At Bat for Ashley Rountree: Chris Blair

I have traveled to Italy twice, visiting Milan, Florence, Naples, Amalfi, Capri, Ischia, Pompei, Venice, Lido, Rome, and Remini. I would go back anytime and hope to take my wife there. I love the people, landscapes, history, art, language – all of it!

I also have my sights set on Cuba and Vietnam. Those of us born in the ‘70s, on the tail of the Vietnam War and Cuban Missile Crisis, grew up with the impact of those two events. Stories and images of both countries were everywhere in the news, movies, and magazines through much of our childhood. As kids, we strived to make sense of it all without a full understanding, so both became sources of fascination to my friends and me. Both always seemed off limits in some ways, which just increased the desire to visit each place. It also helps that I am a huge fan of lechon asado, congri, yuca con mojo, tostones, maduros, báhn mi, bὸ nướng lá lốt, and súp cua trứng, among other delights.

I hail from Evansville, IN, just down the road from Louisville. The city has a surprising culinary landscape dominated by a unique style of cracker crust pizza, a version of strombolis only found in certain pockets of Indiana (and maybe Washington state, apparently), and a tavern culture from a bygone era. So, the itinerary would largely revolve around food. We might visit Steve’s Una Pizza, get strombolis at Kipplee’s Stadium Inn, or hang out at the Hilltop Inn, a 185-year-old former stagecoach and tavern. House of Como, a 1960 Lebanese restaurant with a penchant for serving Chicago mobsters and politicians, serves Djage Chicken that will change your life. We couldn’t miss Donut Bank and its perfectly executed classic donuts, or G.D. Ritzy’s, a defunct national chain that still thrives only in Evansville. It offers 1950s-style smashed burgers with crispy edges and shoestring fries.

Sprinkled into the itinerary would be visits to Wesselman Woods, the nation’s largest virgin, old-growth forest within any city limits; the town of Newburgh, which is steeped in Civil War history and includes homes that were part of the Underground Railroad; and Mesker Park Zoo, which still houses the famous Monkey Ship described in Nabokov’s novel, “Lolita.”

For me, the low-hanging fruit response would be the late Anthony Bourdain at Bún Bò Huế Kim Chau in Huế, Vietnam over a couple of beers and bowls of bún bò Huế soup. The slightly more complicated version would be having saké and sushi at Sukiyabashi Jiro in Tokyo with Anthony Bourdain when author Haruki Murakami shows up, and we have a lively discussion on all things literature, music, food, and pop culture followed by karaoke.

I am really good at and love math, which is odd for a writer. I wrote my graduate lecture on the mathematics of poetry, which dove into the Fibonacci sequence, nautiluses, mathematical structures of poems, computer programming, and the French OuLiPo poets. As a senior proposal manager for more than 10 years, I even developed several budgets for million-dollar projects and regularly reviewed project budgets for proposals to ensure accuracy prior to submission. I love the logic and problem-solving aspects of numbers. I love being presented with an unexpected roadblock, failed attempt, puzzle, or conundrum that forces me to look at the issue from different angles, assess each potential outcome, and attempt to correct the problem. In a lot of ways, I find that to be the fulcrum to any creative process. Everything starts with a thought, followed by a series of challenges to overcome.

There is this quaint Italian restaurant in Sarasota called La Dolce Vita. The owners are a husband and wife: Mauro from Naples and Tina from Sicily. Mauro is head chef and Tina makes all the desserts, runs the front of the house, and greets every guest. Their children work there as well in a variety of roles. My wife and I love everything we have tried there, but we find it incredibly difficult to order anything other than Pappardelle, Funghi e Salsiccia, their house-made pappardelle noodles with sausage and mushrooms in a delicious creamy sauce. We usually finish the meal with a slice of Torte de Caprese, a moist, rich, chocolate cake made with almond flour milled in house by Tina herself.

• French fry dipping sauce: French fries hold their own; never ketchup
• Cards or Cats: Hoo-Hoo-Hoosiers!
• Dogs or cats: Both, and all other animals
• Comfort food: Pasta
• Favorite holiday: Christmas – my massive extended family has a huge bash every year
• Favorite season: Summer