Trattoria San Zanobi

So last night I finally got that long meal Ive been craving and it didnt disappoint. Theres a nice looking little trattatoria (restaurant) two doors down from us called trattoria san zanobi ( our street name). Me and four of my roommates put on some nice clothes and headed out to dinner at about 8:45. Although the restaurant is noted in some guide books last night it was just us and two other tables. The walls were a soft cream color with fleur di li's painted in green. A nice young lady seated us and asked what wine we would be having. Mario, who is Italian and from queens, speaks fluent Italian asked her what she recommended. She said that their house wine was bono (good when you're talking about food) so we ordered a couple carafes. The menu was in Italian, English and German but we tried to stick to the Italian page. The classic Italian meal is usually a few courses with a wine to compliment each dish. The order is usually antipasto, pasta, vegetable, some kind of meat or fish dish and desert. The owner of the restaurant came over and began talking to Mario, going over the specials and telling a little about her restaurant. She was a kind looking older lady with white hair and glasses. She had an easy smile and seemed very proud of her restaurant. She said that some of the dishes on the menu were their own recipes and could be found nowhere else in the world. The wine as very smooth and not dry, which most of the wine I've had here has been. For our first course we agreed to all order appetizers and share some of each. I ordered insalate caprese which is mozzarella (remember the fresh rule. everything is that day fresh) tomato, basil and lettuce. Mario ordered a cheese and anchovy crustini, will ordered bruschetta, Scott ordered another insalata caprese and Jason ordered antipasto which was meat and liver pate. I'm glad we decided to share because everything was so good. Along with bread we also had olive oil, which was green, and vinegar. (Ive learned that green is when the oil is its best and has the most flavor. The green usually only lasts for a month or two then the color starts to fade) I put the oil and vinegar with fresh pepper on my salad. The mozzarella and tomatoes mixed perfectly with the basil that had the most flavor of any that Ive tried. The bruschetta had spiced tomatoes and just the right crunch. The liver was just the right strength and not too salty. My favorite was probably the cheese and anchovy crustini. It had a strong cheese to balance out the strong anchovy flavor. After refilling our vino (wine) the owner took our next order, the pasta dish. I chose ravioloni tartufatti which was ravioli stuffed with spinach and ricotta and covered in truffle sauce. Sound good doesn't it! Scott chose pasta with meat sauce Mario a risotto that is a house recipe Jason a Tuscan minestrone and will spaghetti carbonara. As we finished up the antipasto and soaked bread in olive oil we tried to get into the relaxed slow dinner environment. Soon the next course arrived. My ravioli were large and smothered in a creme sauce with small pieces of truffle mixed throughout. My first bite made me realize that THIS was the best thing Ive eaten in Florence.
The pasta was perfect and obviously homemade. Delicate yet firm the pasta seemed to melt into my tongue. The stuffing mixed well with the truffle sauce, the spinach and ricotta a subtle flavor while the sauce was obviously the centerpiece of the dish. Creamy and with a strong taste that was like mushroom but much better the flavor filled my whole mouth and lasted long after i had swallowed. Each bite was perfect with the pasta melting away and leaving me enjoy the truffle sauce. Hesitantly I forked some onto everyones plates. At least I got some of theirs in return. Mario's risotto was my favorite of my roommates. A recipe or that restaurants it was a much different risotto than the one I had made in class this week. It had a pesto like taste to it and was perfectly aldente. Scott's meat pasta was very good along with wills creamy carboara spaghetti. After marios risotto my next favorite was Jason's minestrone which was heaped with veggies and had a strong flavor. After I had cleaned my plate of all traces of truffle sauce we ordered the next couple courses, the veggie and meat course. I ordered patate arosta (roasted potato) and petti di pollo formaggio e funghi or chicken with cheese and mushrooms. Others ordered pesto pasta, roasted beef, braised beef and Sicilian chicken. The chicken was very good, and reminded me of chicken marsala. We took our time and enjoyed our food, along with more wine. Full but tantalized by the desert menu we decided it wouldn't be right if we didn't order desert. The owner had recommended crema de cantalona (which was like a creme brule). I decided to stick with truffles (although this time the chocolate type) and ordered truffle ice cream. Others got: la crema cantalona, la crema caramel and tiramisu. The truffle came as a chocolate dome with vanilla ice cream under at a whole truffle at the bottom. The top covered with a fine layer of truffle dust. So good. I'm going to have to start taking some trips because this is starting to be a journal of what I eat! Anyway the whole meal from start to finish was flawless and although a couple times I felt the urge to hurry up and get out of there, to finish my meal quickly it was suppressed and we had about a two and a half hour meal. The owner had been great the whole time, telling us about her daughter in America and giving us advice about how to eat each course (including letting me know not to put parmigiano on my pasta as it would change the flavor) and in general making us feel very welcome. Although she spoke Italian the whole time, having Mario translate, I could feel the warmth in her voice.
After dinner we went to an Irish pub to watch the Yankees Red Sox game (four back isn't bad, is it captain) but the channel wasn't working so we went to a little bar near our house called the fish and then back to that nightclub in the video from a previous post. It was a great night.
Today I'm going to try to find a new market that we've been hearing about then head over to watch some football.

