Ludo Lefebvre is the Axl Rose of traditional French cuisine. His resume is a who’s who of chefs and restaurants: Marc Meneau, Pierre Gagnaire, Alain Passard, Guy Martin, L’Orangerie, and Bastide.

With Ludo Bites, Ludo reinvents himself and the fine dining experience. A ‘pop-up’ restaurant, currently located in the BreadBar location on Third Street (here) and open only for dinner (when BreadBar is closed), Ludo Bites is affordable Michelin style french cuisine, with a hip, casual attitude.

If you don’t make it over to Ludo Bites before its current incarnation closes on August 22, 2009, be sure to look out for whenever it ‘pops-up’ in a new location sometime soon.

With the best corkage fee in town ($5), we BYO'd a french style Pinot Noir, the 2003 Domaine Alfred Califa from the Chamisal Vineyard, Edna Valley, Central Coast California

The Fois Gras Black Croque-Monsieur with Ham, Cherry and Amaretto is creamy, rich and delicious. The perfectly grilled bread gets its color from squid ink.

A new style greek salad comes together with Marinated Heirloom Tomato, Feta Mousse, Red Onion and Olives. The creamy, sorbet-like feta mousse balances the sharpness of the olives.

The baked escargot with herb butter, spinach and curry-yogurt is one of the more interesting versions of the classic french dish. Don't forget the garlicky crouton at the bottom of the dish; it balances the spinach beautifully.

Grilled Duck Breast with Leeks Salad, Ginger, Capers and Black Truffle is a contrast in extremes. The perfectly cooked duck shines in black truffle, but can get easily overpowered by the one-two acidic punch of the leeks and ginger.

Beef Tenderloin and Smoked Eggplant with Goat Cheese, Shallots, Chive Flower and Radish is Chef Ludo at his finest. The beef, a perfect medium rare, explodes with char-grilled flavors, only enhanced by the smokeyness of the eggplant. The goat cheese and carmelized shallots combine to taste like a fully loaded backed potato without the potato. This is definately one of LA's best beef dishes.

Creme Fraiche Panna Cotta with Caramel and Caviar is perfectly executed contrast in flavors; the soft, creamy panna cotta is enveloped by the sweet, smooth caramel and then taken to an entirely new level by the salty, burst in your mouth caviar.

The Chocolate Cup Cake with Fois Gras Chantilly, Candied Bacon-Almonds and Maple Syrup is a meal unto itself. Rich, savory, smokey and sweet all at once, this dessert is not for beginners.

Obayashisan’s philosophy is “food is for the human relation,” meaning that a meal is the connective tissue of society around which one creates a gathering of people to share their lives with one another. His food expresses his philosophy in the way it surprises without demanding center stage, delights without showing off and sublimely satiates without overpowering. In a city of many options for outstanding sushi, Hirozen Gourmet enters its third decade still standing out from the crowd.

Cucumber sunomono - sliced cucumbers, seaweed and shoots in rice vinegar with lemon; a light, refreshing start to any sushi meal

L-R: Tai - japanese snapper with sea salt and mint; Loup de Mer w/ yuzu-kosho and sea salt; Dorade - French Snapper w/ sea salt

L-R: Blue Fine Tuna with soy sauce and wasabi; Hirame with ponzu and green onion

L-R: Tasmanian Sea Trout with ponzu and scallion; Aji - spanish mackerel with fresh ginger and scallion; White Salmon with scallion; the best trio of the meal, 3 smokey, creamy delicious pieces of fish

Albacore Clear Roll - albacore, avocado, mango, cucumber in clear rice paper

Another highlight, the Wagyu - grilled sake-kasu japanese beef - was perfectly cooked tender, and delicately seasoned sweet and salty

L-R: Kampachi - amberjack (or baby yellowtail) with yuzu-kosho; Mirugai- jumbo clam with mint; Yari-Ika - fresh squid with ginger; a return to light and citrus flavours

L-R: Spicy grilled yellow tail with scallion; Uni - Santa Barbara Sea Urchin; Unagi - fresh water eel with eel sauce; finishing the meal with a tour of flavors, from rich to briney sea to a savory, sweet, grilled dessert

Sasha and I, along with our friends Adam and Marina (who took all the great photos you will see below) and Drew and Dana decided to chow down at one of San Fran’s best known and strikingly beautiful restaurants, The Slanted Door.  Located at The Ferry Building on the Embarcadero, with one of the best views of San Francisco Bay, The Slanted Door is a modern Vietnamese restaurant that showcases the abundance of produce as well as ecologically farmed meat, game and poultry found at farms around the San Francisco Bay Area. For the menu, click here.

