Positano is Coming – Update

 

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BACK on CAPRI

And a APEROL SPRITZ at BAR TIBERIUS

PIAZZA UMBERTO CAPRI

Back to Italy 2019; Rome, Salerno, Naples, Capri, Ischia, and Positano, the Amalfi Coast, vacation and research trip to put the finishing touch on my upcoming book Positano The Amalfi Coast – Travel Guide / Regional Cookbook. Had a great time, and learned a few new things and going staying in two places I’ve never stayed at before, Salerno and Ischia. I’d spent some time in Salerno last year with my cousins Tony, Marta, and Mimmo, but I stayed there for 2 days this year and did a little exploring. I stayed at a wonderful hotel, the Plaza Hotel, which I had a wonderful time at, and I highly recommend staying there. It’s a super nice hotel with nice rooms and excellent service from owner Gaetano and his staff. The hotel is situated in an excellent location to make it an affordable base to stay if you’re looking to do Positano, Capri, and the Amalfi Coast, and you don’t have $350 a night or more to stay in Positano or Capri, but you want to spend time visiting and eating in those spots, then staying at the Hotel Plaza at about $95 a night for two, including a tasty and robust breakfast, his hotel is one of the best choices you could possibly make to explore Naples, the Amalfi Coast, and the outer islands of Campania. Besides being such a great hotel, the location could not be more ideal. The Hotel Plaza is located 200 feet from the Salerno Train Station that can get you a train to Naples in just 30 minutes and just 1 1/2 hours to Rome. The hotel is just 3 blocks to the Marine Terminal where you can get frequent ferry boats to Positano, Amalfi, Cetara, Minori, and other points on the Amalfi Coast. Very convenient.

Besides staying in Salerno, I finally made it to Ischia, a place I’d been wanting to go to for years. The reason I’d never gone before, is that I love Capri so much, that I had a hard time not going, so year after year I’d be back on my beloved Isle of Capri. Well I did like Ischia, it’s a beautiful place, but having spent 4 days on this lovely volcanic island, I still prefer Capri, which is more compact and easier to get around to the beaches and most popular sights and such. My favorite things about Ischia were watching a couple fishermen bring in their fresh catch of the day, swimming, drinking Biancolella with every meal, and finishing the meal with the a wonderful new Amaro I discovered, the locally made Amaro Rucolino which is made with its own secret recipe of roots and herbs and the main flavor ingredient being locally grown Arugala (Rocket). I just loved it, and brought 2 bottles of it to bring back home to New York.

While staying on Ischia, I took the short 20 minute ferry boat to the Island of Procida, another new discovery. I quite a nice time in Prociada where the shot the movies Il Positano about famed Chilean Poet Pablo Neruda, and The Talented Mr. Ripley starring Matt Damon, Jude Law, and Gwyneth Palthrow.

I had a nice tasty lunch of Alici Fritti at the Trattoria / Pizzeria Piazzetta on Procida were I had a lovely time chit-chatting with a couple English ladies sitting at the table next to mine outside on the piazza, with our gorgeous view of Procida. Quite a nice time.

One day, I walked the 3 short blocks from the Hotel Plaza to the Marine Terminal of Salerno and caught a ferry boat to Positano to go visit my friend Mario and his wife who were staying at the Hotel Poseidon in Positano. It’s a beautiful 50 minute boat ride from Salerno to Positano, that cost just 12 Euro. Glad to be back in Positano, I stopped at the Delacatessen for an Aracini and fresh fruit before making my way up to see my buddy Mario and his wife Esperanza. It’s a nice little walk up the pathway and then onto the Via Pasitea where the Hotel Poseidon is located at # 148 Via Pasitea. This hotel is perfectly situated at one of the nicest spots in Positano, with a spectacular view of the town on its large terrace where you get one of the best views in town. The Hotel Poseidon has a nice pool on their terrazzo, along with a bar, and one of Positano’s best restaurants, the Tridente.

I had one of the best times on my whole vacation hanging out with my friends Mario and Esperanza that day on the Terrazzo of the Poseidon Hotel. We swam in the beautiful pool, drank Campari, and Aperol Spritz’s and had the most wonderful time, hanging out poolside in Positano, with our gorgeous view of the most famous and treasured town of The Amalfi Coast Italy. Yes it was a very day hanging out with Mario and his lovely wife. A day I will always treasure and always remember.

On this trip I visited some of Underground Napoli (Naples) which was quite interesting. There was a Roman Market and other buildings that were built over older Greek Ruins. It was quite interesting to see. 

