Former President Clinton and President Obama. Photo: Charles Dharapak/Getty Images.

Two presidents known for their shared love of greasy foods chose a healthier choice for a meeting in New York.

After giving a speech to Wall Street on Monday, President Obama met up with former President Clinton at Greenwich Village's upscale Il Mulino, whose cuisine from Italy's Abruzzi region features dishes like Scaloppini Capriccio (veal sauteed in wine with prosciutto, fontina and mushrooms) and Red Snapper Sauteed with Seafood Sauce.

While the White House would not give Slashfood any information on the presidential menu, Clinton told reporters gathered outside that the two had "fish, pasta and salad," the Christian Science Monitor reports.

"It was very healthy. Even I was healthy," said Clinton, whose notorious taste for fast food -- the defunct McDonald's McRib sandwich in particular -- was a target of "Saturday Night Live" humor during his presidency.

Photo: Amazon.

'Simple Italian Snacks'
Recipes by Jason Denton and Kathryn Kellinger
Photos by Michael Piazza
William Morrow -- 2008
Buy it on Amazon

Italian food: Unless you grew up noshing on Italian-American fare -- pastas, sauces, meatballs -- this particular Old World cuisine can seem fairly intimidating to newbies, especially in the era of sea urchin and lardo and beef cheek ravioli with squab liver and truffles. (Not that we'd complain if either dish arrived on our doorstep).

So we're grateful to see another book keeping things simple in the home kitchen from Jason Denton, partner in the very popular New York City restaurant Lupa and the man behind panini pioneer 'ino.

Most of his recipes are mercifully simple, relying on a few super-fresh ingredients to comprise menus that still look darn decadent when they hit the table. Look for a seasonal pizza of peach, mascarpone and honey or a gorgeous veal involtini wrapped around arugula and sweet roasted garlic.

See what we tested and whether the book's worth buying after the jump.

Sea urchins, on the face of it, are not likely candidates for the title of Sexiest Seafood. Their spiny shells make them look like porcupines of the sea, and give little hint of the outrageously creamy, briny decadence that they contain. But this saffron-hued roe, whose complex, salty-sweet-sharp flavor profile is beloved by chefs, is now making diners swoon.

David Chang has been using sea urchin roe on his menu at Momofuku Ssam Bar and Ko for a long while, and now Michael White is making them the star of his menu at his new restaurant, Marea. A great article tomorrow in WSJ. magazine provides a peek at both White's droolingly anticipated new restaurant and at sea urchin, which is pictured in all of its spiny, golden glory.

Learn about the delectably slimy urchins after the jump.

Mamma mia! This morning's pasta pic has us stuck in noodle-craving mode. Comforting, hearty Italian eats never get old for us Slashfoodies, so we put together a list of our unforgettable, lick-the-plate clean faves from red-sauce trattorias to fancy-pancy eateries.

As with our sandwich post and followup (in which you continue to comment, nominating your beloved sub shops) we want your vote. What'd we miss? Which chicken parm or scallopine di vitelo should we be booking plane tickets to feast upon? Hit us up in the comments, and in a few days we'll post a master list of Slashfoodies' favorites.

Savelli's, Knoxville, Tenn.
Blink and you'll drive right past the hole-in-the-wall where Mama Savelli's Chicken Surprise, bursting with artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes and a creamy lemon sauce, will take up permanent residence in your best food memories bank. We really amore the BYOB policy. -- Gretchen Roberts
Vetri, Philadelphia, Pa.
Marc Vetri's cozy 40-seater has its share of naysayers, but with impeccable service and amazing food in a warm, intimate setting there's no better spot to celebrate a special occasion. -- Mike Pomranz
Franny's, Brooklyn, N.Y.
Known for its thin-crusted tomato, mozzarella and sausage pizza, this petite Brooklyn joint also whips up silky pastas with natural local ingredients like spinach and farm fresh eggs. -- Max Shrem
Augustino's, Hoboken, N.J.
Double-thick sautéed pork chops topped with hot and sweet peppers cause jaws to hit tables. We didn't come up for air until our plates were spotless. -- Sarah Christine (aka The Hungry Bride)
Convivio, New York, N.Y.
A well-crafted love letter to Southern Italy that is refined without being fussy with dishes like expertly charred octopus and malloreddus -- a weird, wonderful marriage of sea urchin, crab and gnocchi. -- Rebecca Flint Marx

...the final three after the jump!

