said: my face is the same, my stomach has grown...a lot!"
As I sat there, thinking back to my first visit, and another one I had a few years later with my Austrian friend Dagmar, and then on all the wonderful visitas I have had in Venize, I decided the day was a perfect day to have dessert with my lunch. Some thing I never have, usually. And believe me, the strawberris with gelato tasted just as good as it looks.
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By the way, here is the post from June 2009:
Spaghetti vongole - the real way
I am back home in Norway, in my own house, my own garden, and I am unpacking. Unpacking memories. Which will take days, weeks, months, probably a whole life.
Terje met me at the airport around midnight last night, and on the drive back here we spoke about our weeks in Italy and my extra week in Austria, trying to choose favorite memories.
The list went on and on.
While making the list, Mauro's name came up again and again. His workshop, getting to see his new place which opens one of these days, trying to work with glass with the help of his steady hands, the boat trip with him........and again and again I told Terje about the lunch I had with Mauro one of my last days. When I was treated like a famous author and served spaghetti vongole (and alot of other things)
On our way to the lunch we walked through a wonderful maze of Venezia's calles and fondamentas, Mauro always pointed out - this way, that way, straight ahead, ending up in Trattoria alla Scala in Corte Lucatello. I was introduced to the waitress, the chef Nicola and the owner Salvatore, and soon our feast started.
Only a lunch you might say. Well, for me it was a feats from start till end.
When Salvatore heard about my Norwegian spaghetti vongole adventures, he came into the restaurant himself with his special work table. Now I was to learn The Real Stuff:
No need of words. The photos tell the story.
Thank you Salvatore!
Second course - Rombo al forno con patate olive e pomodorini
We were shown the fresh fish before the chef started to prepare it, and when Nicola realised my interest in the cooking, he came out with one of his old cookbooks to teach me more about this laguna fish
For dessert: Sorbetto al limone
I needed a long siesta after this meal......
You find Trattoria alla Scala here.
A special thank to Nicola for the plate of dolces he offered us.
And how can I ever thank Mauro?????
Here is the link to Mauro's webpage.
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and here is the restaurant´s website:
Trattoria alla Scala