I started my trip in Rome, were I stayed for 2 days before taking a fast train from Roma Termini Station down to Salerno (1 1/2 hours). Once I got off the train in Salerno, and out of the train station, it was a nice easy 300 foot walk to the wonderful Hotel Plaza just across the street from the train station. Again, I reiterate, the Plaza Hotel is a great place to see to base your trip to the otherwise expensive Amalfi Coast of Italy. This hotel is lovely and a wonderful place to stay. Ask for Gaetano and tell him “Daniel from new York,” sent you. And have a Great Time!

Daniel

 

SEE PICTURES  of The TRIP

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Look For POSITANO

The AMALFI COAST

TRAVEL GUIDE

to POSITANO NAPLES

The AMALFI COAST

TRAVEL GUIDE / COOKBOOK

RECIPES INFO & STORIES

Of NAPLES CAPRI POSITANO

and The AMALFI COAST

ITALY

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BACK in POSITANO

The AMALFI COAST

ITALY

2019

 

BEST SELLING ITALIAN COOKBOOKS

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Eating Italian

 

Pasta w BRACIOLE

 

These are my memories of a lifelong love of Italian Food. From my first bowl of pasta and the food of my youth, as a young adult, and into later-life. The food, ever changing, making new discoveries, learning all the time through experiences, reading, travel, and what-not. As I grew up and ate the food that my mother made, the Italian dishes she made us became part of my life and ethnic background of being Italian-American. My mom Lucia Bellino was a 1st Generation Italian-American whose parents both came from Lercara Friddi, Sicily and immigrated to New York in the year 1904 before moving to the very Sicilian town of Lodi, New Jersey where my grandfather Philipo set up a shoe-maker shop on Main Street. So I grew up eating the food my mother made us on a daily basis, along with the fabulous food of my three aunts; Aunt Fran, Aunt Helen, and Aunt Wanda who were the spouses of my mother’s three brothers James, Tony, and Frank. My aunts were all amazing cooks and I always looked forward to visiting them at there homes, especially on Sundays when the whole family, aunts, uncles, and cousins would gather at Aunt Fran’s or Uncle Jimmy’s for a great big Sunday meal. A meal that started with antipasti, then pasta and a main course, and a marathon dessert and coffee course that lasted for hours. Yes these meals were always quite special as my aunts were some of the greatest cooks of Italian home-cooked food that I have ever known, and they made some of the same dishes as my mother, but the special treat were the dishes that my aunts made that were different from my mom’s, and of course oh so tasty. So I waited in wonderment to see what they had made. You see my mothers parents were from Sicily so my mom made dishes her mother taught to her. My Aunt Helen was from Salerno, not far from Naples so she made dishes from that region, and my Aunt Fran’s family were from Settefrati north of Rome, which some of Aunt Fran’s cooking would reflect the food of that region. You see Aunt Fran was my Uncle Tony’s wife and Aunt Helen was my Uncle Frank’s, thus our family repertoire was of Sicily, Lazio, and Campania the regions interlocked in our family through marriage and what-not. Yes the family meals were a never-ending memory of all of the so many fabulous family meals shared with my dear aunts, uncles, cousins, family friends and loved ones.

   So my first memories of Italian food eating with my family, meals at home or at one of my aunts or uncles homes. We’d go out to eat every now and then at one of the families favorite local restaurants where I have my first memories of eating out in Italian Restaurants before setting out on my own as a young adult and then as a full grown man, eating in the best Italian Restaurants, Pastry Shops, Pork Stores, and Pizzerias in New York. And after New York, it was on to Italy; to Rome, Venice, Florence and other parts of Tuscan, Napoli, Capri, Positano, the Amalfi Coast, and at friends vineyards in Tuscany, Piedmont, the Veneto, and Sicily. Now we’re learning a whole other thing, Italian Food at its source, all over Italy, delving into the various regional cuisines of Italy, eating the local food and drinking the local wine, there’s nothing better. And all the beauty of Italy, of cities like Rome, Venice, Napoli, and Verona, and towns like Portofino, Positano, Amalfi, or Minori. Observing and immersing into the local customs and culture, it’s quite a learning experience, and one everyone should undertake if fortunate enough to get the chance, I’m so happy I did.

   And I didn’t just eat and travel throughout Italy to learn of it’s great cuisine. I read all I could get my hands on of Italy and its food. I read every magazine and newspaper article I could find, and bought a hundred Italian cookbooks or more.

   This was and still is a never ending journey that’s wonderfully rewarding. I’ve made so many discoveries big and small, and surprising as well. I ate, I savored, I enjoyed and I still am, eating and recalling Italian Food, one dish at a time.

