Thursday, January 21, 2010

a trip to genoa

one of my funniest memories of my travels in italy was the train ride from pisa to genoa. i had been studying italian in lucca for a month and was headed to paris on the train. i was in a car with five older italian women from sicily. they had been talking about me the entire time, mostly just curious about me and why i was traveling alone. of course none of this was said to me directly because none of them realized i could somewhat understand them, i just nodded and smiled. as i departed to change trains in genoa, i said in the very best italian i could muster that i had enjoyed the ride with them very much and to have a nice trip. they all just looked at me for a moment and then burst out laughing as i got off the train.

i thought of this story every time i would drive past the restaurant, genoa on belmont. well this thought and also, "what the heck is behind those windows?" i never understood why a restaurant would want to cover up their windows so people couldn't see in. and being that i don't go out to seven course meals very often, i had never dared to go inside. i knew the place had a great reputation and had been around for a long time but it just seemed unapproachable like some kind of private club.

well let me tell you, that was the old genoa. driving by the other night i was shocked to see that there is life on that corner now and you can see in the windows!

so last week a friend suggested we visit the cafe side of the restaurant called accanto (more on that later) and i jumped at the chance. after we had a snack at accanto, my friend ran into an acquaintance and he invited us in for a tour of genoa's new digs. and while i still don't often have the opportunity to eat a multiple course meal, my curiosity was satisfied and the restaurant is very lovely.
they just reopened after a three year break and it's so good to see this corner looking fabulous and fresh.

so here's a little tour of the "new" genoa for you (i apologize for the photos, i forgot my camera and took these on my phone).


the bright new sign is so much more inviting.


and the pretty new dining room.





so if you haven't been to genoa lately andiamo, andiamo! let's go to genoa!

2832 se belmont 503.238.1464

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