Time to go to Japan
All I wanted to do was find a place to order a mattarello. In her post today on our Pomodori e Vino blog, Palma mentioned a plan to bring one home from Italy on her next visit, and I thought there had to be an easier way than trying to carry a forty inch rolling pin home on a plane.
So I started a search of kitchen stores online and came across fantes.com
They have one of natural birch wood, made in Canada. There was a note on the listing that suggest the pins are likely to bow, but it won’t matter if you know how to use them properly. Then it pointed to a YouTube demonstration.
That demonstration was one of 28 in the account of a restaurant in Japan called Tritone. I got a fresh cup of coffee and sat down to enjoy all 28 of them. One of them is actually a waiter’s entrancing tableside preparation.
They are completely facinating, but my favorite has to be this demonstration of soba noodles. It begins with the grinding of the grain and ends with the chef enjoying the fruits of his labor.
Amazing.
Now I have an overwhelming urge to book a flight to Japan.
I’m so with you. Japan is at the top of my “someday” list.
ooh, Japan is on my 2012 travel forecast!! It just keeps calling to me, so it’s time to answer. 🙂 Tokyo and Kyoto, I think, for this first trip. My friend Lisa went on a photography tour to the northern islands to take pictures of the snow monkeys! Amazing …
Deborah responds: Well, if you go, Colleen, please track down this restaurant for us. I can’t seem to find its location.
My comment relates to Fantes. It’s where I shopped for all of my kitchen needs when I lived in Philadelphia a lifetime ago! I had to check it out when I saw it on your blog, and it is indeed the same company. Fabulous that they are still in biz and adjusted their concept for the current market requirements. Love that!
Deborah responds: I’m glad to hear an endorsement from so many years. It makes me much more confident to order something from them. And they do have SO much to choose from, don’t they.
Deb, Fantes is one of the original stores in the Italian Market in Philly (or, 9th Street as we in South Philly call it). It is,indeed, alive and well. I can,&have, spent hours in there!Let me know if you ever need anything checked out in person.