I' Bacaro De' Bischeri - INGLESE

'Brunch Menu'. Translation? 'Old, nasty odds and ends, and 12 dollars for two eggs with a free Bloody Mary'.

PARMESAN FRICO APPETIZERS Mix coarsely grated Parmesan and flour, then season with red pepper flakes and black pepper. Spoon cheese in a medium-hot nonstick pan, flatten gently into a thin disk, and cook until golden on both sides. Drape still-hot frico over an inverted shot glass or teacup and let cool and harden into a Parmesan cup. Fill with a b

Ernest ordered calves liver (fegato alla Veneziana), which he said was a restorative, and he ordered a bottle of Valpolicella Superiore, which he told the floor waiter to pour for us without waiting for the bottle to breathe. “Italian reds don’t need oxygen,” he said. “I got that bit of Bacchanalian wisdom from Fitzgerald.”

I am always impressed by a well-written menu, one that is informative and appetizing without slipping into pretentious nonsense. Here, for example, is a London restaurant’s attempt to justify the exorbitant price of its whitebait: “The tiny fresh fish are tossed by our chef for a few fleeting seconds into a bath of boiling oil, and then removed bef