 

Excerpted from MANGIA ITALIANO – Memories of Italian Food

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

2017

 

MANGIA ITALIANO

MEMORIES of ITALIAN FOOD

STORIES & RECIPES

 

Inside JOHN’S ITALIAN RESTAURANT

East 12th Street NEW YORK NY

SINCE 1908

“And it’s STill OPEN !”

 

 

 

 

 

Eggplant Salami and Swimming on Capri

 

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CAPRI

May 2015

I’ve got to say, Salumeria Capri Rosticceria has some of the best food in all of Capri .. I’ve eaten at a number of restaurants on Capri and the food they make at this little Salumeria is as good as any, and better than many, “I Kid You Not,” it’s that good. I got food from here every day (5 days) I was on Capri on this last trip, and loved everything I got here. The first day I picked up an Arancini (just to hold me over to dinner) and a bottle of water. The Arancini was awesome, so the next day when I was planning on going swimming at the Faraglioni I stopped off here to get another great Arancino. When I got there, I saw some tasty looking Melanzane Parmigiano (Eggplant Parm) and asked Mamma about it. She said she made it, so I asked for a portion along with my Rice Ball. I also picked up a bottle of water and a 1/2 bottle of Aglianco al Benevento (some local wine) to complete my boxed lunch for the beach. I paid then made my way on the 25 minute walk down to the Fragalioni that passed gorgeous homes and hotels on the Via Tagara before heading down the pathway to Da Luigi and the beach at The Fraglioni (with spectacular views along the way). I had a great time at the beach; swimming and enjoying my tasty boxed lunch from Salumeria Capri .. By my this day there I was treated like family. This was a great find that I recommend highly. Don’t miss it!

 

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This was my Tasty LUNCH from SALUMERIA CAPRI

that I ate at the BEACH at FARAGLIONI …

MAMMA’S EGGPLANT PARMIGIANO, ARANCINI (Rice Ball),

Italian Mineral Water, and a nice 1/2 bottle of AGLIANICO di BENEVENTTO,

a local wine from East of NAPOLI .. (cost about $12)

I have to say that this was without question one of the Best Most Enjoyable Lunches

I’ve ever had in my entire life .. What could be better but to be on the

Isle of Capri, at one of the most beautiful beach spots in the entire World at the

famed Faraglioni Rocks of Capri ..

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at Da LUIGI BEACH CLUB

At The FRAGLIONI ROCKS

CAPRI

May 2015

 

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CAPRI

 

The Day CAFFE DANTE Died

 

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Caffe Dante

Artwork

Read my article “The Day Caffe Dante Died,”  at NewYorkFoodiee.com . Caffe Dante in name is still there, under the guish of an high-priced cocktail lounge. The place is quite nice, but it’s “not Caffe Dante,” the authentic 100 year old Italian Caffe on Mcdougal Street in Greenwich Village , New York.

Read about the day that Caffe Dante Died.

 

CaffeDANTEeen

CAFFE DANTE

by Daniel Bellino Zwicke

 

Coney Island Wonder Wheel

 

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Wonder Wheel

Copyright Daniel Bellino Zwicke

Summer 2015

CONEY ISLAND

Brooklyn, New York

 

The Wonder Wheel is a 150 Tall Ferris Wheel located at Deno’s Wonder Wheel Amusement Park in on the boardwalk in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York, and has been in operation since 1920. The Wonder Wheel along with The Parchute Jump, Cyclone Roller Coaster at Luna Park, and Nathan’s Hot Dog Stand is an Icon of Coney Island.

You can take the A Train of New York City’s Mas Transit System (MTA) to get to Coney Island for a day of fun, walking thee boardwalk, going to the beach, getting a Hot Dog at Nathan’s, maybe going to the New York Aquarium located on the boardwalk, and take a dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

 

 

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expediAlogooo

FLIGHTS – HOTELS

 

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Hemingway Inspired Me to Write

HemingwatERNESTttfe

HEMINGWAY

 

Yes, it was the great Ernest Hemingway who inspired me to write. And it wasn’t just his great writings but the man and the life he led. For Hemingway was the ultimate Man’s Man as they say. He was rough and tumble and didn’t take crap from know one. A lady’s man Ernest Hemingway was, a hunter, adventurer, traveler, writer, and mercenary. The man’s life was even more interesting than the characters in his books. 

The first book I read by Ernest Hemingway was a required read in High School English Class when we were assigned to read and study The Old Man & The Seas, Hemingway’s great classic novel of the old Cuban fisherman Santiago in Havana, Cuba and his fight and struggles to fight a great fish, a fight that mimics the struggles of life.

