What, you may ask, is Brindiamo?



If you live in the NYC-metro area, or the greater Philadelphia area (which also takes in parts of NJ and Delaware), you may find this little show quite interesting.

The problem is, it is only carried on two PBS stations: WNYE (aka NYC-TV, Saturdays at 10:30am) in New York, and WYBE (Tuesdays at 2:00pm) in Philadelphia.

Simply put, Brindiamo is a show dedicated to Italian restaurants. Hosted by Ornella Fado (who is from Italy), each episode features a spotlight on a single restaurant, an interview with the owner(s), a conversation with the chef, and some nice cooking where the chef prepares a few dishes in the restaurant's kitchen (usually with Ornella acting as assistant).

By the end of this half-hour show, you're hungry. (And do you know what it's like to be ravenously craving a multi-course Italian dinner at 11:00am? Oh...you do? Well...never mind.)

90% of the restaurants featured seem to be in Manhattan, though she occasionally goes to the outer boroughs, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington DC, and back to the source: Italy. If I have any complaints, it's (a) I wish she'd travel a little more - though I imagine the show's low budget may be a factor here, and (b) She seems to mostly concentrate on slightly more "upscale" places, and we all know there are oft-times gems to be found in small, local establishments.

Click here for the show's website. You can also see a list of the restaurants that have been featured on the show.

Interestingly enough, the most recent show I saw featured a restaurant in Jersey City that was well-known to several BB members: Casa Dante. Right after Christmas, 2005, the restaurant changed hands. The new owners (who had been long-time customers) did some renovation, brought in a new chef and revamped the menu. Executive Chef Gregg Freda ("I was Freda? I don't think so." ) had been with Panico's in New Brunswick for many years - in fact, his uncle owned the place until his death. Small world.

Be advised: If you check out the menu for Casa Dante on their website, there are no prices listed. (Well, that lets me out! Now, to me, that's almost like saying, "If you really want to know what it costs, then you probably can't afford us." \:\/ )

Anyway, if your local cable company carries those PBS stations (or you receive them over-the-air), definitely check out Brindiamo.



Signor V.

"For me, there's only my wife..."

"Sure I cook with wine - sometimes I even add it to the food!"

"When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies?"

"It was a grass harp... And we listened."

"Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? Every, every minute?"

"No. Saints and poets, maybe... they do some."