Vacations over....

Sunday was the night of our welcome dinner. We had seen the place dinner would be during orientation. (walked by it not inside) It was a huge stone building with high castle walls about two blocks from one of our school sites, on via san gallo. It had large black gates and what looked to be a beautiful garden. The Invitation said to dress casually but by the look of the place and the city that we were in, me and my roommates decides to wear ties and dress nicely. I love dressing up and rarely wear a tie outside of work in Alaska. I had bought a nice burberry tie and shirt before i left and decided this would be the night to break it out. We figured that we might me the only guys in ties but had been told on a few occasions that in Italy, and especially Firenze, that there was no such thing as being too dressed up. When we got to the gates we were stopped by two men in suits that checked all of our names before being allowed to enter. That impressed us and we knew we had chosen correctly. We entered and directly in front of us was a long row of short columns with small statues on top that led us to an open lawn inside the compound. All around the lawn pillows and almost on the ground tables had been set up for people to sit at. There were about four food and drink stations scattered around the perimeter. The lawn was full of all the Florence University of the Arts students and students from my school, Apicious. All the girls were in dresses and were very pretty. Alot of guys had dressed up but we were the only ones in ties. We walked over to the food stations that were covered in beautiful spreads of fresh cheeses and meats, including a large side of pig that had men in bow ties cutting slices of the cured meat on request. We got glasses Prosecco, a sparkling Italian wine, and raised them. Their was also mini sandwhiches and other very fancy finger food that I dont know the name of! My roommates and I walked around, meeting as many people as possible. Hidden away in one corner was a food station that had deep fried zucchini flowers, basil leaves, potato, and other things that i had never had but that was absolutely delicious. You all have to make fried basil leaves. So good. They came in a large coned leaf and was the best food I had that night. After about an hour and a half of mingling I went inside and found yet another complete food display. Good thing we walk about 20 miles a day because the food here is unbelievable.... The inside of the villa was beautiful with paintings all over, including a mural on a domed ceiling. A huge wooden staircase spiraled upstairs but we were not allowed to explore too much. I listened to the count who lived there and he seemed like a very nice old man. He was heavily accented and was very personable. In the ballroom they had sign ups for the daily activities, which include soccer, basketball, recreating cooking shows, and hilltop walks. I signed up for them all. After the faculty talked for a while Dessert came out, which was also great, and we met more people ( there was over a hundred people there) and finally left. It was a great night, very elegant and friendly. The next day was my first class.