I read just about everything Hemingway I could get my hands on; all his novels, his short stories, and biography’s and articles written on the great writer of prose. I read a Farewell to Arms, The Sun Also Rises (my favorite), the complete short stories, magazine articles, and the bibliography “Papa Hemingway” by close friend and biographer A.E. Hotchner.

I traveled in the footsteps of Hemingway, going to his homes in Key West and Havana, Cuba. I bought a book called Hemingway;s Paris, and I followed in the footsteps of the great writer, going to all his favorite restaurants and cafes. I ate Choucroute at Brasserie Lipp on the Boulevard Saint Michel in Paris, I had drinks at Cafe Select and Closerie des Lilas, both on the Boulevard Montparnasse. I strolled the Luxenbourg Gardens, and at escargots and drank Beaujolais at Polidor, just like Ernest did. Yes I wanted to be Hemingway, I tried and tried, but I would never come anywhere near close to being the writer that Ernest Hemingway was. I could write nice little short stories, but a novel? No way. I have become a writer, I know, not a great one, not by a long shot, but a writer never-the-less, and a published and Best Selling Author at that, no less, but no Hemingway. But my writings do serve a purpose, and many do like (even love) my writings (books). I write about Italian Food, Italy, and the Italian, and Italian-American lifestyle and culture. I write little stories about Italian Food, Italian-Americans, Italy, and Italians, and people seem to like them.

Hemingway helped teach me to write, and I taught myself to write with the help of the great Ernest Hemingway and other writers. I’t go to my favorite cafe in Greenwich Village, Caffe Dante, and I’d write. I’d write and write and practice as much as I could. I’d read and write, trying to hone my craft, the craft of writing. I dreamed of writing a great novel as all writers do. This would not happen. Who knows, maybe it will one day, but don’t count on it. I don’t, but you never know, someday my writing skills may one day develop enough to do so, “one never knows.”

Before I ever started writing, I’d never known that I’d be able to write and have a book published, did I? I now have seven books published and three of them have become best sellers and I am a Best Selling Author, but not of novels. I wish I could write a great screenplay, that would be made into a successful movie, but as of now? No way, but I have had some good success and I’m quite happy the way things have developed. I make some money at it, I’m not rich, and I still have my day job, but I love what I do, and I am quite happy doing all this. Going to the cafe, just about every day, and I write, I promote, and I learn, all thanks to Hemingway, the man who inspired me. To write.

Basta.


 

Daniel Bellino Zwicke

 

 

HEMINGWAYyyygd

Ernest Hemingway



 

Part II

 

My 1st Book. My first book was La Tavola. How I wrote it, and how quick I wrote it was quite amazing. Of course I had always wanted to write a book, I started one called The Bachelors Cookbook, but I never finished it. I didn’t have the tools, or a formula. After starting that first book, The Bachelors Cookbook was a cookbook to teach and help bachelors how to cook, but not only that. It was a book to teach bachelors (single men) how to cook, and subsist on their own, and how to save money by cooking and make life easier and more enjoyable for themselves. But there was another major angle to the book, and that was how to meet and romance women, by learning and knowing how to cook for them, and how by doing so would greatly enhance you chance of having romantic interludes and relationships with the opposite sex, women. Well I thought, that this was all great, and it was and is, and now that I’m reading this, and rehashing on this great idea of mine, and I now have quite a lot of experience, know-how and all that, that I think it’s high-time that I do it. I now have the formula.

The formula? What is it you ask? Well, I do have a very good writing formula to write and produce good non-fiction books. For me, non-fiction is a whole lot easier to write than fiction, which I know I’m not great at, but non-fiction is a whole other thing, and I do believe I’m pretty good at this, and my track record has proven so with 7 books, three of them Best Sellers.

So back to my formula, what is it you ask? Well, the whole ting is to # 1 have a Theme of what you book is going to be about. For me, I write about food, travel, and experiences regarding these subjects and subject matter. I write mostly about food and to be more specific Italian and Italian-American Food and lifestyles. I’ll think up a them, Sunday Sauce for example, and then building a book around this. Sunday Sauce is the famed Italian-American dish, also known as gravy, that Italian-Americans eat each and every Sunday all over America, and especially in the great Italian Americans enclaves of New York, Boston, New Jersey, Baltimore, Brooklyn, and other parts of the country that have Italian neighborhoods with a strong Italian population that includes business such as Italian Restaurants, caffes, Pork Stores, Bakeries, specialty shops, Italian Butcher Shops, and the like, necessary for Italian living.