In addition to The Slanted Door, The Ferry Building also houses one of the great indoor food marketplaces in the U.S., and a great Farmer’s Market can be found outside on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Every meal should begin with a cocktail this perfect - Ginger Limeade with Hangar One Kaffir Lime vodka, ginger, and lime; served on the rocks (photo: Marina Cohn)

Spicy yellowfin tuna tartare with english cucumber, scallion and toasted sesame, served on a rice and seaweed crisp - crunchy, spicy bites of wonderful (photo: Marina Cohn)

Japanese yellowtail with crispy shallots and thai basil - a light, fresh way to both cleanse the palate and begin a meal (photo by Marina Cohn)

Slanted door spring rolls with shrimp, pork, mint and peanut sauce - so fresh and delicious, we forgot to take the picture until they were almost all gone (photo: Marina Cohn)

Crispy vegetarian imperial rolls with taro root, cabbage, glass noodles and peanuts - food with instructions...(1) put noodles, roll and mint in lettuce (2) dip in the sauce (3) put in mouth (photo: Marina Cohn)

Hue rice dumplings with mung bean, scallion oil and spicy soy sauce - a creamy, chewy texture with excellent, subtle flavor profile kicked up just so by the spicy soy sauce (photo: Marina Cohn)

Niman Ranch shaking beef cubed filet mignon, sausalito springs' watercress, red onions and lime dipping sauce - this signature does NOT disappoint; the tender, sweet beef and crisp red oinions flavor mixes perfectly with the lime dipping suace (photo: Marina Cohn)

Drool inducing sauteed pork and grapes with hoisin sauce; salty, savory sliced pork paired with bursting fruit is a winner every time (photo: Marina Cohn)

Dirty girl farm haricot verts with beech mushrooms and roasted chili - crisp, crunchy beans with meaty mushrooms and a nice kick (photo: Marina Cohn)

Happy, satisfied diners (photo: Marina Cohn)

Exactly 1782 years and 2 days after Rome’s defeat by Hannibal’s armies, Sasha and I, along with our dear friends Cosimo, Christine, Domenico and Angelina, arrived in Cortona.

Of all the Etruscan gateways to Cortona, there is only one that remains intact, the Porta Bifora, called “La Bucaccia” or “evil hole”. La Bucaccia owes its fame (and its name and closure until 1996) to 1258, when the citizens of Arezzo and the exiled Cortonese Guelphs entered Cortona through this gateway and sacked the town.

Just up Via Ghibellina from the Porta Bifora sits a stunning example of Tuscan cuisine at its finest, Hostaria La Bucaccia. This restaurant, heretofore overlooked by Micheline, is sure to one day receive the star it well deserves. Run by Romano Magi and his exceptional, master chef of a wife Agostina, with ample help from their adorable daughter Francesca, La Bucaccia is not only the best restaurant in Cortona, but of all the places we ate on our Italian tour, it was my favorite.

Romano and Agostina Magi and Chad

Entrance to Hostaria La Bucaccia

The interior of La Bucaccia is the former cellars of the 13th century Palazzo Cattani

Cinghiale Paradise - wild boar sausage, prosciutto con melone, salame, finocciono with apricot, and bressola with apples. You sure can't get this in the US.

