Roberto Donna

Very nice article and full of truth. Alba truffles are a unique product and I keep telling people that tartufi di Alba are very very pungent and strong aroma. If one truffle does not totally fill a room of a beautiful aroma you should be very skeptical of it. Believe me in order to understand fully, you need to go to Alba during truffle season ( october to december) and walk the beautiful little street of Alba and you will smell truffle the all way. Then go in a reputable restaurant and have truffle just on a butter dressed tajarin pasta and you will learn the real power of a white truffle. At the price that truffle are sold here in the States it will be cheaper to go there and get the real flavor.

The Article unfortunately explain how bad things are getting in Italy. This is only one small problem we do have. All our excellent product get ripped a part copied and sold for the real one.

I blame us ,Italian that we do not care or we are too lazy to take actions in order to protect  the beautiful and good things we have.

Finishing on the white truffle, my personal point is:

Until 10 12 years ago I use to get my truffle direct from my brother in law ( he was born in , which he will by direct from few trifulao that he knows well. I was serving those truffle with pride.

After that I  reary  sell white truffle and If I do I never sell them for Alba truffle if am not sure are from there.Thre is not need to eat food that you are not sure about it.

Thanks Don to allert me about the article.

Ciao all.

I just realize that I never did anything special for the DR board on Roberto s 4 or better now 8 , so why don t we do a group of 8 from DR and I will get Mr Hakan ( the owner ) to put the wines for the dinner. Let me know when you get 8 together. That will be fun. Ciao Roberto 

Thank you DR for all the support on Roberto's 4! You have been of great help to me during the first steps of this little baby. Ciao Roberto

Sorry all. Black inck Fettuccine with lobster are going out of the menu until the end of this month ! The price went up 35% today so I will have to charge $ 36 a portion and I prefer to wait for the price to go down again. Freshwater head on shrimp U-10 will take the place of the lobster at $24.95 per portion. Buon appetito.

Here is my reason why I put La Tur risotto in that menu. Yes is very rich but is almost at the end of the savory meal , squab with duck liver follow it ( even richer then risotto ) but the venison start the acid part that is suppost to clean the fat from your palate.And the next course of cheese is not softh and rich but hard and acid ( pecorino di fossa ) with a hint of sweet ( fig marmellate and saba ) get you ready for dessert. that is my reason. And I realy appreciate the comment from the ones that had the meal ,very interesting for me to understand how peoples read my food . I would love to seat and have a dinner cook by you guys. Yes I would love it and it will be super interesting to understand how and why you think in a certain way about Italian food and love to discuss about it. I understood that in this life I learn every day from every body and that is why I love to share. I realy thank you for taking so much time out of your life to taste my food,talk about it and I hope you will keep doing it. Without you costumers I will not be able to share what I love to do the most in my life cook Italian food. Love and peace Roberto

EricaandBlueboy and Sthitch I had fun cooking for you last night.Thank you for sharing your points very much appriciate . Too bad that me and Alberto did not have the chance to thank you and say good night when you left. Ciao Roberto

Thank you very much for the report,very helpful .

Sorry for the salt in the sauce ,I must have it reduce too much.

The squab was squab no duck ,but I think is a good thing that you like it.

The ice crystal in the ice cream are the spices in orange juice .Like I said before is very helpful because from now on I will people know about before they eat,thank you very much and it was fun to cook for the 4 of you last night,come back again for all new dishes next time.

Ciao Roberto

Thank you all. Just one word about Fiola and Al Dente and Roberto's 4. Fiola is a great restaurant at a different price point, and a totally diferent style of cooking from Al Dente (and I think this is a great thing for all the restaurant customers that love italian food). I think is not fair to compare the three. Three different ways to dine and spend your money. Roberto's 4 is again a different experience from the other two. Roberto's 4 is a place where the chef (me) when it is possible cooks a dinner for 4 people serving them a meal he would like to eat himself that day. There is not any pretence to be the best or incredible, but just good solid food that makes people happy and makes them feel like they're in Italy for that evening. It's not an elegant, fancy, quiet place. It is a table in the kitchen, and a busy one! Not really a romantic place, but a place to eat real italian food. We all work to make it a fun place to eat and the last two nights were the first and we look on improving it every week. I love all your comments, but I suggest and agree with some of you that wrote before me that those 3 restaurants are not to be compared, but you should use them and enjoy the food that they produce. Thank for all the years of support that some of you gave me and keep doing. I will follow the trend from now on. Don please spell-check for me. [Done.] Ciao to all!