Today for lunch, my sister and I did something we don't do very often. We went to an Italian restaurant. Italian just isn't one of my favorite cuisines. After a minute of looking at the menu, she asked me what cannelloni was, at which point I realized I had no idea. Imagine my surprise when I got home and found this post from Baker's Banter. It's a how-to on Sara Moulton's (Sara's Secrets) version of cannelloni, which uses crepes rather than pasta sheets. It looks incredibly delicious, and would probably make a great, easy, special dinner.

According to this article in Wikipedia, cannelloni can be made with either pasta sheets or crepes and still be considered correct. It was really interesting to learn about this dish, especially since it found me rather than the other way around. It occurred to me that cannelloni is similar to baked enchiladas. Now I'm curious if there are similar recipes from other cuisines. What do you think?

The biga is a traditional Italian preferment. It's a less hydrated mixture and so it's much stiffer than most of the other preferments. I get asked a lot how it is that the biga is a stiff preferment when Italy is known for its really well hydrated breads like ciabtta. My answer is that Ciabatta is one among many different kinds of breads, and you don't use the same preferments for each one.

A biga is a less hydrated preferment that uses about half as much water as flour (maybe 60 percent water sometimes), in addition to the small amount of yeast. I generally use a stand mixer to mix a biga, because it's supposed to have a more dough-like consistency. A biga should be left at covered at room temperature for about an hour and then refrigerated overnight. It needs to be allowed to warm up at room temperature for about an hour before being used, and the biga should have a nicely domed top to tell you it's ready. If it looks a little deflated that's OK, but too much deflation is not good.

This type of preferment is more hospitable to the kind of bacteria which produce acetic acid, so it will have a more astringent flavor and smell.

In college, my dining hall often - suspiciously often, in fact - had a special DIY station for making panzanella, Italian bread salad.

We've all heard stories about food "rules" - the chef who refused to serve a food writer for ordering a Diet Coke with her meal, the waiter who wouldn't bring ketchup to the table because the frites were "supposed to be" eaten with garlic mayonnaise. Ordering the steak well done is sacrilege! Don't you dare put extra wasabi in your soy sauce dish - the sushi chef has already put in the exact right amount!

Writing in the New York Times Magazine, Robert Trachtenberg discusses the issue of food rules with an essay on the Italian taboo against putting Parmesan on seafood pasta. Trachtenberg knows it's against the rules, that traditional Italian chefs claim it masks the delicate seafood flavor. But he's not buying it - he likes it that way. Chefs chastise him, waiters serve him in secret, whispering that they fear for their jobs.

Seems pretty silly to me, the idea of rigid food rules. On the one hand, I'm always keen to eat the "original version" of a food, the way it's supposedly been eaten for hundreds of years in Thailand or made by grandmothers in Mexico for generations, yada yada yada. Tasting things the way the locals eat them is a way of connecting with the culture, of expanding your own horizons. And certainly I wouldn't want to disrespect a culture or a chef by doing something truly rude.

On the other hand, sometimes you just know what you like and what you don't like. And why is it anyone's business to tell you different? I would be pretty darn annoyed if a waiter withheld my Parmesan because the chef felt the pasta was better without. If a dining companion warned me against putting more wasabi on my sushi I would probably tell him to shut up. I really like wasabi. The very phrase "It's a matter of taste" is used to point out that taste is subjective, and necessarily varies from person to person. And does food really need to be taken so seriously anyway?

What do you think about following/breaking food "rules?"

You remember: she's the chewing gum fanatic in Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory who broke a world record by chewing one stick of gum for three months straight. And we're guaranteed that Maurizio Savini would be her hero.

Savini's chewing gum sculptures have getting a ton of press lately, probably less for artistic merit and more for pure gawking value. For the record, all of the gum he uses is un-chewed, and according to a bio on nonprofit art foundation Pastificio Cerere's site, Savini chose gum as a medium for its barrage on our senses and because it reminds him of childhood.

Check out more of his sculptures here, and then give us your opinion.

Italy is in crisis! There's a public spending emergency! There is general mistrust of elected public officials!

There's no gelato at the Senate building?

Apparently, Italian senators Rocco Buttiglione and Albertina Soliani are campaigning to have Italian ice cream, "gelato," served in the cafeteria of the Senate building, claiming that it would "improve the quality of life" in the Senate.