Carpaccio of black pork with fresh greens and balsamic

Tagliatelle with fresh black truffle, fresh ingredients perfectly cooked with that wonderful truffle flavor

Sant’Egidio style chestnut Ravioli filled with ricotta and sprinkled with mint flavored porcini mushroom sauce

Pappardelle with wild boar ragu; savory and sweet, rich and delicious, this is a classic cortonese/tuscan dish that perfectly captures place and transcends time

An up close look at one of my favorite pasta dishes ever: pappardelle al cinghiale ragu (wild boar)

Sliced steak of black pork in a peppercorn sauce - an Agostina speciality

Grilled steak with lemon

Grilled steak topped with a smoky bacon flavored sauce

Grilled steak in a sweet red wine reduction sauce

Chocolate cake with cream and chocolate sauce

Tiramisu

Strawberry gelato

Biscotti perfectly compliment Vin Santo as a way to finish a great meal

Vin Santo 3 ways, all of them delicious

In this small but well equipped kitchen, Agostina makes magic happen

In Agostina's kitchen, with husband and partner Romano and sous chef

A few weeks before we left, I bumped into my friend David, a man known to enjoy a good meal or two in his time. “If you’re going to Florence, you have to go to Ringo’s,” he mandated. “It’s the best lunch in Florence.”

Outside tables at Ringo's

When you enter Ringo’s, located here, just steps from the Boboli Garden side of the Ponte Vechhio, you may ask yourself, “Am I in the right place? Can this tiny space dominated mostly by a kitchen and small bar by a temple of gastronomic pleasure?” Then, you are promptly (and politely) informed that this is a slow food establishment, and that if you are looking for a quick bite to eat, go eat elsewhere. And maybe the “Slow Food” sign helps too. This place means serious business.

Is this a gastronomic temple?

Ringo’s has been run my the same man, in the same way, for over 42 years. The maestro makes food one order at a time, using only fresh, local (he grows most of the veggies and herbs he uses) ingredients. He has been ably assisted for the past 20 years by his daughter, and with their back and forth banter in a typically expressive, Tuscan manner, gesticulating on each key word, forceful, passionate, respectful and loving all at once, you know that Ringo’s is more than a place to eat, it’s a family. Although it was empty when we entered at half past noon, we sat at the bar with the anticipation of a unique and extraordinary experience. And we were not disappointed.

Sasha and Il Maestro

Ringo’s is famous for his burgers; Roman-sized monsters of high-grade, fresh ground beef, simply grilled and topped with you choice of grilled onions and/or cheese. However, everything on the menu is extraordinary, including his daily pastas (only for 2), garden fresh salads, antipasta plates and desserts. Ringo is so protective of his food, he won’t let you over order. We had to come back twice (and very happily so) to try the breadth of his menu.

Botticelli's Primavera is a fitting image for Ringo's fresh focused cooking

Il Maestro at work

A simple amuse of grilled bread, fresh sliced heirloom tomato and a sharp, soft blue cheese

Garden fresh veggies ready for your plate

Veggie salad with cantalope, butter lettuce, arugula, heirloom tomatoes, red onion, basil, salt, pepper and Ringo's special mustard with extra virgin and aceto red wine vinegar served in a fish bowl

View from the top

A sandwich press, a stove top, and a grill; simple, well seasoned tools make simply delicious food

Ringo's pasta changes each day (or when he runs out of sauce)

Pasta is only served in portions for 2 people; On our vist the Daily Pasta was a tagliatelle in a cheesy sweet sausage ragu

Great hamburgers start with great meat, so fresh and flavorful Ringo doesn't even use salt

Every great hamburger joint needs special sauce...but Ringo's is the first mustard based special sauce I have ever had

Ringo hollow outs the bun top and fills it with ketchup; special mustard sauce goes on the bottom bun

Burgers on the grill...on the way to being eaten

And a radish on top makes it perfect...

A mild emmentaler completes the cheese version of Ringo's masterpiece

The best tiramisu I have ever eaten, bar NONE, comes served on the spoon

Ciao, Ringo; we can't wait to visit you again

La Giostra is run by members of the Hapsburg Lorena family. Italian princes from when Italy was under Hapsburg rule, the family home is at Barberino Val d’Elsa in Chianti where for many years, like others in the Chianti region, they had produced olive oil, wine and other culinary delights. The restaurant is run by the colorful and bracelet covered Dimitri, his brother Soldano and Anastasia.

The restaurant space (they have two dining rooms on the same street located here) dates from the sixteenth century when it was used as a storage area for the painted horses and other parts of the Salvemini square carousel. In fact, the restaurant takes its name, La Giostra, a word that used to mean ‘the joust’, from this very carousel.

