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Monday 27 August 2012

Un grembiulino anni '70 da bimbo o bimba senza spendere una fortuna



Allora, prima di tutto ho comprato un vecchio copripiumino di cotone, originale degli anni ’70, in un Charity Shop a soli £2.00. Ho tagliato i due grembiulini e gli ho cucito del ''tape'', stirandolo prima di cucire (cosi' si fa piu' in fretta!), e lasciato il tape piu' lingo nel collo e sul bacino. I due grembiulini sono piccoli e vanno bene per una bimba o bimbo di 2 -3 o 4 anni... Penso che con tutta la stoffa che ho da quel copripiumino ne potrei fare una dozzina!

Con un altro copripiumino l'ho fatto anche per adulti, e questa volta ho fatto delle fotografie un pochino piu' chiare:

1- ho tagliato la forma




Poi ho pensato di farmi un bel caffettino...


E via a cucire il ''tape'' arancione piegato in due (questa volta non l'ho stirato, giusto pressato con la mano)..




ed ecco il risultato finale... in una decina di minuti un favoloso grembiule anni '70 a meno di £0.10 p... non male!




Ciao for now!

Bolognese Pie x

Monday 23 July 2012

Finally the sunflower... Finalmente il girasole...!


I planted the seed back in February this year, and finally this week the sunflower bloomed! It has been a hard week, I have not been feeling well, I have not been going out.. and I watched the sunny days passing by from my bed. But I am looking forward to the coming week-end and possibly carry on my gastronomic tour!

FINALMENTE IL MIO GIRASOLE E' FIORITO....
Ho piantato il seme all'inizio di Febbraio e, finalmente, il mio girasole gigante e' fiorito queta settimana. Sono stati mesi interessanti, e' stato difficile difenderlo dalla pioggia e il vento che ha caratterizzato quest' estate Mancuniana, ma finalmente e' fiorito! Non sono stata bene recentemente, ma tutto passa..fortunatamente.. sto riprendendo le forze.
Ciao for now!
Bolognese Pie

Monday 16 July 2012

Why you shouldn’t go to a restaurant where there is a bouncer at the door....

Dinner x 3 Saturday 14/07/2012
58,Lever Street
M1 1FJ
58 Lever St, Manchester M1 1FJ

Last Saturday we went for dinner at Bem Brazil, in the  Northern Quarter.
Arghhh..what a mistake. I have been at Bem Brazil in December 2010, and I had a good memory of the lovely dinner I had at the time. But last night, exceeded any predictions of a car crash sort of a dinner.
Let me explain.  The food was good as usual, with very helpful, kind, professional and patient waiters running (literally: running) around with huge knives (Ugh) and an assortment of delicious meat (inclusive delicatessen such as chicken hearts). The Manager on duty was a lovely professional lady, juggling around the tables checking if everything was ok. We also had very good espressos, a rare pearl in restaurants... So what went wrong then?  Ehm..mhm.. the clientele was absolutely unbearable. Screaming orange girls’ semi-nudes, drunk and rude. That kind of drunkness that is ugly, not that tipsy smiling laughing way to have a jolly night. Men were scary. Big, muscle –huge guys that were bullying around the staff (at some point I genuinely felt sorry for one of the waiters who was been told off by a customer and laughed at for his appearance and accent). The kind of guys you know that is carrying around a knife, if you know what I mean! I went to the loo once and a girl with huge (I mean HUGE, sort of 30cm stuff like that!) wedges and a tiny acrylic cheap white dress (in contrast with red  hair extensions and matching tan) fell over and knock me almost down, when I opened the door to get into the toilet cubicle; when she got up from the floor she stumbled again pushing me aside whilst I was washing my hands laughing and pointing at my jacket to her friend (I was wearing a dark designer tailored suit that is absolutely mint) - another drunken sort of orange thing and I felt SCARED – CAN YOU BELIEVE IT- SCARED!! That cannot be right.
Now, I am not going into details of what I do for a living or who I am, because is totally irrelevant, but let me say that I am a fairly normal person, and I don’t live in a bubble, I know what is out there . But, holy macaroni! I wanted to get up and give a hug to the only female waitress that seemed to be completely overwhelmed by the demanding ugly clientele, I felt admiration for the self control of the Brazilian waiters running around with the meat and being bossed around, if not humiliated by such rude people. I heard phrases and attitude by the clientele that made me sad. Not last the ugliness of it all. 

