The Wicked Grape's Profile

Display Name: The Wicked Grape
Personal URL: http://www.steveingham.com/
Member Since: 11/30/10

Latest Comments...

Same here! From head to toe.


High Point Highlights: Fresh & Fashionable Designer Collaborations at Hickory Chair High Point Market Fall 2012
10/21/12 11:53 AM

On Saturday mornings, there is a great Mercatino (little market - in this case a little flea market) in the Campo Santa Maria Nova, near the church Santa Maria dei Miracoli. You can always find vintage kitchen items and the prices are really not bad. I just bought a vintage 40s retractable clothesline for 5 euros. The church is also worth a visit!

Sometimes there are flea markets in Campo Santa Maria Formosa and Campo Santa Margherita. Also sometimes under the portico of the fish market.


What Are the Best Kitchen Souvenirs to Buy in Italy?
9/30/12 7:31 AM

I highly recommend The Tempietto by Bramante on the Janiculum Hill, just above Trastevere. It's set in the peaceful little cloister of San Pietro in Montorio.

The pizzeria Il Baffetto is totally worth the wait! Don't let the line intimidate you - it goes quickly. Baffetto means "little mustache", BTW. Part of the joke is that it's a little bit Hitler-ish (in a Mel Brooks style of humor).

Also, I think one of the best food deals in Rome is a Tavola Calda (hot table, but really Italian fast food)... It's a lunch counter with hot meals. You buy items by the plate -- similar to the IKEA cafeteria but more homey -- anything from Osso Buco to salads to spaghetti. There is always a huge variety and I haven't eaten badly yet! I love the retro vibe of Canova in the Piazza del Popolo. It's a little more pricey. There are also a bunch in the neighborhood between the Vatican and the Tiber River.

Also a beautiful bakery: Forno Campo de'Fiori. The printed paper bread wrappers are well-designed and the bread is good! You can also get fairly cheap beer - per portare via/ to go - in this square (beer is expensive in Italy).

Caffe' Sant'Eustachio sells some super cool crockery - creamers, pitchers and teapots with their stag head logo (looks like the Jägermeister logo).

The coffeshop Tazza D'Oro near the Pantheon is also worth checking out - totally retro design.

The Porta Portese Flea market is easily accessible and pretty decent. I can always manage to find something I like, but next time, we'll probably try out some other places. It wasn't the Holy Grail of flea markets for me.

A really pretty street near the Spanish Steps: Via Margutta. It's short and sweet. Fellini lived here.


A Design Lover's Guide to Rome
Apartment Therapy's Design Destination Guide
7/19/12 6:55 AM

Our house had a dark history as well. The owner's son had committed suicide in the side yard (he first had murdered his girlfriend somewhere else). She didn't want to be there for the one-year anniversary.

She happened to be home when we took the tour. We weren't the only people who made offers on the house and ours was considerably lower than others, but she CHOSE us. You should have seen the owner's eyes when she met us! She just locked into mine ... it was unsettling. Her son's name was the male version of my name, we shared a birthday, and his dog looked exactly like our dog. If that didn't set the conditions for something horrible happening, I don't know what would.

At first, I was a little worried. Some creepy things happened, more because of the decrepit condition of the house and the bad neighborhood, but the son's spirit never took possession of my psyche or anything like that! It definitely crossed my mind one or two times!

After living there for nine years, we sold the place. I couldn't be happier. It took me 5 years to stop having nightmares about it. Again, I would chalk it up to fixer-upper anxiety than anything else. In the end, the house enabled us to move to a place we really loved (we sold at a profit).

Suicide: eh, I don't think it will be a problem
but if it's a fixer-upper: Proceed with caution! Know Thyself and make sure you are up to the task!


Would You Buy a House with a Dark History?
Good Questions
9/10/11 3:53 AM

There is a fantastic bar associated with this exhibition - a sandy, tranquil garden area with overturned terra cotta planters as tables. If you are facing the entrance to the umbrella room and the canal in behind you, it's two doors to the right. It was my favorite part of the entire Biennale.


The Gervasuti Foundation, an Alternative Art Space
The 2011 Venice Biennale
8/30/11 3:03 PM