It's not easy to imagine that anyone would deliberately be driving to St Clairsville, Ohio, to look for a good old-fashioned American-Italian style meal, but Undo's, above the Hampton Inn, does a surprisingly good job. And it's only seven hours drive from the back of Murray Hall (I'm assiduously maintaining my rituals: the log; the photo at every stop...). Undo's claims to have been family run since 1953 (older than me! is that possible?) - and was effortlessly all it should be, down to the bad Italo-pop - including Itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny yellow polka dot bikini (in Italian). And the lasagna and meat ball was properly seasoned and the tomato sauce suitably rich. I did, indeed, document this (and it, and garlic bread, and a so-called salad, and a huge glass of chardonnay were only $16 in all), but better by far were the photos on the wall of the original family. I've loved looking at the images that have been handed in with some of the final student projects - those who took the option of writing on personal photography have been wonderfully generous in sharing - for even if one doesn't know the people concerned, as here, a whole era is summed up (and a whole immigrant community - the local advertisements indicate that quite a few Italian families must have settled in this very picturesque little corner of Ohio - at least, if one looks in one direction, over rolling wooded hills: the other has a Super-Walmart complex...)
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