Dining room and former carousel storage facility from the 16th Century

The food at La Giostra is traditional Tuscan; rich pastas, hearty meats and strong wines abound. I was seated for my first meal in Tuscany, surrounded by the cacophony of a full restaurant in an old, narrow, brick room, ordered a bottle of 2006 Canneto Vino Nobile di Montelpuciano Sangiovase and prepared myself for a feast.

Antipasta La Giostra: Bruschetta with pomodoro and chicken liver with rabbit, tomato, mozzarella and mortadella, roasted peppers, potato salad and two mini quiches

Tagliatelle con Porcini and Nipitella alla Toscana, a mix of traditional Tuscan spices

Osso Bucco La Giostra; Amazingly sweet and soft (almost candied) carrots make this dish shine

For those interested in this very fine restaurant’s menu…here’s some it is.

Chad & Sasha with Massimiliano and Raffaele Alajmo

Lunch began with a collection of amuses. The first was three tastes: a mini pizza margherita, cod fish salad encased in fried polenta and sprinkled with curry power, and an amazing little ball of Fassone beef carpaccio on a stick topped with shrimp crudo, chive and pink Peruvian pepper. There was something inside the Fassone ball that gave it a Rice Krispie-like crunch; I have no idea what it was but it was delicious.

Three Tastes...All Delicious

Along with the three tastes, we were served a mozzarella tagliolini atop a pomodoro and caper sauce. The skinned tomatoes were garden fresh, just bigger than cubed and perfectly complimented by the low salt, eel-like mozzarella tagliolini and the salty, big Italian capers. It was at this point that I ordered a glass of Flor di Uis 2006 Via di Romans.

At the same time, we were presented with the following bread basket.

Bread anyone?

For our first course, we split the Antipasto, which is a tomato garden on a plate. It consists of chopped, just picked fresh, red and green tomatoes fava beans, green beans, ricotta, basil, chili pepper and extra virgin olive oil.

A tomato garden on a plate

For our pasta course, I had maltagliati (a double wide noodle) with white asparagus, botarga, butter and parmesan. It was served in a huge stone bowl. Although everything about this dish suggested that it would be heavy, it was surprisingly light, hearty, creamy, salty and delicious.

Maltagliati and botarga anyone?

Sasha was treated to Lasagnetta with a lamb ragu. This dish is one of the finest lasagna’s you will every eat. The round noodles were perfectly cooked and had a light texture to them. The lamb ragu, sweet and savory, was topped with creamy bechamel and complimented by subtle ricotta. We were again amazed by the lightness of the cooking for what is traditionally a heavy dish.

Little lasagna, BIG taste

My meat course was a real treat; roast suckling pig with cream of potatoes, and amatriciana sauce. The pork was tender with a crunchy top, sweet and flavorful. The amatriciana was the best I have ever had; rich tomato flavor with the savory taste of bacon and just the right amount of spice. A forkful of the pork all’amatriciana combined with the creamiest, silkiest, smoothest potatoes I have ever eaten, brought my tastebuds to foodie heaven.

Sasha had a perfectly cooked and tender medallions of beef over broccoli with puff potato crisps, egg sauce and basilica peppers. The kick off of those peppers combined with the rich sauce really made this dish shine.

Although we passed on the cheese carts (yes, there are 2 of them!), but I thought I would capture it so I could share its treasures with you.

But we did finish the meal with some nice petite fours.

If you want to see more about the menu, you can download it here, but you’ll have to be able to read Italian. Also, Massimiliano has produced a beautiful and artful cookbook, titled “In.gredienti”, which was awarded the 2007 Gourmand World Cookbook Award for the best cookbook in the world. If you have $350 to spend on a cookbook that you probably can’t cook anything from, but want something that will look spectacular in your home, click here.

“Padua stands on the Bacchiglione River, 40 km west of Venice and 29 km southeast of Vicenza. The Brenta River, which once ran through the city, still touches the northern districts. Its agricultural setting is the Pianura Veneta, the “Venetian plain,” To the city’s south west lies the Euganaean Hills, praised by Lucan and Martial, Petrarch, Ugo Foscolo, and Shelley.