The next day my first class was Italian regional cooking. On the way there the clouds begun to darken (one thing i have noticed is that i miss seeing the sky. in Alaska you always see a whole eyeful of sky, but in an actual city I usually only see a sliver. I actually notice it alot and it feels weird. Never though id be missing the sky) and only a few minutes later begun to thunder, lightning and pour rain. It reminded me of flash floods id been in in the south. I arrived in the Apicious chef Jacket and Hat that came with the book fee, along with a knife set. The kitchen that my class was in was about a 8 minute walk from my flat. There were about 5 stations, all in a row with two people per station. I was partnered with a 25 year old Londoner named Ed. After a brief summary of the class and a once over of the syllabus the chef said we'd be cooking spaghetti. The key to Italian food he said was simplicity. Every recipe would be with as few ingredients as possible but would have the best, freshest ingredients available. We first received our basil, garlic, tomatoes and olive oil. He had up make a "T" on the top of the tomatoes then drop them in boiling water for about 15 seconds. We then pulled them out and cooled them and took them back to the station. When we pulled on the T the skin peeled right off. He collected the peels from us and put them in the oven. We cut up all the ingredients and cooked it down for about 20 minutes and that was it. With some pepper and salt it was a very simple recipe but very very tasty. When he took the peels out he handed them to us, along with fresh Parmesan to use as decoration. Definitely a fun class. The teacher is laid back, funny, and most importantly very knowledgeable. The rest of the day i wandered around my neighborhood, bought chef pants and an apron and took it easy.

Today my first class was at 9am. This one was introduction to professional cooking. My teacher for this class was the master chef at apicius. He was originally from the Ivory coast and has worked in New York, Orlando, and at Apicius for a long time. We went over the basics of the kitchen and how to be sanitary and what each utensil did. He was very thorough and personable, although his accent was pretty strong. The next class I had was wine appreciation. that class had raised tables that fit 3 people and had a trough along the top that emptied out the bottom for spitting wine into. My teacher for that class, Carlotta, was extremely outgoing and funny. She talked about the different classifications of wine in Italy and the rules and regulations that wine makers must follow. That class also seems very interesting. At the end of class we had a nice white wine to celebrate the beginning of school. Definitely going to be a good year. All my classes are ones that I would never want to miss. Homework for most will be eating and drinking, which works for me.

Trying to catch up.

