First Sip, First Love

My girlfriend Heloise back home in Princeton, N.J., is one of my best readers…she reads my blog and sends lovely, enthusiastic messages which inspire, and make me wish she were here to partake in the grand, Bellini search. She makes art and writes, and lives with her art historian husband Gill, and their younger son Luke- the older son is travelling the world.

When Heloise last visited London, I told her about my quest, and she responded with the following, which she has very kindly allowed me to share, a sort of Bellini coming-of-age story, involving her handsome Luke. Heloise writes:

“First Bellini. New York, mid-eighties, at a place called ‘Siracusa’ on Fourth Avenue near 12th Street. Real Italian food was just coming to New York, and this place was authentic. The walls were painted an almost Naples yellow, and I think the food was southern based. It was delicious, a revelation. I remember the Bellini being sublime.

Fast forward to Venice. We are at the Accademia Hotel in the Dorsoduro. We have somehow bagged a room that opens out onto the garden/courtyard. The boys are just at an age when they can amuse themselves on their own, for quite some time. This leaves us free to go to the little, hotel bar where there is a T.V.. Il Palio, the famous horse race in Siena is on, and so we sip bottled Bellini mix, poured into champagne flutes, and watch the race with another American couple. Besides having a good time, I have the distinct memory of this being a moment when I realized I was a little freer, that I didn't have to watch my children every second. I could leave them alone, albeit close by, and suddenly sit, sip and socialize once again.

Luke and Bellini’s: It is now 2007. Gill, Luke and I arrive in Venice on the first stop of a long trip that will eventually end in Marylebone, for our semester in London. We are in Venice briefly, so Gill can check out the Biennale. Luke is 15 at this point, and has become a total gourmand. He has done a lot of travelling with us, and he sees a lot of art without complaining, in the knowledge that we will try to search out really good food, no matter where we are. This is easier in Seville than, say, in Frankfurt, but we try.

We are staying at a modest, but nice hotel called ‘Ca' Formenta’, on via Garibaldi. It is near the Giardini Biennale. We have a list of restaurants we want to try, but they are all booked. The hotel recommends ‘Hostaria da Franz.’ It's in the Castello, on Fondamenta San Giuseppe, so somewhat off the beaten track. We arrive at dinner cranky, and jet-lagged. We are given a lovely table right on the canal, and everyone is so welcoming and friendly that we snap out of our mood. Our waiter suggests we start with a Bellini. This is a real moment for Luke who is 6'3 at that point, looks like he is 18, and well… it is Italy after all.

He sips. He has never tasted anything so delicious in his life. These Bellini’s are the real deal. Of course the effect of the alcohol might have had something to do with it-but as far as he is concerned, it is the Bellini. The rest of the dinner is amazing. I have written in my diary...fabulous fish pate, tuna tartar, fresh oysters, fresh sardines, fresh pasta with anchovies, fresh pasta with 8 herbs, bronzino in olive oil, grilled monkfish, broccoli rabe with grated horse radish...but I digress.

The next night we set out for dinner again. We are lazy, and end up at a place called ‘Galeon,’ on via Garibaldi. Nothing special, but Luke orders another Bellini. This one is, like the one at the Accademia, a bottled mix. I wish I could say he was discerning, but he is not! He likes it almost as much.

We head north: the Dolomites, Davos, Schaffhausen, Kassel, Munster. As we leave Italy, the food gets worse, and though he asks everywhere, Luke gets no more Bellini's, and he is not interested in drinking anything else. Though I looked (admittedly not very hard, he was only 15), I could never find the bottled Bellini mix anywhere.

Our next Bellini experience was on December 21st. We were spending Christmas in London, and then heading home on the 27th. In the interest of non-accumulation of stuff, I asked for lunch at the River Cafe for my Christmas present. Luke looked forward to this lunch for weeks, in anticipation of another Bellini. When the day came, their holiday version of the Bellini was prosecco with fresh blood orange juice, and a dash of Campari. No peaches in December. Though Luke enjoyed it, he was not convinced. In the Bellini family, and in his experience, it just didn't live up to the original. Or was it that we weren't in Venice? This is the first time I have noted the cost, £8. I might add this turned out to be the most expensive Christmas present ever. Lunch for four people was over US$400 and maybe closer to 5.

7 months go by....

July 31st. We are in Edinburgh. Gill is working, and Luke and I (he is now 16!) are on our own. We have been frugal this trip, eating big breakfasts at our hotels, and skipping lunch. With a little research we discover that there is a place, Restaurant Martin Wishart, out by the docks, that has a Michelin star and a special pre-fixe lunch for something like £24. We decide to splurge.

It is a very toney place- quiet, plush carpet, white table clothes, all the waiters in black suits- you get the picture. Thank goodness we had cleaned up. They are very nice though, and the meal will be one of our best ever. Luke goes for it. ‘Do they happen to have Bellini's?’ You bet. And they are the real deal. Or maybe the amuse bouche; haggis bon bon's and chicken-liver lollipops, enhanced the flavor? Who knows… but it was the clincher for him. The Bellini is Luke’s ambrosia. And since then we have been pretty much stateside, where sadly, my son cannot legally indulge in his love of the Bellini.”