I mean really. Don't these senators have more important issues to worry about than whether their favorite dessert is being offered in the cafeteria?

Calling all translators. I ran across this photo on Tastespotting and had to share since it looks quite interesting, but because the original site il cavoletto di bruxelles is written in Italian I have no idea what it really says. I've gathered it is a fresh pea and mint soup of sorts, and a rough translation on Babel Fish has helped piece a little more together, but as for the rest I am completely stymied. Anyone care to share?

If nothing else, it would be perfect for St. Patrick's Day meal planning. Too bad we have to wait another eleven months for that!

A vintner, or perhaps a devoted wine connoisseur, would recognize "Asprinio" as a type of white Italian grape that is primarily used in sparkling wines, although it is a fairly obscure type of grape. It you're not a member of this category, you probably recognize it as the last name of Stephen Asprinio, one of the members of the cast of the first season of Top Chef. He was one of the more colorful participants in the show, not only because of his standout designer suits, but because of his confidence and charm. Stephen was, even when he first entered the public eye, a man with a plan. He didn't win the show, but that didn't stop him from going forward with his plan to change the face of dining in America by becoming a restaurateur.

I had a chance to sit down with Stephen this week to find out exactly what he has been up to since the show ended and what he is planning for the future. Currently, he has two projects approaching completion, one on each coast. The first is called Tastevin and it is a concept wine boutique aimed at 20-somethings who are increasingly developing a taste for wines, but are put off from seeking out high-quality ones by the old fashioned, pretentious way wine is usually presented. Corks, dusty bottles and wooden crates are not selling points to the under-30 crowd. Stephen is doing away with all the stuffy formality of wine buying and keeping his venture sexy and ultra-modern, with Philippe Starck furniture and beautiful displays of the bottles, appealing to his age group by improving the presentation and accessibility of one of his favorite things: wine.

Based on the ideals of good taste and simplicity, Every Night Italian: 120 Simple, Delicious Recipes You Can Make in 45 Minutes or Less is a book that presents lots of tasty options for everyday meals. The book was written by Giuliano Hazan, the son of the grandmother of Italian cookery, Marcella Hazan. He grew up knowing what great Italian food should be like and with the ability to simplify it and pass it on, so that the comforting flavors of real Italian fare don't have to be relegated to long weekends when you have more time to work away in the kitchen.

The structure of the book is well thought out, making it even easier to use. It begins with a detailed section on the basic Italian pantry, which should enable you to keep everything you need on hand and ready to go on short notice. The prep chapter leads into the recipes, which include Summer Salad with Baked Red Onions, Chicken with Green Olives, Ribollita and The Un-Risotto, as well as a 35-minute take on Marcella's classic pasta sauce.

Caviar seems to represent luxury and good taste, both in food and in life, so caviar fans can rejoice that the global ban on caviar is being lifted this year as stocks of sturgeons are up and caviar-producers can start exporting their wares again. Farmed caviar, and American caviar in general, is still an outstanding alternative for a caviar fan because it is often a good value and seems to be improving in quality every year.

If you're not a fan of the fish eggs, you're not alone. There is an alternative to them that will give you the same classic look, but with a much improved texture and flavor: Chocaviar. This caviar is made with chocolate from the Italian chocolate-maker Venchi, which has been expressing "chocolate's soul" since 1878. Each little piece of chocolate is dusted with unsweetened cocoa powder, which intensifies the flavor (something you might not want with the fishier caviar) and makes the product slightly reminiscent of tiny chocolate truffles.

Mario Batali looks like the kind of guy that enjoys a good party and, considering how passionate he is about Italian food, it is safe to assume that any party Mario is involved in is going to have good food and a whole lot of it. He may not be coming over for the holidays, but his menus can certainly become a part of tradition with Mario Batali Holiday Food. This cookbook covers two holidays for a total of four meals: Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The meals a huge and involved, so perhaps Mario really does expect them to last all day.

The recipes and techniques are quite traditional and most of the food is made from scratch, so while all the food is well worth the effort, it is also worth noting that it could take you away from any family activities that are going on at the time. This could be made up for in praise over a well-executed meal, but the decision is yours to make. There is a lot of seafood, but the range of dishes is still a large one despite the limited scope of the book. Choose from Ricotta and Escarole Calzones, Stuffed Artichokes and Linguine with Clams, then finish with Panettone or Coffee Semifreddo Drowned in Espresso for dessert.