The city is picturesque, with a dense network of arcaded streets opening into large communal piazze, and many bridges crossing the various branches of the Bacchiglione, which once surrounded the ancient walls like a moat.

Padua is the setting for most of the action in Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew.

Padua claims to be the oldest city in northern Italy. According to a tradition dated at least to Virgil’s Aeneid, and rediscovered by the medieval commune, it was founded in 1183 BC by the Trojan prince Antenor, who was supposed to have led the people of Eneti or Veneti from Paphlagonia to Italy. The city exhumed a large stone sarcophagus in the year 1274 and declared these to represent Antenor’s relics.

Patavium, as Padua was known by the Romans, was inhabited by (Adriatic) Veneti. They were reputed for their excellent breed of horses and the wool of their sheep. Its men fought for the Romans at Cannae. The city was a Roman municipium since 45 BC (or 43). It became so powerful that it was reportedly able to raise two hundred thousand fighting men. Abano, which is nearby, is the birthplace of the reputed historian Livy. Padua was also the birthplace of Valerius Flaccus, Asconius Pedianus and Thrasea Paetus.

The area is said to have been Christianized by Saint Prosdocimus. He is venerated as the first bishop of the city.”

Padua is also the home to one of the greatest, if not the greatest, european painterly works ever created.

“What,” you say, “how can that be?  The Sistine Chapel is not in Padua; it’s in Rome.”  That is true, but I’m not referring to Michaelangelo’s ceiling.  I’m talking about a much more intimite setting.  I’m talking about Giotto’s frescos in the Scrovegni Chapel.

Sasha outside the Scrovegni Chapel

In 1303 Enrico degli Scrovegni commissed Giotto to paint the walls and ceiling (basically, everything but the floor) of his recently completed chapel that adorned his family’s palazzo.  Enrico was feeling a bit ashamed because he had inherited his family’s immense wealth which had been accumulated through lending, a practice he had continued.  Like the Wall Street bankers of today, Enrico and his family were accused of (and probably were guilty of) usury, a serious sin, according to the church.  One way to ensure you got to heaven if you were a userer, was to spend a ton of your profits building something to the glory of g-d (and his church).  Enrico, having great forethought, also wanted to build himself a nice place to be buried, so people could think of how rich he was long after he was dead.  Enter Giotto, stage right.

Giotto di Bondone, a Florentine painter and architect, can easily be called the father of the Italian Renaissance, because virtually everything else can be tied back to him.  Breaking with hundreds of years of Byzantine tradition, Giotto used perspective and color to represent real people, real emotions and inject real lighting into his work.  Five hundred and fifty years later, the Realists would again break traditions that then led to the french impressionists, neo-impresionists and cubists (leading directly to all modern and contemporary art).  Even these revolutions owe their debt to Giotto.  That’s how incredible this guy was.

So what does Giotto do with Scrovegni’s chapel?  He covers the entire place with a cycle of fresco’s that tell the story of the life of Mary and Jesus, and also shows off the last judgement.  Why do I think this is so great?  Because the chapel is relatively small, only 25 people can be in it at a time and you only get to spend 15 minutes in there each visit.  So you get a very intimate visit with this artwork.  And it is incredibly beautiful.

Kiss of Judas from Scrovegni Chapel - Giotto 1303-05

Seriously, look at that fresco.  Look at how the whirlwind of motion and action seems to completely halt around the central figures of Jesus and Judas as if they are standing in the eye of a hurricane.  Look how he uses lines to create motion and give structure to the space in the image.  Look at the magnificence of color used and how it brings the characters to life.  Look how real the representations of the people are.  Look how Giotto uses color to show the folds of the garments and the sources of light in the image, light which comes from the torches. Look at the richness of the detail, how you can see the patterns on the hems of the robes.  Look at the serenity and focus on Jesus’ face, as if he knows what is going to happen to him (which, he does) and how it contrasts to the palpable fear seen in Judas’ expression.  This is 1303-1305, people.  We are talking about a history of religious art that looks like this:

Kiss of Judas - Early 12th Century, Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Not quite the same, is it?  And this example is one of the best.  It sits in the Uffizi.