Lovely dinner last night in the courtyard. Had not been there since the chaotic opening weeks when the place was clearly overwhelmed by the crowds. No evidence of those problems now, service was warm, efficient and accommodating, and the food ranged from very good to excellent. My wife ordered the bouillabaisse, which is an amazing rendition, with a depth of flavor that had me reaching my spoon over again and again. There is some sticker shock when you sit down -- no sign of a recession here -- and the menu if anything contains too many choices (12-15 special apps and an equal number of special entrees in addition to the regular menu). But the bouillabaisse is a relative bargain at 28 bucks and then you can focus on the apps (I had the morel soup with mini crab cake to start and it was terrific; this guy clearly has a way with soups).

You are talking about the work of one of the best chef in this area!!!! Chef that cooks serius good food !

I'm utterly baffled at what the fuss is about. I was invited there for a group dinner on Wednesday, to which I was very much looking forward. After having the group wait ten minutes to be seated, it was some time until they took orders, and more than an hour after we were seated before appetizers arrived. I had the asparagus salad, which was advertised as asparagus, burrata and tomato. When it arrived, it seemed to be bound with a sort of aioli that overwhelmed the cheese. A miss, to be sure. I had the agnolotti as the pasta course, which were good but certainly not ethereal. Now, we were more than 90 minutes into the meal. The waiter said he'd have the chef make a nice vegetarian entree for me, but what arrived were a few slices of grilled zucchini, a few baby artichokes and a couple of onions. Two hours into the meal, I had to leave for another engagement. Others' main courses did not arrive, and I did not see any of the desserts.

Throughout, I never knew what was wrong, or even that the staff felt something was amiss. I got no explanations or even apologies. Our hosts were embarrassed, and we were all puzzled.

Truth be told, I've found the food at Bibiana far superior. Maybe Galileo just had an off night. My sense, though, is something else is afoot.

Hello,

I am very sorry you did not have a good experience during a your meal , I was there and I remember the request from my waiter for a dish of grilled vegetable ( that I do not have on the menu) I wish I new you wanted a vegeterian dish ( I have a 5 courses vegetarin menu on the regular menu ) . The long wait was due not to your order but to the 6 course choosen by another guest . So I realy would love to invite you back and cook for you . I think Bibiana is a super restaurant so I would love to learn more about when you will come to have an italian vegetarian dinner cook by me . Ciao and thank you for sharing your experience with us that is the only way we can do better.

Thanks for the updates- -can't wait for tonight- -my only worry is I will be with my family which includes two vegetarians- - -i wonder if that disqualifies them for the special or if they can be accomodated- - -perhaps I will call.

Do not worry we will make a great dinner for the vegetarian . We do have a lot of vegetarian dishes on the menu.

Roberto, I have a question. Isn't the classic Roman cacio e pepe made with pecorino romano?

YES! And I made a mistake on writing the menu , we are using pecorino on that dish. I really made a big mess on this dish , first one T on spaghetti and then Parmigiano , well the only good thing is that this is the simplest dish on Italian cooking but the most difficult to cook well , and thank god I cook better then how I write!

Thank you .

Is this bar menu available at lunch time?

yes lunch and dinner !

Hee hee, I saw this typo last week and was wondering if you'd catch it.

no I did not see it those dam double TT

Thank you !

Hello everyone,

I just want to thank you all , for your great support and for the time you took on write all your reports ! It was very helpful for us in order to understand our weak points and try to improve them. Opening a restaurant is always a big challenge . I really enjoy to meet some of you and I am sorry I did not make it to everyone but some nights we were super busy and it was impossible for me to come out of my ring.

I will offer the same deal during the week of Thanksgiving and on the first week of January 2011 , but I will post it just before then . We just started the bar menu and we will keep the the dinner menu at the bar at a la carte with $18.00 for each dish.