At this stage I would usually add some facts, such as what we have eaten and how much it costs. What we eaten last night at this stage is totally irrelevant. I wouldn’t recommend this place on a Saturday night  to anyone, unless you recognise yourself in the description of the clientele which I provided above. I felt intimidated and I felt sorry for the staff. I think the ‘’all you can eat recipe’’ for a restaurant inevitably attracts not the most classy clients, but overall I’ve never come across anything like this in many years I lived in this city. Anyway, we’ve spend £111.00 between the three of us, including a £26.00 bottle of wine, coffees, amaros, unlimited access to buffet and unlimited meat brought to our table.
If it is Saturday, and you feel the urge of eating a bit of meat and relax having fun, give yourself a favour, do not go there. Manchester is a big fantastic city, I am sure you can find something much better then  Bem Brazil. Having said that I think that the same restaurant, with the same menu and staff, with a completely different sort of clientele would be a fantastic night out, especially for a group of friends. But –ehy!- we are here to talk about what it is like, not what it would be like!

Till the next one!
Ciao for now!
Bolognese Pie

Bem Brasil

Tuesday 10 July 2012

Another happy dinner at Piccolino in West Didsbury!


Dine X 4 Sunday 8/07/2012 at 19:30
Ristorante Pizzeria Piccolino
6 Lapwing Lane, West Didsbury, Manchester, M20 2WS

I have been dining at Piccolino in West Didsbury since 2007. It is fair to say that I have been a regular customer since then, although sometime I would go three times in a month (like this month) and then I might not go for another 3 months. I guess it just depends on who I am dining with. Since it is a vibrant area full of bars and ideal to catch up with friends, I always been there with friends, rather than with my partner just the two of us. Last night we went with my in-laws, who are lovely middle –age young looking and awesome people, and my boyfriend wanted to treat them. Hell, he made it! We had a tasty dinner and the service was excellent.
 First of all, I would like to point out how much I prefer Piccolino in West Didsbury rather than the one in Manchester city centre. The one in town is some sort of aspirational, slightly tacky place, in which if you are not dressed up , with a matching tan, sort of mocking “the only way is Essex” or stuff like that, then you might not gain enough respect from the staff. I mean it. I went on a number of occasions and I have always felt somehow mistreated by the staff. On the other hand, Piccolino in West Didsbury is slighty better, usually diners are skilled professional on their 30’s and 40’s and the orange tan and chav stilettos are usually  replaced with more elegant and sober outfits and most importantly attitudes. I genuinely feel more at ease at Piccolino in West Didsbury! Consequentently, I have always been treated like a valuable customer and during the years, I’ve had the chance to talk to many of the very professional Italian waiters that have been working there. On this occasion my visit has been very positive, and the food was even better than usual.
The only downside of the dinner has been at the end, when at the moment of paying the bill, I asked if you could use the points accumulated in our ‘’fidelity card’’ and the all thing escalated since the points were not available, but the manager and  waiters were insisting trying and explaining the reasons why they could not discount the points.. Well at that stage I was already very embarrassed as my in laws were there, and I did not like the ideas to have some sort of ‘’clubcard’’ discussion in front of them! But anyway, the staff is Italian like me, and they were just trying to be polite, so no big deal!

SOME FACTS (WHAT WE ATE AND HOW MUCH WE SPENT): For a whopping £209.00, we treated the 4 of us to a three course meal, a bottle of Prosecco to start with before to accommodate at our table, and two bottles of Montepulciano. We had an antipasto misto , and to follow we had primi: risotto, and pumpkins’ ravioli  (I have to admit my in-laws had just half of a portion of the primi, whilst S and I had one full portion each!) My partner had a huge prime rib steak, I had an exquisite tartare (shame on me, it was the first tartare of my life!), and my father in law had scallops . I am sure I am missing something else but at that stage I was already a bit tipsy! We ended with coffees and amaro. It is clear that the bill was ok for what we had eaten!