When you have your theme, you need to make an outline with topics and sub-topics that pertain to the  main theme of the book. So with my book Sunday Sauce I had an outline that included such topics as Meatballs, the Pork Store, Pasta and other topics that pertained to Sunday Sauce, how to make it, the rituals around it. as well as stories and antidotes that tied into this main theme of the book.

Taking the topic of pasta, several sub-topics to pasta in my book Sunday Sauce were; Spaghetti Vongole (Clam Sauce), Spaghetti Meatballs, Tomato Sauce and other topics.

Once I had my outline, I’d write one-by-one on each topic in the outline. Each topic was a chapter in the book and I’d knock them off one at a time. It was easy.

Now I’ve had a lot of different experiences as far as Italian Food and cooking go. I have a great repertoire of recipes that are in my books, so I tell stories about the food, the dishes, I have my recipes that are included in the book, and my books are a collection of Italian recipes as stories of all the different dishes in the great repertoire of Italian Cuisine. And  a large part of all this is to inspired people to cook wonderful Italian dishes, and to bring friends and family together at the dinner table. This is what it’s all about; cooking tasty Italian Food, eating with friends and family, and having wonderful times around the table. This is my passion, and that’s a Key element

. in all of this. if you have a passion, write about it, and it all should come together easily. And so this is how I do it all. This is how I’ve had seven books published, and I keep doing it. I enjoy it. I love it, and hope you will to. Good Luck.

 

PS .. My 1st book was La TAVOLA  – Italian-American New Yorker’s Adventures of The Table, and this is where I first discovered and created my formula for writing my books. 

Again, good luck to you all.

  

 
Daniel’s    BOOKS by Daniel Belino Zwicke on AMAZON.com

Daniel-Bellino-Zwicke.com

  

 
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Positano is Coming Soon

POSITANO-Cover-ORIGINAL-ART

COMING SOON !

POSITANO

The AMALFI COAST TRAVEL GUIDE

NAPLES SORRENTO CAPRI

Coming Soon! Positano – The Amlfi Coast, Travel Guide by Best Selling AuthoreDaniel Bellino Zwicke, is due for Publication May 30, 2019. Daniel is the best selling author of Mangia Italiano, The Ragu Bolognese Cookbook, La Tavola, and the # 1 Best Selling Italian Cookbook on Amazon for 2 years, SUNDAY SAUCE – When Italian-Americans Cook. We’ve read our pre-publication galley copy of POSITANO and we “Just Love It!” It is a guide book and true guide-book fashion gives you all the vest information you need to know on Positano, Sorrento, Naples, Capri, and the stunningly beautiful Amalfi Cost of Southern Italy. 

Yes, Daniel gives you all the information you need to know on this, one of the World’s msot prized and coveted vacation destinations of all, the Amalfi Coast. He has the inside scoop on where to eat, what to do, how to get there and getting around once you are there, and a bll the best hotels in the area, of which the charming little town has two of the most renowned hotels in all the  World, in the World Famous, Le Sirenuse and the equally famous San Pietro.

Daniel will tell you the best beach spots in Capri, Positano, and all along the coast. And when it comes to eating, Daniel has been going to Positano and has eaten at all the best restaurants over the year. He’ll tell you about his favorites.

As with all of Daniel’s books and writings of New York, Italy, and Italian Food, Daniel weaves his wonderful stories throughout, something that you’ll not get on any other Amalfi Coast Guide that we’ve ever read, Daniel’s special knack for story telling. And not only will you get, all the info and the stories Daniel has to tell of Positano, Capri, and Napoli, but this book, like no other Guide Book before, is part cookbook. Daniel gives advice and more than 30 of the best and most loved dishes of Naples, Positano and The Amalfi Coast, Italy. Daniel notes, that vacations on Capri and Positano hold treasured memories for all who go, and that there is nothing like re-living these wonderful times once you are back home, and the best way to do so, is by eating the food. Have  dinner partied at home, with your favorite dishes of the Amalfi Coast. You’ll learn how to make them from one of America’s best selling Italian Cookbook author’s, Daniel Bellino Zwicke. He gathered these recipes of Postano and the Amalfi Coast for over 30 years, has cooked them and written them down, and compiled the in this new book. You’re sure to Love it. We do.

So, whether you’re oing for the first time, you’ve been there before, you want recipes of the region, or you’re an avid armchair traveler, we highly recommend Positano -The Amalfi Coast, Enjoy!

BOOKS by Daniel

VISIT Daniel-Bellino-Zwicke.com

 

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