Hey everyone.. Just to let you know im going to try to put different pictures on here and myspace so check both. Anyway i dont even remember where i left off.... I really have that feeling everyday that ive done more than i would in like a month in fairbanks. So I think when i left off last was the day I climbed the Duomo. Me and three of my roommates (the other three hadnt arrived yet) set off to eat. I had arrived before everyone else so already had found some interesting places and was familiar with our neighborhood. There is a tattoria on the corner from our street that sells really good pastry and piza and ive been trying to go everyday so they will get to know me. After stopping there and getting some fresh pizza with sausage we set off to see my favorite discovery, the church in the pictures i posted previously. The church faces a large very open piazza with a large man on horse statue in the middle and a couple small statues on the side. Surprisingly there is never lots of tourists there. (ive gone about 5 times. i cant get enough) The buildings left and right of the piazza have marble steps that people relax and eat on. Once youve walked through the piazza you reach large wooden doors that, when open, signify that you are allowed to enter. Inside these doors is a large room with four columns, just inside of the corners. In all four corners there are beautiful paintings that wrap around the corners. When i first came in here i thought this was all that was inside. Anyway i led my roommates to the wooden doors where i saw three obviously american ladies (a mother and two daughters that were about 25) I think im obsessed with this church beacause i just want to show it to everyone! Anyway I walked up to them and introduced myself. After talking for a little bit i told them how they had to see this church. They were interested so i showed them and my roommates to the doors. I allowed them to go in themselves so they could experience it the way i did. After they saw the church we talked to the girls and they wanted to see the duomo. We walked through the street market and went to the duomo. Our traveling partners took some time to look around the outside. We saw that tyhe line to get in was pretty small so we decided to enter. I hadnt been inside yet so i was excited. I had spent the last few days marveling at the outside and now was getting to enter. Going in was free, which surprised me. The girls had to put on paper covers because their shoulders were uncovered. As i entered i felt that feeling you get when you enter a huge open space. This was easily the biggest building that ive ever been in. Huge columns led up to the high ceilings. The walls (like everywhere in florence!) were covered in art and statue. As i walked towards the domed end i cauld a glimpse of the painting that covered the inside of the dome. It was breathtaking. People were staring up and crying. It seemed to me to be a visualization of Dantes inferno. The bottom layer was filled with gruesome images of death and pain, complete with a multi headed devil eating people.(i posted a picture in the previous blog) The top was beautiful angels and what looked to be Jesus or God. After walking around inside for a while we decided to climb to the top. We had seen people at the top previously when we only were familiar with the outside of this awe inspiring structure. (why cant we do things like this now? they didnt have cranes or machinery and they top anything ive ever seen over and over again) To climb to the top was 6 euro. We begain climbing and then we kept climbing and climbing. Along the way there were open areas with statues and metal relics. We reached a point where we walked around the bottom of the painting and i was within feet of it. Seeing it up close made me wonder how someone could come up with art like that. The detail and imagination was incredible. The top of the duomo wasnt much further. The top had people but wasnt too full. There was room to walk around and take pictures. It was cool to see florence from above. The city was much bigger than i expected. The hills were covered in castles and large, beautiful villas. After the duomo we parted ways with the ladies, who were from chicago. The next day i woke up again at about 7 (which ive been doing since i got here) You kinda have to get up early because the streets are so loud since were so close to the street market. Me and the roommates that were able to get up went to the fresh market to shop for last nights dinner. The market was a large two story building two blocks from our house. The bottom floor is full of meat, cheese, bread and other goods. The top is all veggies and fruit. Everything is brought in fresh daily. At an olive oil and vinegar booth a nice italian lady offered to let us taste some balsamic. She first gave us the regular balsamic then worked up to some that was aged 2 years, then 5, then 8, then finally 10. You can definitely tell the differnce. It was so good. Thick and kinda sweet it got better and better. We bought some. Since we are students we only got the one that was aged 5 years. We were going to make spaghetti so we bought fresh hamburger, bell pepper, feta cheese, bread, pesto, homemade noodles, onions and garlic, and a few bottles of vino (2 for 5 euro!) we also got large bushels of basil and oregano for only .70 euro each. We also got lettuce, tomatoes on the vine and some assorted cheese. The only thing not fresh was the red sauce, which came in a jar. When we arrived home we decided that me and jason (roommate from cali) would make the first dinner. We started by cutting up the garlic, (making sure to take out the bitter root) onions, bell pepper and basil. I poured some olive oil in and started cooking! We have 5 girls on the same floor as up that we can talk to through windows (including one in the kitchen) so we conversated with them while we cooked. Next we started the pasta water and put the hamburger in. While that cooked i made a salad with fresh cucumber, bell pepper, feta, vine tomatoes and ground pepper (thanks pops!) after that was done i put it in the fridge to wait. While jason was stirring the meat i cut a loaf of bread and put pesto and feta on it and set it aside, to be put in the stove when everything was almost ready. After the meat cooked through we added the redsauce, basil, oregano, a little vino and let it cook. Our stove is a gas flame range with an electric oven which seems to be typical italian, mismatched and up to no certain standard, which isnt necessarily a bad thing. While everything was being cooked we had appetizers of fresh salami, assorted cheeses with bread and olive oil and balsamic to eat. As everything was finishing up we set the table and opened some more wine. We made the salad dressing out of the excellen balsamic and great olive oil we bought at the market. It was a great feeling to sit down and eat our first meal all together, especially one that we made. All my roommates are going to cooking school and weve agreed to take turns making meals so this was only the first of many. Im excited because everyone is from different areas. Theres Jason the energetic skinny guy from Cali, theres will the hard partier (who had to get stitches already from his a drunken night) , Steele the one with the most experience and the most serious disposition who i share a room with, then theres anton whos going to berkely and is a fun guy, scott who lives in germany but is from pennsylvania, and mario who looks like jason giambi and has italian parents. Hes from new york but can read and speak italian so he helps up all often. Everyone brings something to the group and has different cooking styles we all get along and it should be a good experience. After dinner (which was very good if i dont say so myself) we went to our neighbors, the american girls, because they were lucky enough to have a nice patio to sit on. Even tho it was a simple meal it was very satisfying. Jason pulled out a nice Cuban cigar and we enjoyed that also. Great night.

Intense!

