Today we're excited to introduce you to Mark Leslie, a connoisseur of Italian food and the author of Beyond the Pasta. Mark's Ultimate Italian Meal is full of unique dishes and some truly amazing venues! Check it out and let us know about you're favorite Italian dishes!
Antipasti: Seafood Salad ("Insalata di mare del pescatore") at Siciliainbocca, Rome, Italy Smoked Tuna at Anticha Locanda Montin, Venice, Italy Primi: Pasta first course: Lasagne Verdi alla Bolognese at Biba Restaurant, Sacramento, CA Risotto alla Parmigiana at Osteria da Divo, Siena, Italy Secondi: Meat course: Braised Rabbit Shanks at Osteria dell'Angelo, Rome, Italy Filleto di Manzo at Al Volto in Longare, Italy Il Dolce: Dessert: La Torta di Nonna (Nonna's secret ricotta and lemon torta, only made on special occasions). Sgrupino (lemon gelato, prosecco, vodka) at Ristorante Monserrato, Rome, Italy.
Christina Pirello has made it her mission in life to show people the benefits of learning to eat natural, organic food. Her Emmy award winning television series Christina Cooks!, airs weekly on over 150 national public television stations and in 50 foreign countries on Discovery Health. She’s written five cookbooks and her latest, This Crazy Vegan Lifewas published in January, 2009. She also operates Christina Trips, a travel company specializing in healthy vacations to exotic destinations. If that wasn’t enough, she finds time to support numerous charitable and educational endeavors including the Christina Pirello Health Education Initiative. We caught up with Christina recently to hear about her Ultimate Meal.As you’ll see, there are a few international favorites, but she’s loyal to many of the restaurants in her hometown of Philadelphia.
Christina's Ultimate Meal
Hummus and falafel at Abulafia Bakery in Jaffa, Israel Pasta e Fagioli from Ristorante Fratelli Begnini in Cascia, Italy Phila Arugula or Insalata di Rucola e Parmiggiano at Café Valentino’s in Philadelphia, PA Gnocchi Marinarafrom Chialrella's Ristorante in Philadelphia, PA Stuffed artichoke at Scannicchio's in Philadelphia, PA Dark of the Moon from FARMiCiA in Philadelphia, PA
Do you have a favorite vegan dish in your Ultimate Meal?
As we continue working to launch version 1 of the dishKarma application, many have asked what we’re ultimately hoping to create. Our goal is to improve individual dining experiences by developing a unique recommendation engine that takes the guesswork out of not only where to eat, but more importantly what to order. At the same time, the site will help those less fortunate by leveraging corporate partnerships that provide food related charitable donations.
So, what might this look like?
You'll begin by creating your personal menu through the dishKarma site or mobile application. Add as many of your favorite dishes as you can remember, course by course, from restaurants around the world. Then, each time you experience a remarkable new dish, add it to your menu so you can share and compare it with others. Your menu will constantly evolve based on new discoveries and suggestions from the dishKarma community.
How will this be useful?
Imagine you’re strolling through a city for the first time and decide you’re craving a burger. Where do you begin? You could stop someone on the street, search Google on your cell or tap into a restaurant review site. While this exercise will result in a number of restaurants to choose from, you may be left wondering which option is most likely to satisfy your personal craving.
Maybe you like it veggie, or with all the fixings? dishKarma will suggest the best place to find that burger based on the dishes you’ve enjoyed in the past. You can also make your selection based on the recommendations of your friends or community members who are also using the service.
If you’re not in the mood for anything in particular, the application can suggest a number of dishes you might enjoy in that location based on the dishes you’ve historically added to your ultimate menu. Think of this like Amazon recommending a book based on your reading habits.
If that dish lives up to your expectations, and it’s worthy of joining your running list of favorites, add it to your ultimate menu. Each time you add a dish and share it with your social network, one meal is donated to a local food bank through Feeding America. This is where our corporate partner program comes into play. Each time you share a dish, we all share a dish.
