Last Tuesday I popped into Hall Place Recording Studio to see how roughneck guitarist Eddie Roberts and his band were progressing with the recording of our ‘30th Anniversary Album’.We only need half an excuse for………………………………………………
1. A good feed
2. A wine tasting session
3.A musical interlude.
30 years in business qualifies for all 3 repeated often through the year, hence the commissioning of an album which we will perhaps sell in the restaurant to our friends and customers.
I gave Eddie a bunch of Italian tunes that have memories for me and our kid from our adolescence, driving to the south of Italy for our hols every year in Pops Zephyr, Celentano blasting out from every beachside jukebox with really brown kids crowding around it in the blistering sunshine. I thought I would never ever be as brown as that and I was right. Those kids spent the whole of summer going to the beach every day for 3 months. All my Uncles listened to Neapolitan songs on the record player, wailing plaintive laments of ungrateful souls and broken hearts. We would travel to some Festa in a village where some fat old troubadour like Mario Merola would be singing songs of immigration, love and the switchblade on an outdoor stage , the bands always slightly wonky and just out of tune but the songs strong enough to make the people misty eyed. These songs really are Neapolitan Blues and still go round in my head today. In the early 70’s we lived in Salerno for a while, me working full time in Pops’ restaurant and both other brothers getting a school education. Musically I left England with a head full of Reggae, Soul & Tamla, T.Rex, the Wild Angels and Elvis. In Italy most of the pop charts were Italian and the English bands the kids I met were into were all progressive, with at least 2 keyboard players per band! So I had albums by the Stones, Smokey Robinson, Alice Cooper and Rory Gallagher and my new mates Acid Pig and Vamoose were blasting out Gentle Giant, Genesis, Tull and Amon Duul .Still, I digress, there was great Italian music throughout my time over there and while I don’t get much out of revisiting the likes the mighty one legged Tull and I now find Duul dull, I still enjoy listening to the likes of Pino Daniele and the Immortal and sexy Mina. Getting back to the album, Eddie listened and, I trust, enjoyed a bunch of these old tunes that bring back great memories and has done some fantastic jazz arrangements of them. I heard a couple of the tunes in the studio and they blew me away, I am very excited about this project but will have to wait while Eddie finishes a months tour in the States with his other band ‘The New Mastersounds’ and a 2 week tour of Japan before he can finish mixing the album. We hope to have it ready for late summer. Anyone wishing to hear the maverick guitar funk of the New Mastersounds should track down one of their 3 albums, ‘Keb Darge presents The New Mastersounds’, ‘Be Yourself’ featuring new Leeds soul sensation Corrine Bailey Rae or ‘this is what we do’. Also Eddie Roberts ‘Roughneck’ album, described as ‘St Germain with attitude’ is an excellent showcase for his jazz guitar style, drawing from influences as diverse as Grant Green, Gabor Szabo and Jimi Hendrix. Hunt them out, buy ‘em and support Leeds music.

I was talking to somebody recently who told me they found the service in some restaurants in Italy a little unfriendly at times. I know what he meant but understanding the culture of Italy helps a lot.
A waiters job is seen as a profession and wages are reasonable and fixed much of the time, Italians are not so big on tipping and food is always expected to be of a certain standard, the hours are often very long so sometimes waiters can seem to be a little laconic and lackadaisical but, hey don’t worry, its nothing personal.
Restaurants are for eating a meal and ordering only a plate of pasta is like going for dinner in the U.K and ordering only a plate of chips, the waiter may serve a child with it but think an adult should go to a snack bar if they just wanted a snack, unfortunately that’s what waiters think in some places in Italy.
Ordering Spag Bol is like ordering a steak with a banana on top. Sure we could serve it but they don’t go together very well. Try some mushrooms or chips with your steak, try some pappardelle or tagliatelle alla Bolognese.
Trust the waiter, it’s his job to feed you and leave you satisfied. ‘Che cosa mangiamo stasera?’ i.e ‘What are we eating tonight?’ is a good one, and it’s nearly always good value for money. However, I’m not sure if this works in the over touristy areas any more
By the way, English is NOT the most common language on Planet Earth.

So…the next time you fancy a spag Bol for lunch in a sunny beach side restaurant on the Adriatic Coast and the surly waiter huffs at you, drops his shoulder and raises his eyebrow, ignore the cranky git and order what you want anyway. At least you know what’s bugging him, its just the culture, he can’t help it.

Kind words from Lee in the last blog. Lee is the person who sorts out our website . I think game playing techie geek sorts would call him The Webmaster . His brief for our website was to create something living , breathing but good enough to eat and we are delighted with the result .Keep blogging nice things about us Lee and we’ll make sure you get an extra biscuit with your coffee next time you’re in the Salumeria.

