Torino - Would You Like Fries With That?

No more pictures of pizza, I promise, but I have to talk some more about the food. Almost all of my meals have been in the NBC commissary (by necessity), but this time that hasn't been a bad thing. The catering has been awesome! And we didn't just have pasta every night either. The food has been quite varied, and a lot of it isn't Italian in nature. One of the best lunches I had was a "BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich", on a bun, with coleslaw (IN the sandwich) and, at the recommendation of the head cook, a couple of shots of Tabasco for good measure.

Some of the best meals have been Italian, though. The manicotti, lasagna, and canneloni were very good, and the fish and veal have also been terrific. Here's a shot of the NBC Grill, where the pizza, wraps, burgers, and quesadillas are made...



The commisary also has the NBC Cafe, where you can get tea, coffee, cappucino, espresso, hot chocolate and other concoctions. Fresh off my coffee success story with the Bicerin, I got over-confident and thought I could handle a cappucino. Yuck! I'm just not cut out for coffee. However, the cioccololao con panna (hot chocolate with cream) is outstanding. The hot chocolate has the consistency of warm pudding, and like Chunky Soup, you can eat it with a fork or a spoon! It pours like liquid honey. On it's own, it has a very heavy, almost bitter, chocolate taste, which is why I like it "con panna", with a big heap of whip cream on top.



To the right of the Cafe, you can see the Pastry bar, just as you can see the Gelateria at the left end of the grill. I've basically thrown in the towel on trying to be good with my eating habits here. There's only a few days left, and the food is just too good! Here's what I'm up against...



The photo doesn't show it, but they often have fruit flan tarts and cheesecakes too. The ice cream and gelato is heavenly, especially the Hazelnut ice cream and Strawberry gelato. This photo isn't from the NBC Gelateria, but was taken downtown in Piazza Carlo Felice, and it shows how good the gelato looks...



... and you can imagine how good it tastes...



Then, just when it couldn't get any better, or weirder, I ran across this on my way through Piazza Castello...



OK, I lied, one more picture of pizza, but if you look closely, you see that there are French Fries on the pizza! I had to try this, as a matter of principle, but it really wasn't that good. But that can't spoil the otherwise excellent food experience of these games.

Hopefuly on Monday, the day after the games, and the day before I head home, I'll be able to get a couple more meals outside the NBC commissary, just to experience the ambience of some real Italian restaurantes.

Ciao!