Together we can create a powerful and personal recommendation engine that satisfies our taste buds, while also helping to feed those in need. Like what you’ve heard so far? Stay tuned and let us know what features and functionality you’re hoping to see with dishKarma.
Traveling this holiday season? Regardless of your destination, there are probably a few local dishes worth seeking out. The challenge is tracking them down. In 2010, you’ll have dishKarma to help guide your search. Until then, your solution may be a new book from National Geographic.
I'm a huge fan of tuna (check out this post if you dig it too), so I decided to do a bit more research. Eventually I landed on a top ten list created in Google Maps by Chef Nobu Matsuhisa. The map outlines his favorite places in the world and includes a brief commentary on each location. It turns out he got his start in the Tsukiji fish market as an apprentice in a small sushi restaurant.
This use of the map application is very cool. You almost get the feeling he was just playing around with Google one day and decided to create this awesome reference. Check out some of his other favorite spots here.
Have you ever been to the Tsukiji market in Japan? How about one of Chef Nobu's other favorite spots? Perhaps one of his restaurants?
Last night I realized just how much I order tuna. Not for the health benefits, but because I never get bored with the variety of ways it can be prepared.Take this week for example:On Monday I called up my favorite local sushi spot, Thousand Crane (or 1K Crane as my friend Sully likes to call it), and ordered the spicy tuna hand roll.Tuesday I had the tuna from Angela’s Pasta & Cheese Shop for lunch and it was prepared like the traditional mashed tuna fish. Except everything at Angela’s is done with a twist so they added olives and a few other things to spice it up.For dinner on Thursday it was back to sushi at 1K Crane, but this time I had the tuna sashimi rather than the roll.Friday night I went to an engagement party at The Up River Café in Westerly, Rhode Island. The food was great, mostly app/hors d'oeuvres, and this time my favorite fish was prepared as tuna tartar. The brilliant move was individually serving this in porcelain spoons. Major points for presentation and convenience.Running a close second for presentation (and number one for the fullness factor) was my dinner on Saturday night at Firefly American Bistro & Bar. Here I had the mirin glazed tuna, flash-seared with a spicy ginger/sweet soy sauce over jasmine rice and bok choy. If I’m really hungry and making tuna the focus of my meal, this is a go-to dish. I may even give this a shot in my takeout rotation considering the taste and close proximity to my apartment.Now I don't eat this much tuna every week (and I should probably try grocery shopping once in a while), but amazingly after all that I’m still not sick of it. Variety, the spice of life.What’s your favorite way to prepare tuna and who serves it up the best?
dK fans everywhere can enjoy a great dish (or meal if you've taken the time to make the trek) with an unbelievable view of the foliage this fall. Vermont experiences over a million visitors per year to take a peek at the foliage the State has to offer and the Cliff House Restaurant at the top of Mount Mansfield in Stowe is the perfect way to dine and take it all in. A personal favorite of mine is the classic Vermont Cheese Plate or perhaps if you're feeling adventurous, go for the Winding Brook Farm Lamb Stew.Part of the Vermont Fresh Network, the Cliff House takes dining to a new level...an elevation of 3625' to be exact. It's a cheap gondola ride away, or an even cheaper hike... Check out the links and enjoy one of Vermont's hidden gems.I feel like the fall has so many great options for restaurants to take advantage of. What are your favorites?
Italy is a country relatively small in size but home to countless cuisines and flavors. Traditions and fundamentals of Italian cooking have been passed down from generations as old as the ancient Roman Empire. It is commonly said that the everlasting trick to true Italian cooking is that the cook prepare each meal according to his or her own taste and liking.
There is no doubt that Lidia Bastianich has followed in the footsteps of many historic, culinary revolutionaries that originated from Italy. Lidia, being a true Italian cook, has successfully been able to transform her personal tastes and culinary techniques into an empire of original recipes, cookbooks, television shows, and of course restaurants.