Till the next one!

Ciao for now!
Bolognese pie.

Sunday 8 July 2012

What Happened to "Per Tutti" italian Pizzeria and Ristorante? Find out here.


Dine x 2 Friday  on 6/07/2012 approx at 8pm
Pizzeria Ristorante "Per Tutti" 3-11 Liverpool road Manchester m3 4nw Map.d11779f
Manchester, UK M3 4
Rating (1-5 stars) ★   

Per tutti, Per tutti WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU??
I have been a regular customer at ‘’Per tutti ‘’ since the place has opened. I stumbled across this restaurant a few months ago by word of mouth. An Italian friend texted me on a Sunday evening ,in capital letters ‘’Oh MY GOD GO TO PER TUTTI is the best Italian pizza in Manchester’’. Having lived in Manchester for many years (as well as my friend has), I always prayed a good pizzeria would finally open, because with all due respect to Felicini, Croma and other chains –no place could get the pizza right (and still does not). So I went to ‘’Per Tutti’’ and have never looked back since.. I became a regular customer.. until last friday.
The Italian chef they imported from sunny Naples , Agostino, has left, and the new two lads behind the small counter of the open kitchen did not look much convincing. My impression was right. The two chaps made a good sized pizza, they used a decent sauce and mozzarella, but –oh Dear!!- my disappointment when I found a piece of estranged  chicken dropped by accident in my capricciosa pizza..!   As I write, I still haven’t digested the dough they used for the pizza, and I was left for the rest of the evening with a very unpleasant taste in my mouth! Having said that, the service was exceptional as usual. We were greeted at the entrance by Claudio, an Albanian guy that knows we are regulars and he is kind, polite and a pleasure to deal with. The rest of the staff is ok as well, but strangely enough I only see Claudio running around most of the time.
My review today is based only on the pizza, not on the food in the menu. I am aware ‘’Per tutti’’ is in the process of changing menu, and I am looking forward to try it (and of course, review it in this blog!) Overall the restaurant is ok for small party of two as well as large groups, as there’s a large, clean room downstairs which gives the idea you can drink, sing and dance as much as you want with at least other 50 people part goers! The toilets are clean and freshly refurbished, kept in outstanding condition.
It is worth mentioning the atmosphere. As much as this place has a huge potential, the decor doesn’t help much. It is thoroughly plastered and freshly decorated in white, which leaves a good impression of cleanliness, however the furniture chosen reminds me of those cheap ‘’landlord’’ shops, with faux leather chairs, cheap  tables and tea lights on the table. I would have personally spent much less, got some stylish second hand furnishings, set the table with vintage tablecloths and nice flowers. I think the bitter icing in the cake is the three horrific modernist braziers  outside, when associated with the chairs reminds more of a money laundring pop-up fusion (no, really: FUSION!) restaurant, rather than a quality fine dining place. But, oh-yeah, I am just here giving my opinion, that’s all!
Since my partner and I dine out very often (hence starting writing a blog about our gastronomic tours!), sometimes we literally just want to eat, more than the all ‘’having a meal out’’. On this occasion we were in a particularly cheerful mood and very hungry,, after enjoying an hour of Comedy at the Royal exchange (starting at 6pm every Friday – and is free!).

SOME FACTS(WHAT WE ATE AND HOW MUCH WE SPENT):  During this visit at Per Tutti we ate only a pizza capricciosa and one pizza alla salsiccia, one beer, a bottle of sparkling water and two espressos, for a very fair total amount of £23.00. Practically a bargain! We usually leave a tip wherever we dine, so we left £3.00, a token of our appreciation for Claudio’s kindness and professionalism (but also a polite approximate 10% of the bill)
Overall, I do not feel like giving a totally negative review, and I will certainly go back at some point to check on the new chefs and menu... 
 Till the next one!

Ciao for now!
Bolognese Pie