Alicia's Italian Food Review

I tried it. I did it. Let’s rate it 1-10. Social media food critic Keith Lee took the world by storm this past year with his honest and entertaining food reviews. Clocking in now at more than 15 million Tiktok followers, he started out going to struggling restaurants with great food and seemingly turned his whole fanbase onto these hidden gems. Now, any restaurant that he reviewed is subsequently greeted with a frenzy of foodie hoping to enjoy the same eats. While I do not predict this blog post sending droves of people to Milan or Florence for some food, it will definitely let you in on my top 5 most memorable food experiences during my time in Italy!!

Ruote is like a flat round Italian bread loaf with pizza toppings on it. In place of sauce, this “pizza” was dressed with an olive oil drizzle, chopped cherry tomatoes, thinly-sliced prosciutto, mozzarella slices, and fresh basil.

Raw ham and buffalo mozzarella ruote: 9/10

This was my first morsel of food off the plane, and it certainly did not disappoint! The bread itself tasted like foccaccia without the rosemary. I could literally taste the absence of GMOs and pesticides in the tomatoes, and I don’ t even like tomatoes! It tasted best when each bite had all the components together. I added salt and pepper to taste. I felt that, although nontraditional, a squeeze of citrus could have enhance this dish more. The cheese tasted like skim milk - minimal milk fat. If it were soaked in a salt brine, it could have been more flavorful. I rated this dish a 9 because it had great and fresh flavors despite needing salt and pepper.

Risotto alla Milanese is a savory, saffron-infused variety of risotto. It is a classic creamy dish consisting of long grain rice cooked in broth.

Risotto alla Milanese: 6/10

This was the starter dish at the welcome dinner. It is important to note that we were in the land of al dente. I actually do not mind semi-crunchy rice. It was trippy, however, eating cheesy rice. The risotto was ultra yellow from the saffron, but the cheese added was quite sharp. It reminded me of Kraft mac and cheese. A reductive comparison but valid in the sense that it tasted like sharp cheddar cheese, chicken brothm and was bright yellow. It was not something I would have ordered again during a visit. I know how much work it takes to pull off a successful risotto, but it really did taste similar to Kraft mac and cheese. That threw me off.

Scialatielli allo Scoglio is a classic Italian seafood pasta made with scialatielli, clams, mussels, calamari, and prawns.

Scialatielli allo Scoglio: 7/10

I enjoyed this dish during a riveting lunch with Mrs. Rita. And, she can attest that people were stopping to look at my plate. The presentation alone is a ringing endorsement! It really just tasted like marinara seafood pasta. I take this moment to drive home the point that I truly could taste the freshness of the ingredients. I love mollusks but always prefer them in citrus/herb base over a tomato one. I did enjoy the noodles! They were like stretched out rigatonis. I usually don’t eat shrimp/prawns but ate these because I was paying for it. They were cooked well and absorbed the sauce. I would not get it again but was pleased with what I got.

Affogato is an Italian coffee-based dessert that usually takes the form of a scoop of plain milk-flavored or vanilla gelato or ice cream topped or "drowned" with a shot of hot espresso.

Affogato al caffe: 10/10

WOULD GET AGAIN! This was so good and the best gelato I had on the whole trip! This reminded me of an Starbucks iced coffee. It essentially was strong coffee paired with milk and sugar. The gelato paired well with the bitterness of the espresso. The gelato itself tasted like Blue Bell vanilla ice cream - if you know, you know! My only note is that I wish I had made time to go back and try other gelato flavors from that shop.

Ragu is a meat-based tomato pasta sauce traditionally served with pasta.

Homemade pasta in Ragu: 7/10

The pasta was cooked al dente. It did not have much flavor other than the blood, sweat, and tears used to make it. This was the pasta that was made during our cooking class prior to dinner. I'm not a huge meat sauce person, but, for what it was, it was pretty good. I definitely added a healthy amount of Parmesan cheese to spice it up. It was a little bland but a little citrus and salt could have brought the flavors out more. The presentation took me away especially knowing what it took to make the noodles so that was also contributing to my rating of this dish.

Overall trip food rating: 7/10

With this being my first time out of the country, I was open to trying all types of foods. I think I was preconditioned to expect certain flavor profiles from some food because America uses lots of sugar and salt. Knowing how food is prepared in Italy, particularly in the regions we visited, I would make more of a poignant effort to try certain things. I wasn't completely let down by anything that I tried, but if I were to try something again, I would seek out the best rated version of that dish. I would definitely tell anybody visiting to try their own gelatos, pastas, bread, etc. A lot of it comes down to personal preference, but this trip was a foodie’s dream for sure!