Il buono, il brutto, il cattivo

Il brutto e il cattivo
Tonight I tried (and failed, yet again) to make spaghetti alla carbonara. It wasn't even worth taking a picture. I've concluded that the pasta wasn't hot enough to turn the eggs into the rich, creamy sauce that was suppose to result. Instead I ended up essentially eating pasta with raw eggs and bacon - still quite delicious, but not quite as sanitary. And to make matters worse, I bought the eggs from this sketchy store downstairs. I'm crossing my fingers that I don't get food poisoning.

My other attempts at spaghetti alla carbonara have not been as successful either. Once I ended up with a plate of spaghetti, bacon, and scrambled eggs (haven't we all...). I'm not quite ready on chalking this up to one of those dishes that is just best when ordered out. I don't trust the American restaurants to prepare the dish as I would. They all seem to want to sneak in cream - a true travesty.

Il buono
I will turn a blind eye to this whole matter and focus on something that is perfectly created (albeit, not by me) - GROM gelato. I initially discovered GROM in Firenze, just south of the Duomo. I actually got to a "tour" by the owner and hear him speak about three of flavors of his choice. (I put tour in quotation marks because the store itself is no bigger than 20 ft x 10 ft. And that might even be generous.) Although GROM has relatively expensive gelato for Firenze and its small amounts, it is by far worth the extra euro.

Aside from my general depression of leaving Italy, I was extremely depressed knowing that GROM would only be a memory of the past. However, the gelato gods must truly love me because there happens to be not just one but two GROMs in New York City. Now, at first I was quite skeptical of the quality, insisting in my mind that it just can't be as good as the store in Firenze. But the Italian atmosphere might be missing, but the gelato itself tastes exactly the same as it does in Italy, I assure you.

Even though a small (or piccola as I insist on referring to it as) will set you back $5, they generously pile it up (see photo). And think of it as an investment - in loving your life even more.

My suggestions:

• Crema di Grom (totally worth an entire cup full)
• Mela/Caramello (like the freshest caramel dipped apple)
• Nocciola/Bacio (for the Nutella lover in all of us)

The seasonal fruit flavors are also super fresh and delicate. And if you need something to cut the creaminess (never a problem in my opinion), they also offer wonderful Battifollo cookies (see photo) to purchase separately. It is these cookies that are crushed up in the Crema di Grom.

GROM also participates in the Slow Food movement and labels particular flavors that are specially recognized by this group. See website for more information on these efforts and their Mura Mura organic farm.

If it wasn't pouring rain outside right now, I would walking to the Greenwich Village location right the second. And if you want to drool with me, here's the link to their website: http://www.grom.it/eng/index.htm