DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Tailgate Forum What's on your Super Bowl menu?

I'm the same. A recipe is just a starting point.
When I'm doing something new, I usually will seek out at least three, if not five, different recipes that are all well reviewed and I start with everything that is common among them... I consider those the "must-have" items and everything else a nuance. Then, I pick over the nuance items and pick out the ones that sound the best..... and then, I call that Experiment #1.

I've ended up with some really great stuff this way (baklava!!).

That said, my menu was snacking from a box of CheezIts while sipping a ginger beer soda (Aldi's Summit brand).

They may have settled all over the country as you suggest, but I would bet that per capita, there are more Italians in RI and Mass than any other State.

In addition, Italian cuisine is heavily seafood based and the best and freshest seafood comes out of New England - plain and simple.

Completely disagree. I’ve had some great Italian dishes in California, Alaska, Florida, etc. There is good authentic food of just about any kind all across the country.

There used to be a Sicilian restaurant in Centerville on the corner of 725 and 741 in the older part of Centerville. I can't remember the name of it. It's been closed since some time in the late 90's. It was family owned and ran.

That was the best food I ever ate.

Next time you're in Cleveland, if ever, try the Gnocchi with Shrimp and Broccoli Alfredo at Johnny's Bar on Fulton Rd. So good ...

I forgot to mention that I did actually screw up part of the soup (the tortillas, of all things). Cut up a couple corn tortillas, brush with olive oil, throw a little salt at 'em, and bake in the oven. Somehow I got them to come out rubbery instead of crunchy.

Antonio‘s? The DiPasquale family owned it.

That's it! Man was that some good food! I haven't found anything like that before or since.

Johnny's on Fulton is fantastic. Great back patio dining area as well.

Giovanni's off of Chargrin Blvd is a great spot as well.

I thought so.

They were on 725 and 48, but you were close enough!

There are good Italian restaurants all over, but Boston's North End has a number of really great spots.

You're right again. And damn, I used to work in that area a lot!

Well, I did grow up there, so I’m pretty familiar!

That may be on a per capita basis, I have no way of disputing that nor am going to seek that information. I'll concede your point. My point is Italians settled all over the country, and brought their cooking with them.

As for the use of seafood in cooking, it depends upon which region of the country you visit or what type of food a restaurant cooks. I attended a 4 day cooking school in Florence on a vacation. Florence is in north central Italy. The region is Tuscany. Tuscan cooking uses mostly beef and boasts many cured meats. Not much in the way of seafood since it isn't in a coastal region. Sicily would be a region where seafood is more common since it is an island.

As for freshest and best, anywhere near water offers up fresh seafood. As to best, I love New England and the foods one can get, but I am not going to say seafood caught in the northern regions of the Atlantic off the New England coast are better than the fish and shrimp brought in out of the gulf. They are just different fish.

I was curious about this because we have a local pizza & Italian food chain called Antonio's here in the Cleveland area only it's owned by the LoSchiavo family. Anyway, I googled it. Turns out they closed some years ago (sorry). But you can buy one of their menus on Amazon for $40.

https://www.amazon.com/Antonios-Italian-Restaurant-Centerville-Ravioli/dp/B07C83TJY9

Been to both. Both great.

A smaller, out of the way place is Bruno's. It's more or less Ohio City...off Clark Ave. Great little sport, Chef Bruno was the chef for the Browns for a number of years when Belicheck was the coach.

http://www.brunosristorante.net/