These Are The 3 Best Things We Ate This Week

Dear readers, this week I must invite you to join me on a journey through the European food lineup that has been helping me vicariously live out my summer holiday dreams. Between my feeds being filled with people on the Euro summer trips of my dreams (I mean, we all saw the decadence of Dua Lipa’s honeymoon, right?) and reminiscing on the days that I lived in London and could hop on a RyanAir flight to this, that, and the other country of summertime bliss, I’ve had to curate nearly all of my menus around what I wish I could be eating and drinking on some sunny terrace somewhere. 

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Well, through this journey, I’ve encountered some really standout foods this week. Here are the top three that I think you should try out if you’re feeling like you need a small dose of European flavor in your life.

Vignobles Lacheteau Vouvray 2024

To break down its confusing name, this is an off-sweet white wine from the Loire Valley in France. It is crisp and refreshing, like all of the best white wines, but it still has a very nice sweetness that keeps it from erring on the side of too tart or tannic. It pairs well with pretty much anything that a regular white wine would and it’s especially great in the summertime. And, on that note, it pairs impeccably well with spicy food. This wine gets major bonus points, too―it makes white wine more palatable to those adverse to its brightness and intensity, but it doesn’t go so far as a Moscato on the sweet side. It’s the perfect middle ground.

Trader Joe’s Ricotta & Lemon Zest Ravioli 

I don’t know why, but I will eternally be drawn to the tender rich pockets of a filled ravioli. And if there’s a flavor of them that I’ve never seen before, you better believe that I’m gonna try it out. So when I stopped by Trader Joe’s and saw that this ravioli is filled with ricotta and Sicilian lemon zest, I got a little bit giddy. The fact that it’s a product of Italy just tipped it over into the “must try” category for me. The lemon is refreshingly natural tasting and it gave the pasta a wonderful brightness that a lot of ravioli can lack with abundant, one note cheese flavors. It gives whatever you’re making an instant hit of brightness and it’s incredibly satisfying for summer meals.

Van Leeuwen Coffee Affogato French Ice Cream

Listen, not everyone can hop on a flight to Florence to have an affogato at Vivoli… however much we may want to. So, we have to resort to some more creative methods of getting that iconic dessert at home. Of course, you can go out and buy vanilla gelato and pull some espresso yourself, but for a quicker fix this ice cream is a pretty good substitute. I was remarkably impressed by the distinct flavors of the vanilla ice cream and the coffee ice cream. I expected it to taste more like a vanilla latte than anything, but, honestly, because the coffee ice cream is so bold, it works really nicely to emulate the affogato experience―just through a bit of a hack instead.