Let’s face it; you’re in Florence. You’re going to eat. A lot. Since you’re not finished eating, why would I be done writing about the food?
Category: Italy
Dining In Florence
When you think of Florence, you think of Tuscany. When you think of Tuscany, you immediately remember that it’s the heart and soul of Italian cuisine, from seafood that’s so fresh that it’s practically still blinking to steaks so tender that they melt before they hit your tongue. Pastas cooked perfectly al dente, gnocchi so light that they feel like little pillows of air, and sauces so simple yet so deep in flavor that you remember that this is what food is supposed to taste like; good ingredients cooked by people who actually care about food.
Cooking In Tuscany
I recently completed 4 weeks of cooking through the Accademia Riaci in Florence, Italy. While I feel like I learned a lot, there were a lot of pros and cons to the program that I need to vent about, so grab a glass of wine and get comfortable. This one’s going to take a while.
The Leaning Tower Of Pisa
If you tell your friends that you’re going to be in Tuscany (which you should) and if they know that Pisa is in that region (which they may not), the first question they’ll ask is whether you saw the leaning tower of Pisa. If you say yes, the only followup question will be whether you took a cheesy tourist photo of yourself holding up the tower. After that, all interest in the town of Pisa wanes. If you say that you didn’t go to Pisa, they’ll ask why, and you’ll have to explain yourself. Literally, the only reason why I went to Pisa was to avoid that line of questioning, but I’m glad I went.
Florence- The city of romance. And Tourists.
My trip to Florence is admittedly very different from any other trip that I’ve taken, which means my review of the city will be different from my others. Rather than fly in, spend 2-4 days hitting every site recommended by TripAdvisor, hitting the restaurants recommended by Yelp (who I’m currently disenchanted with, but more on that later), and racing from one thing to another, I’m spending some extended time in Florence. I’m not quite living like a local, but I’m enough of a familiar face that some of the panhandlers don’t bother asking me for money anymore because they recognize me. Or they look at my shirt and figure that I’m just as bad off as they are. Regardless, they leave me alone, which is the desired result. 3 weeks into this experiment, it’s been very interesting to say the least.
Naples
I highly recommend visiting Naples. Fly in, tour the city for a few hours, and then go somewhere else.
Michelin Stars and Rossellinis
Do you know where the Michelin restaurant star rating system came from? I didn’t, until I started researching this trip. Michelin, the tire company that uses the Stay-Puft marshmallow man as a spokesperson, used to put out a guidebook for people on road trips. This was back in the days when the internet wasn’t even a real word yet. In the guidebook, they’d list all of the restaurants that you could stop at along your travels. I remember going on family road trips in the 80’s and using the AAA guidebook in the same way. But apparently the folks at Michelin took it one step further. They started rating restaurants. Any restaurant with at least one Michelin star is worth going to. It’s not like Yelp, where a roach coach can get a star. A one Michelin star restaurant is likely a better restaurant than you’ve been to in the past year, possibly better than you’ve ever been to.
Ravello
Ravello, a tiny little town in the heart of the Amalfi Coast in Italy. Nestled among the mountains, this village offers breathtaking views of the coast and the surrounding… never mind. I can’t write like that. It is a great little town, though, with great views. There’s not a whole lot to do here other than eat and drink. Since those are two things that I’m really good at, it’s not a bad place for me to hang out for a few days.
Cooking at Acquolina
Today was a fun day in Venice. More specifically, we were in Lido, a large island just outside of Venice proper. I’m not sure if it’s actually part of Venice, but you can take the vaporetto (the water taxi) there, so I’m guessing that it is. We had a cooking class set up at the Acquolina cooking school, led by Marika. There were a total of 6 students, Cristina and I, 2 other Americans and 2 Canadians. Marika was a very friendly and engaging instructor, walking us through the process of making good pasta dough (and why Italian pasta is better than you find anywhere else), making fettuccini, ravioli and gnocchi from scratch.
The Rialto Market
The Rialto market is one of Venice’s most well-known sites. Go early in the morning (8A-ish) so you get the full experience of fresh fish and seafood, tons of fruits and vegetables and the vendors hawking their wares. We made the mistake of going later in the day when we went the first time, and we were greeted by sad leftover fish parts and plenty of produce that had seen better days.