John Mariani To Be Guest Lecturer March 24th
at Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo
The Casa Italiana- Zerilli Marimo (New York University) and Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani are proud to present on Wednesday evening, March 24th, John Mariani as the second guest lecturer for the Genuinely Italian educational lecture series. Known as one of America's premier food writers, journalist and author of more than 10 books on food, wine & gastronomy, Mr. Mariani is a three-time James Beard Journalism Award nominee and hailed by the Philadelphia Enquirer. as “the most influential food-wine critic in the popular press”.
Mr. Mariani will present the fascinating history and development of Italian cuisine in New York City. He will then be joined in a lively discussion on the topic by one of the nation's most respected restaurateurs, Tony May, owner of SD26 Restaurant & Wine Bar and Chairman of Gruppo Ristoratori Italiani.
-By John Mariani
Neil Simon once said, “There are two laws in the universe: The Law of Gravity, and Everybody likes Italian food.”
Yet, however beloved and savory it was, not very long ago Italian food in America and just about everywhere else outside of Italy was regarded as macaroni with red sauce, chicken parmigiana, pizza, and “dago red” wines. Before World War II only the major U.S. cities had any Italian restaurants, and the menus at all of them were maddeningly similar, the ingredients mediocre, the food cheap and filling.
Later on, in the 1970s, Italian food was lumped with the other “ethnic foods”-Mexican, Chinese, and so on-while French food was always referred to as the international standard for “cuisine.” Most American restaurant menus had no Italian dishes on them, and certainly no French restaurants here or anywhere else in the rest of the world did.
Then, starting in the 1980s, Italian food became not only the most popular in the world but also the most fashionable. Today it would be literally impossible to dine at a Michelin three-star restaurant in Paris and not find cannelloni, ravioli, and gnocchi on the menus-albeit likely to contain foie gras and truffles.
There is hardly a non-ethnic restaurant in American that does not now have an array of Italian dishes, from flatbread pizzas to arugula salads, from carpaccios to pannacottas. Salume and salsicce have become the norm at new restaurants, as have focaccia and fennel bread. Many of the most popular restaurants in Tokyo are now Italian, and there are chic trattorias in Mayfair, Belgravia, and Knightsbridge. But the food they're serving has as much to do with America as it does Italy.
In addition to countless magazine and newspaper stories covering Italian cooking, chefs and restaurants, Italian cookbooks have become the biggest bestsellers and command the most space on bookstore shelves, with “celebrity” names on their spines like Mario Batali, Marcella Hazan, Michael Chiarello, Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray. On TV, the most popular food shows are almost always about Italian cooking, from Giada De Laurentiis to Lidia Bastianich and Mary Ann Esposito.
The story of how Italian food conquered the world is the subject of Stretching the Sauce: How Italian Food Conquered the World. It was the emigrants to America--overwhelmingly from the South--who created, through sheer necessity, an Italian-American food culture.
As an Italian-American familiar with hearing epithets like “garlic eater,” “spaghetti bender,” and “macaroni” as synonyms for Italians, I have, over the last four decades, also witnessed the change in attitude towards Italian food from that of a low-class, coarse ethnic food to that of the most recognizable, stylish, and influential in the world. How that happened has as much to do with changing ideas of ethnicity and health concerns as it is does with taste and fashion. And it's a story full of suffering, endurance, acceptance, and triumph well beyond the basic sustenance of people for whom food must nurture the soul as well as the body.
For more information and to RSVP, click here.
Milioni Speaks at Casa Italiana-Zerilli Marimo
March 3rd, renown wine consultant, writer-editor and wine historian, Stefano Milioni addressed an appreciative audience at New York University's Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo. Along with a beautiful slide presentation, Milioni took members of GRI, Casa Italiana and special guests through various vineyards in regions of Italy commenting on their designs and architecture, and why they are built as they are−for reasons of geography, climate and the variety of grapes grown. He further segmented the producers view points and explained the historical evolution of what they must consider in terms of bottle shapes, label designs and ultimately the very shape of the wine glass which all together contribute to the enhancement wines for consumers.
His presentation was followed by a reception hosted by SD26 Restaurant and Wine Bar, where Milioni directs the wine program, which offered pappa col pomodero, pasta and Grana Padano. Before the program, GRI corporate member, Banfi Vintners, served refreshing maschio dei cavalieri prosecco and then joined SD26 in serving guest various wines from the Banfi portfolio including the San Angelo Pinot Grigio and Rosa Regale.
It was an extraordinary evening to kick off the six-lecture series on Italian cuisine entitled, Genuinely Italian, which is being co-sponsored by GRI and the Casa Italiana Zerilli Marimo
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2010 GRI-Giacomo Bologna Scholarship
We are pleased to announce the 2010 GRI-Giacomo Bologna Scholarship Trip will be hosted by Friuli Venezia-Giula at the end of May, more details coming soon.
GRI Proudly 2010 Annual Trip to Italy: Tuscany
GRI has announced a slight date change in the itinerary for its trip to Tuscany. The old dates of April 13–20 have now been changed to April 11–19. For further details on the trip please contact: Theresa Hopkins: thopkins18@nyc.rr.com
Each year, GRI travels to a different region visiting wineries, food producers, restaurants and cultural landmarks providing GRI restaurant members the opportunity to gain insight into new products, wines, techniques and menu trends to bring back and incorporate into their own restaurants here in the U.S. further extending the mission of GRI to enhance and elevate authentic Italian Cuisine through education.
GRI Honors Calogero Mannino and Abraxas Estate
Friday, February 26, Tony May, Chairman of GRI hosted a dinner to honor Calogero Mannino, wine producer of the Abraxas Estate, is also one of the most important members of Parliament in Italy. He is often referred to as one of the most brilliant politicians ever. Mr. Mannino addressed a gathering of GRI restaurant members and special guests about his work and the fabulous wines produced at the Abraxas Estates.
The reception and dinner was held at SD26 and featured four wines from Abraxas including: Kuddia delle Ginestre, Kuddia del Ze, Kuddia del Moro and one of the finest dessert wines in the world, the Passito di Pantelleria.
Abraxas Estates in located on the island of Pantelleria, south of Sicily. It is a small estate that produces world class wines as rated by Wine Spectator magazine.