For the last three years, working extensively within the restaurant industry, I have found that I am becoming increasingly harder to please whenever I sit down to dine in a restaurant and a menu is presented to me. What if I am now expecting far too much of the food, service and atmosphere which any restaurant can every hope to provide. Could I possibly be setting my expectations way too high that I am ultimately - 9 out of ten times - going to walk away feeling short changed and unimpressed?

Well, I am pleased to say that I have discovered something rather special, a dining experience which I guess will ultimately shift my expectations in the future even higher.

My wife, Melanie, and I took the opportunity to check out the Regional Dinners which Salvo's are now hosting in their Salumeria. We were promised an intimate evening to enjoy the very best that Sardinia has to offer. On booking we were informed to get there for 7.30pm sharp to ensure we did not miss out.

For those of you that have not yet had the opportunity to visit the Salumeria - it is situated 2 doors down from the main restaurant. On entering you are instantly transported hundreds of miles away. It opened last year but due to the tasteful interpretation of an authentic Salumeria it could easily have occupied that spot for many, many years.

The Regional Dinners are indeed a very intimate affair with 20 dining guests on any one evening. Personalised menus were a very nice touch as we were shown to our table and the served a very generous glass of rosé. The menu listed a comprehensive selection of 10 dishes - no choices here - you get what Salvo's think you will enjoy, after their extensive trips to the region to source inspiration and produce. Please don’t think of this as an extensive ‘Bush Tucker Trial’ as every dish read very well indeed.

Now, I think this whole idea is very much like going to some kind of extended dinner party, you don't really know everybody but you presume they all have a passion for good food and you are united by your willingness to put trust in John and Gip to serve up something very special.

The evening begins with an informal overview of Sardinia, which sets the tone of the evening perfectly whilst staff are busy in the background preparing the early courses. In close succession, each table is served a course of toasted carasau bread which is extremely good - very crisp with a nice dash of olive oil, garlic and a touch or rosemary. The waiting staff and hosts (all Italian - which only adds to my point earlier about feeling you have been transported to Italy) take the time to explain each dish as it is served. Pleased to say the bread was plentiful and in constant supply during our meal.

Now it is going to take ages to talk through every dish - it was all great and worthy of a mention but the highlights for me were, Casu cottu which is Seared smoked sheep's cheese with roasted mushroom salad. Based on that dish alone I will have to return before they move on to a new region in March. Never eaten sheep's cheese before but the taste was sublime, milky and mellow and perfectly complemented by the sliced mushrooms.

Peperoni Ripieni - roasted red pepper filled with tuna belly, capers and anchovies. Yes that is correct, tuna belly - a real delicacy I am informed by Gip and rarely eaten in the UK. Served on a mini skewer, this just exploded with flavour.

Muggini a Scabbecciu - a dish comprising of marinated mullet with seafood. Served cold, which at first I found a little unexpected but on first taste I knew that putting my trust in Salvo's was a shrewd move. Not sure what was in the sauce which was served with the dish but it all worked so well.

Mallorredus alla Campidanese - I am informed is a classic Sardinian pasta with country sausage and pecorino. Gorgeous and I am pleased to say they came around later with the pot to serve up an extra top up. I think the pecorino was sheep's cheese, the pasta was intensely rich in flavour as the flavour of the tomato and sausage came together.

Finally, the highlight of the evening for me. Tortu de Arregottu (OK - so I have a very sweet tooth) but this was possibly the best dessert I have ever tasted - certainly within the last 3 years since I started working in this industry. Sardinian Ricotta cake served with orange, thistle honey and lemon torrone cream - now doesn’t that just make your mouth water. I advise you all to attend purely to get a serving of this - honestly it is that good.

Trouble with us English is that too often we know what we like and rarely venture beyond that. I can honestly say that of the ten dishes served I don't think I would have been inclined to order them all - if not presented on a set menu, but given that the rules of this dining experience were that you get what you are served - it can only be a positive in broadening your understanding of food and your taste. Having had all the dishes I could see that Salvo's had been very clever in their construction of the menu, a real master stroke. I was very full but not stuffed, the dishes were a perfect balance of flavours and hot and cold dishes.

We sat back enjoying our espresso as the other dining guests departed, oblivious to the fact that we had been dining for the best part of three hours. I am typing this a couple of weeks after my visit but can clearly remember every dish and every taste experience in exact detail which has to be the mark of a truly great meal - I urge you all to try it and allow Salvo's to take you on an authentic journey across the regions of Italy.