What has made Lidia most recognizable is her highly entertaining and informative gastronomic tour of Italy television series titled Lidia’s Italy. During this show Lidia journeys through her 10 most favorite regions of Italy, introducing her viewers to local people and unique cuisines.Lidia’s Italy very well may be the inspiration that determines Italy as dishKarma’s first international quest for the ultimate meal!
Luckily for those of us who do not travel to Italy frequently, Lidia has brought Italy to United States through a collection of authentic Italian restaurants where you will find menus designed around Lidia’s personal tastes. A true Italian cook also loves to eat, therefore, Lidia was generously able and eager to share with dishKarma her ultimate dishes from three of her New York City restaurants: Felidia, Esca, and Del Posto. Watch Lidia’s ultimate meal and visit one of Lidia’s restaurants for a truly authentic Italian meal…tell them Lidia and dishKarma sent you!
Ming Tsai is a true mogul. Chef, author, television host/producer, designer, retailer, humanitarian….the list goes on. He may actually be involved with more projects than Diddy!Ming’s innovative East-West cooking style has made his restaurant, Blue Ginger, one of the top spots in Boston for over 10 years. We recently caught up with Ming and he was cool enough to share his ultimate meal for dishKarma.As Ming ‘zooms’ around describing different dishes and great chefs, he breaks down a true ultimate meal crawl. This is when each dish in an ultimate meal can be found in the same area, thus making it possible to actually experience the meal in one night. The ultimate meal crawl is also the premise for our dishKarma video podcast, but we’ll save that for another post.Have you tried any of the dishes in Ming’s ultimate meal?
It’s been one week since the official introduction of dishKarma and we’d like to thank everyone who has contributed their questions, suggestions and favorite dishes. We’ve heard from friends, family, foodies, famous chefs, fellow marketers and more! It’s been great to get so much positive feedback and we look forward to sharing the next phase as we continue building out the concept."It’s fun to think about sitting down to your ultimate meal, but what’s the big picture vision for dishKarma? "
With your help, we’re going to build a comprehensive user driven database of the best individual dishes in the world. The search functionality will enhance as the database grows, and dishKarma will become a valuable resource when traveling or simply looking for the best place to find a specific dish in your neighborhood.On a personal level, the more dishes you contribute, the more specific and relevant dinning suggestions you’ll receive. This is how we all truly benefit from spreading the dishKarma.Currently we’re learning about your favorite dishes through videos and Twitter polls, but soon we’ll be rolling out a Web application that will more formally capture your ultimate meal. More on this in the coming days….I can’t think of a better way to close out week one then with an ultimate meal video from our favorite wine connoisseur and all around marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk of Wine Library TV! Gary serves up an eclectic mix of dishes, but stays impartial and leaves the locations up to us. Where is the best place to get each dish Gary orders in his ultimate meal (crudo, Olympia oysters, sweets breads, foie gras)?
It’s been 15 years in the making, but phase one of dishKarma is finally complete. Our new Web site formally introduces the concept and invites everyone to share their ultimate meal.This was truly a team effort and we’d like to thank everyone that has been involved in the project thus far.We’re hard at work building phase two, but for now please check out the site and sign up for the email list so we can notify you of our progress. Also, follow on Twitter, add the Facebook page, Digg the site, tell a friend or send up a smoke signal.Don’t forget to upload your own ultimate meal and help spread the dishKarma!Stay tuned and stay hungry…
Inspired by Gary Vaynerchuk's book: Crush it!, this limited, "Feed Your Passion"
t-shirt will give you super powers, allowing you to consistently crush it, while providing 20 meals to those in need!
(affiliate link), is an illustrated overview of the best food from around the world. There’s also a great promotional video that covers a few highlights from the book. For example, the video suggests the 
Hop on the email list 
Comments [0]