Thank you , Roberto

MENU DEL BAR

Affettato Misto $14

Shaved finocchiona salami, mortadella,

pancetta, prosciutto, Italian ham,

cacciatorini served with grilled bread, cornichon & olives

Uova al Pomodoro $6

Two eggs fried in olive oil with tomato sauce

Spiedino di Manzo alla Siciliana $12

Garlic marinated thin slice of beef, breaded in parmesan cheese,

roasted served with polenta

Polpettine al Pomodoro $12

Little meat ball simmer in tomato sauce

Crostini di Salsiccia e Formaggio $10

Roasted thin slice of bread topped with sausage & cheese

Alette di Pollo alla Napoletana $10

Chicken wings sautéed in garlic, rosemary & lemon juice

Spaghetti Amatriciana $14

Homemade spaghetti with ragu of braised onion,

pancetta & tomato Sauce

Penne con Ragu di Salsiccia $14

Penne tossed with sausage & tomato ragu

Spagheti Cacio e Pepe $12

Spaghetti tossed with parmesan cheese & black pepper

Ok done, I will extend it to next Saturday the 16 of October. But just for the DonRockwellians. Mention that you're a MEMBER OF DON ROCKWELL when reserving your table - and if you're not, then please JOIN before reserving.

You guys now make feel like I should extend this to next week, because my family of staff and my self have loved having you warm my new restaurant.Should I ? What do you think?

Ciao Roberto

The offer is good to saturday included.

And yes we do have vegeterian dishes on the menu and plus we can do somemore if need it.

Thank yuo and ciao Roberto

Hello everyone,

Thank you for talking about Galileo III . We are open from today and I am ( after asking the permission to the Don ) offering a special for this week to all the DonRockwell follower :

You can make reservation at night up to this coming Saturday up to 4 people under the name of DonRockwell and you will be able to order the four courses plus dessert for $ 55.00 a person .

That should allow you to taste planty of the food that we are offering this month. Plus I will make sure you will taste even more .

Corkage fee is $ 25.00 for who is interested.

Thank yuo again.

Ciao Roberto

I need a line cook that wants to learn real italian food , what that means ready to cook super simple but perfect dishes . No foams or gelatines here only good solid basic cooking . I need a clean palate not intossicate from cooking too many ingredients all together.

Please apply to workatgalileo3@galileo3restaurant.com

We need a mixologist for our new bar to be open in august . The person needs to be expert in mixing drinks and full of inventiveness . Needs to be a team player and willing to go over the line with great new drinks .

Clean , funny , smart , super welcoming when customer approach the bar . The bar is a little boutique one.

Send resume at workatgalileo3@galileo3restaurant.com

Any news on an opening date yet? No info on website.

We are workng on the date as soon we will be ready I will post it on here for sure. Thank you for asking .

We are looking for a young and strong pastry chef with a modern touch.

Please send resume to workatgalileo3@galileo3restaurant.com .

The Pattison Ave.... wow! Easily the best of the 3 I've had. While I can see how some folks could think that the sandwiches should be bigger given the prices.... can't say that at all about the Pattison.... eating it, the meat and brocolli rabe are spilling out... the pork so moist and complemented perfectly with the brocolli rabe and the sharp provolone.

I agree with the pork sandwich, one of the best in town!

Here is another classical dinner that is consume in Italy during the time of "Carnevale":

“IL CARNEVALE”

The Italian Carnival Dinner

Dinner served at the home of Chef Donna

$100 per person (exclusive of gratuity)

Wednesday, February 17, 2010 @ 7:30 P.M.

Menu Featuring:

“Bianchetti Fritti” Little fried fishes from the region of Emilia Romagna

“I Friciulin di riso” Rice fritters in parmesan cheese sauce” Piemontese style”

“La Fagiolata del Piemonte” Piemontese bean soup

“La Lasagna Napoletana” Napoletanian Lasagna

“Scottadito Farcite” Stuffed lamb chops with braised chicory

“Bugie” and “ Frittole Napoletane”

For Reservations: Please Call Nancy @ 202-257-0168!