Room – Bassano del Grappa (Italy) en

I wouldn’t say it’s THE deal in Bassano, but in the context in which I found myself that day, it was the clear choice.  It was hot, I walked a lot, everything was closed and I didn’t want to go in a restaurant for tourists. I ate very well and was warmly welcomed, I was happy with the place.

So I was having a hard time, I had planned to try out some restaurants, but both of them were closed. It was 2 pm, in the heat of the day, and I was at the starving point, especially since I was supposed to meet up with friends at 3:30pm and time was flying by. Finally, I walk into a clothes store and asked them for some advice. There were two young ladies there, one of them tells me I can go in a street with lots of restaurants on it. I told her that honestly, I was at my wits end and didn’t want to walk anymore, I wanted to go somewhere in a precise location, that was opened, if she had any ideas. Super friendly, she then tells me:”I’m going to go with you”, that’s Italy for you, people aren’t scared of other people. She was on her lunch break and brought me to Room.

It’s a modern restaurant, and pleasant, because it’s nice and cool. When it’s that hot, it’s nice not being on the patio after all.

The only bother, is that the restaurant also serves as a bar, so at the bar, in the first part of the restaurant, there’s a flat screen playing some things; I can understand that some might not be thrilled about having it during their lunch.

Sinon la déco de la salle resto a du goût, j’ai bien aimé le set de table en jean.

This was one of their strongest points, I ended up being served by Simone, a super friendly young waiter with whom I chatted. He gave me lots of great places to check out in Bassano, and in Verona as well, because one of his friends is chef at the Tapassoto restaurant which opened in 2013.

Otherwise, I wasn’t able to really put my finger on the rest of the staff, the boss is a man with an imposing presence, pretty strong, big beard, glasses, tattooed, but I don’t know what he was like personality wise.

The chef is a fan of Anthony Bourdain, a famous host on culinary TV shows, both a punk and foodie, ex-junkie, rock and roll in his approach to life and food, so here’s a quote from him:

En tout cas Simone, très bien.

It’s definitely not cheap for an Italian restaurant, there is no table d’hôte, but there are daily specials, which are not on the menu underneath.

That day, you could get beef diaphragm, if I understood correctly. Simone gave me a word in Italian, I didn’t understand, so he went to get a dictionary, and explained it to me by showing me the middle of his chest, that it was the diaphragm. The meat came from a very large breed of cow, and therefore the diaphragm can be used and cooked.

The meat was absolutely delicious, served with a potato gratin which was pretty good.

I washed this down with a wine from the region, very good, rich in aromatics.

If you’re in passing through Bassano and you want to try something else than the traditional Italian restaurants, if you want to treat yourself to a nice lunch in a modern restaurant, but with a simple ambiance, this is the place.

Il y avait aussi ce jour-là une table de danois qui avait suivi des des locaux sortant du boulot pour voir où ils allaient manger, et ils avaient atterri ici.

Je leur ai demandé ce qu’ils pensaient de leur repas : ils avaient adoré leurs entrées mais étaient très déçus de leur calamar qu’ils ne trouvaient dur à mastiquer et ils trouvaient également que la compotée de mangue sur le côté tuait le goût du calamar. Je leur ai suggéré de le dire en payant car à mon avis l’équipe, jeune, était ouverte aux remarques. Quand elle est revenue, elle m’a dit qu’à son avis, ils n’en tiendraient pas compte. J’en ai donc parlé à Simone, une fois qu’ils étaient partis, et il m’a dit qu’il en avait bien parlé au chef et que, bien que ce fut la 1ère fois qu’ils aient une remarque sur le poisson, ils y prêtaient attention.

Tout ça pour dire que moi j’ai aimé. Après, peut-être qu’en y allant un soir, avec le bruit de l’écran plat, on peut ne pas s’y retrouver, j’en sais rien.

Moi j’ai trouvé ça cool!