New customers looking at Finocchio's limited space and low priced meals could be forgiven for thinking it's just another of those run-of-the-mill pasta chains where they can fit in a quick lunch. Contrary to its appearance, however, the pasta restaurant provides items of an authentic Italian flavor that you rarely come across in budget diners.
Finocchio's owner/chef set up the small restaurant as a distraction from his work as an interior designer. With no pressure to turn a profit, he has set prices much lower than average.
PHOTO: VICO LEE, TAIPEI TIMES
The interior of the restaurant, though small, is comfortably set up in delicious shades of red and cream colors.
"Our boss learned the pasta recipes from friends [who were cooks] that he met during his travels in the Italian countryside, so that although he has never attended a school of cuisine, he knows many recipes which even chefs in upscale hotels here do not know of," said Wu Mo-chen (吳默真), Finocchio's manager.
There are dozens of pastas on the menu. Each is prepared with sauces which are handmade each morning from ingredients handpicked at the market and spices imported from Italy.
Despite trying to provide authentic Italian flavor, the restaurant does turn down the potency a bit to cater to the local palate. Generous servings and friendly waitressing also helps keep the restaurant constantly busy during lunch hours. Even on weekday afternoons, there's a quite a flow of customers.
As Finocchio's major clientele are the nearby office workers mindful of their growing belly pouch, the restaurant avoids using too much oil, heavy cheese or gravy in its sauces. Baked items do away with excessive cream to create a light taste.
The shrimp sauce in spicy shrimp mostaccioli (NT$160) is made with a lot more than shrimps. It takes hours of frying, baking and boiling to turn the lobster head and a variety of fish and shrimps into the pleasantly sharp red-colored sauce.
Orzo is relatively rare in pasta houses, but Finocchio keeps it in ample supply. Wu recommended orzo with stewed beef, tomato sauce and baked potato (NT$160). A crisp cheese topping complements the refreshingly spicy sauce and pasta.
Bacon and mushroom pasta with yolk cream (NT$120) is not uncommon but in Finocchio, it can be served spicy. The small amount of chili pepper brings out the aroma of the cream. to best complement other ingredients.
On April 26, The Lancet published a letter from two doctors at Taichung-based China Medical University Hospital (CMUH) warning that “Taiwan’s Health Care System is on the Brink of Collapse.” The authors said that “Years of policy inaction and mismanagement of resources have led to the National Health Insurance system operating under unsustainable conditions.” The pushback was immediate. Errors in the paper were quickly identified and publicized, to discredit the authors (the hospital apologized). CNA reported that CMUH said the letter described Taiwan in 2021 as having 62 nurses per 10,000 people, when the correct number was 78 nurses per 10,000
As we live longer, our risk of cognitive impairment is increasing. How can we delay the onset of symptoms? Do we have to give up every indulgence or can small changes make a difference? We asked neurologists for tips on how to keep our brains healthy for life. TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEALTH “All of the sensible things that apply to bodily health apply to brain health,” says Suzanne O’Sullivan, a consultant in neurology at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery in London, and the author of The Age of Diagnosis. “When you’re 20, you can get away with absolute
May 5 to May 11 What started out as friction between Taiwanese students at Taichung First High School and a Japanese head cook escalated dramatically over the first two weeks of May 1927. It began on April 30 when the cook’s wife knew that lotus starch used in that night’s dinner had rat feces in it, but failed to inform staff until the meal was already prepared. The students believed that her silence was intentional, and filed a complaint. The school’s Japanese administrators sided with the cook’s family, dismissing the students as troublemakers and clamping down on their freedoms — with
As Donald Trump’s executive order in March led to the shuttering of Voice of America (VOA) — the global broadcaster whose roots date back to the fight against Nazi propaganda — he quickly attracted support from figures not used to aligning themselves with any US administration. Trump had ordered the US Agency for Global Media, the federal agency that funds VOA and other groups promoting independent journalism overseas, to be “eliminated to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law.” The decision suddenly halted programming in 49 languages to more than 425 million people. In Moscow, Margarita Simonyan, the hardline editor-in-chief of the
RSS