Saturday, April 18, 2009

Italian Dinner!

It's almost 11:15 p.m. and Kristin and I just arrived back from our dinner that we left her apartment at 8pm for! I love the lifestyle in Italy. We walked to one of her favorite restaurants a few blocks from her apt., Il Teatro ristorante. We walked in and were very warmly greeted by the hostess, waiters, and chefs...true locals we are ;-) With a 'buona sera' and a kiss on each cheek I instantly felt like one of their own! We hadn't even ordered when we were pleasantly surprised by a plate of this delicious thin, crunchy, almost like a flat type of breadstick that was covered in olive oil, garlic, and fresh basil...on the house!! After ordering, i primi of tuscan bean soup for me and tortellini w/ham for kristin, i secondi of chicken and grilled veggies and turkey in a cherry tomato sauce for Kristin, we enjoyed our toscana rosso vino and the delicious bread and crunchy starter!!
The soup was incredible, almost a stew, chock full of vegetable, chunks of bread and tasty beans. I couldn't even finish it all...when one of the waiters (an older Italian gentleman) came to clear it away, he jokingly fed me one more bite while asking 'basta?' (enough?) He cooly gave me a kiss on the forehead and cleared away our plates.
Time passed quickly while Kristin and I had discussions on everything under the sun, from growth to our faith...so refreshing to talk with her again! Our main dishes arrived and we were fully satisfied...trust me, the Italians know how to feed you :-) We were able to enjoy every last bite, enjoy our last sips of wine and chat some more without being rushed out of the ristorante.
We decided to take a little longer walk (to walk off all the salt intake :-)!) After walking past il Duomo and around San Lorenzo, we passed a building that we had seen from the dome this morning that Kristin still wasn't sure of it's use...for some reason I had a strange recollection of Jen purchasing bread in an indoor permanent stall type market...turns out, this was where that was!! My memory is such a weird thing!
I love the italian lifestyle and could adapt so very easily...anybody down for walking everywhere with me when I return to the states this summer?!?!

1 comment:

MissPennySaver said...

I am eating some Trader Joe pasta and drinking some of Dad's homemade red vino while reading this...not quite the same, but I feel a bit more Italiano now.