An Adventure on the Hill

We’ve been doing a lot of cooking this past year and I’ve noticed that my cheap knives needed quite a bit of sharpening since they really can’t slice through a tomato anymore without squishing it. Katie had recommended Bertarelli Cutlery on the Hill, it’s apparently THE place that restaurants get their knives sharpened at and it’s only $3/knife. Well, heck, we might as well make it a morning adventure and hit the sights while we were there.

39. Hang out on the Hill: Drink the two-shot Italian-roast latte at Shaw’s Coffee, Ltd., watch old-timers play bocce ball at Milo’s Bocce Garden, buy the salame that made John Volpi famous at old-world Italian market J. Viviano & Sons, stop for chocolate drops at Missouri Baking Company, dine fancy at Dominic’s or, if it’s nice, on the patio at Charlie Gitto’s. Stop by Zia’s for at least one plate of toasted ravioli with marinara (their secret: more meat, less pasta). Genuflect at St. Ambrose to gain the patience to wait for a table at Cunetto’s House of Pasta. Or fall back on a gorgonzola bacon pizza and an icy fishbowl of beer at Rigazzi’s. You’d need reservations for the real pièce de résistance: the lobster risotto at Trattoria Marcella (southwest of the Hill proper, but no matter). Remember Hill baby Yogi Berra’s warning, “It’s so crowded nobody goes there anymore”? Everybody does go to Trattoria Marcella.

Well, we took their advice and off we went. After dropping off the knives, Katie, Bob and I stopped in Shaw’s Coffee for a little something to warm us up before walking the streets of the Hill.

We then headed up to Guido’s for lunch. I know that it wasn’t one of the restaurants mentioned, but I really enjoy Guido’s and they are Italian AND Spanish! I mean, come on, you have to eat there, it’s a great place. After gorging ourselves on pizza, we walked over to J. Viviano & Sons, an Italian market, just to check things out. I didn’t buy anything because I was full, but I will remember them if I ever need fancy Italian cheeses and salami. From there we went to the Missouri Baking Company.

Oh. My. Goodness. Everything in there looked AMAZING! I wanted to try every single pastry that was there but I limited myself to an Italian Boot (tee-hee) and a custard-filled puff. Delicious.

This was the first time that I had ever been down on the Hill in the daylight, usually we are there for dinner only. It was a lot of fun just seeing what is down there, I will make sure to make a trip down there again once the weather warms up. Thumbs up for the Hill!