Anyway, I really don’t have the ability to describe what these tings look life up close.  But they make you feel small (in a good way, like the vastness of the universe).  And full of awe.  And joyus.  And happy.  And lucky to be seeing them.  And they are much larger than you expect them to be.  And there is not a single space in the chapel that isn’t painted in the fresco style, including fake marble and architectual finishings.  You should go and see them for yourself.

In fact, I went to see them in January 1994 on my last trip to Italy.  The only problem was, I got there on a Monday…and it is CLOSED on Mondays.  It took me 15 years to get back to Padua…and it was worth the wait.

So, it is with that as a preamble that Sasha and I grabbed a cab for the 10 minute ride to a suburb called Rubino to visit Le Calandre.

Le Calandre is run by Massimiliano Alajmo and his brother Raefelle. It has 3 Michelin stars, and Massimiliano become the youngest chef to ever earn 3 stars when he did so at 28 (what the hell are you waiting for?). This guy is no slouch.

Chad and Sasha with master chef/owner Gianni Bonaccorsi

Il Ridotto is a little restaurant located on a precious square (more of a triangle) behind Piazza San Marco, located here. There are a few excellent enotecas nearby, including one catty corner to the restaurant also owned by Bonaccorsi called Aciugheta (it means “anchovies”). Sasha and I ordered the Chef’s testing menu (which had a wonderful description that I wish I had written down); at E50, it’s a feast and a bargain. The amuse bouche was potato wrapped roasted prawn on a bed of creamed potatoes, extra virgin and chive. The prawn was succulent and full of flavor and the crunch of the julienned potato wrapping combined with the cloud-like creamed potato was a winning combination.

Amuse Bouche @ Il Ridotto

Next up, I had a “fantasie di pesci” appetizer of warm and raw crudo. This included razorfish in a pepper salsa, cuttlefish with potatoes, mackerel with pickled beet, tuna, and one other fish that I can’t recall.

Crudo Delicioso

Sasha’s appetizer was a tower of beef tartar. The layers of tartar are presented on top of perfectly crisp and round toast and aretopped with a hard boiled quail’s egg. Accompanying this dish was a light salad of arugula with extra virgin and balsamic. The tartar was silky and flavorful.

For the pasta course, I was treated to a seafood risotto featuring branzino and octopus. The risotto was a perfect al dente and the flavor was rich and yet subtle. What really made this dish was the raspberry in the center. The berry was perfectly ripe and just a bit cooked so that when I touched it with my fork it easily came apart. The fruit cut each bite of risotto and added a wow factor without overpowering the delicate flavors of the pasta.

Raspberry Hurrah

Sasha was treated to a luxurious tagliolini with Piedmontese “Fassone” meat ragu. Fassone beef, rasied in Piedmonte, is renowned for its lean and delicious flavor. Again, the freshly made pasta was perfectly cooked and the ragu expertly seasoned. The Fassone was not only amazingly tender, but its delicate, sweet and savory flavor made this ragu very light.

Fassone - You Can't Touch This

We were so focused on enjoying our meal that we forgot to take pictures when the next course arrived and just started eating (which accounts for the state you see in the following photos). Up next for me was a breaded Dorade with asparagus puree and roasted carrot and zucchini. I was again amazed by the maestro’s ability to make what I expected to be a heavy dish taste so light. The puree was soft and sweet and perfectly complimented the fish. The breading did not taste fried, but almost as if the fish were born that way. The texture was as if the fish were steamed.

Sasha’s beef braised in red wine was served with creamed potatoes with extra virgin and chives. Another hearty dish prepared with a light touch. The beef bowed tenderly to the slightest touch of a fork and melted with each bite. Combined bites with the cloud-like potatoes produced a rich, sweet and savory experience.

Are you drooling yet?

We were already screaming for mercy, but Bonaccorsi would not stop. From Sicily came the Cassata Cheesecake with Cassata Gelato and a chocolate flan with vanilla gelato. I don’t think I have ever tasted anything like the Cassata Cheesecake with its tiramisu texture. Coffees were served along with four kinds of sugar.

Ever seen pink sugar?