Wow! I feel like i've done more in these last couple days than i have in the last 3 months. I flew out of Anchorage Alaska Sunday at 1:20 pm. After a relatively easy 8 and a half hour flight ( which I got no sleep on) the fun began. First we landed in Frankfurt and waited on the tarmac while buses came to load us up and take us to the terminal. Once inside (which was full of smokers) we (my girlfriend Brittany) found our way to the baggage claim. After gathering our 300 punds of luggage we walked right through customs and up to the Eurail station, which was a huge glas and metal dome. We arrived about 5 minuted before the next train to firenze was to leave. We hurried on and settlled into some nice, big leather chairs. When the attendant came to check our tickets we found out that their were so many empty seats. We gathered all 300 punds and started the journey to the coach cart - which was only 4 cars away. After two cars of bumping into people that speak different languages than us we gave up and stood in the area where people get on and off. The first train was from frankfurt to Basel, switzerland: The thing that stuck out was how every available surface along the tracks, every wall and fence was covered in grafitti. (some of it quite good) There was even a G-Unit Germany tag. after the about 4 hour ride we arrived in basel where we switched trains. A canadian man that I had been talking too gave us a hand with the luggage and some tips on using the eurail. The next train we entered was older and much hotter than the previous. This leg of the trip was from Basel to Milano Italy. Switzerland was full of beautiful towns, homes and the greenest grass ive ever seen. I tried talking to an Italian couple and their kids but they didnt speak English and mu Italian is pretty limited. (although im pretty good with the basics now) When we arrived in Milano the Italian customs swarmed the sweltering train and stood around looking at paperwork while I sat sweated. Brittany was able to sleep on the plane and had slept on much of the train rides. I was exhausted and my brain was confused by the time change. We arrived in Milano at 5:45 PMlocal time, which was supposed to be 7:45 AM (Alaska time). The train station in Milano was huge and busier than the others we had been to. It was still hot out and by the time we found our train and loaded our luggage i was soaked in sweat again. During this train ride i was so tired i wasn't even enjoying the scenery anymore, which was so cool and surpassed my imaginations before the trip. On the way to Firenze I wouldnt let myself fall asleep, as Brittany already had and I had been subjected to months of stories about how I would be robbed blind at any second. I bought a panino at the train cafe, enjoying my first Italian food. I then began to worry about what we would do that night. We werent scheduled to checkin at our schools until the next day and had nowhere to stay. Luckily my step-mom had made a list of hotels close to the trainstation, and although we had no reservations it was a chance to avoid sleeping at the trainstation, which seemed to me an invitation for robbery. When we reached Florence we gathered our bags and tried to find a phone. Florence was hot and humid and the station was full of people. After a few attempts we figured out the phone and called the first on the list: hotel roma. ( http://www.hotel-roma-firenze.it/ ) The lady at the other end answered my "Parle Inglese" with a "si" and confirmed they had rooms available, only not at the quoted student rate. She said they would be 160 euro, which is about 200 dollars. We had no other options, plus splitting it it would only be 80 each. We hailed a cab and loaded up our luggage. We drove the five minutes to the hotel and the fare was 6.40. When we got out the fare jumped to 14. It took a few cab rides to realize they add tips and luggage charges themselves. (although not one refused the tips i offered) We arrived at the hotel and had new energy. We were finally here! the city was so beautiful. Huge stone building that you knew were there long before the country that i live in. Out hotel was beautiful also. When we checked in the kind desk lady took pity and lowered our rate to 120. We went to our room and got settled, looking out the giant windows at Firenze's noisy night life. Motorcycle and car engines revved, weird sirens screamed, and drunk people yelled. The building directly across the impossibly small street had red clay tile roofs and beautiful columns. Our room was very nice and we enjoyed the bidet that was provided. (makes you feel very clean). I went out by myself and explored a little bit. I brought back a couple Gellatos (yogurt and strawberry flavored) which were sooooooo good. We went to bed at about midnight. We woke up at about 6 and couldnt fall back asleep. We repacked, showered and went down stairs to get the free breakfast. I dressed a little differently than i do in fairbanks. No white shirt under the button up, just the wife beater and my black dress shoes. The waiters were in tuxes and the food was great. Fresh bread, different kinds of prosciutto, cheeses, croissants, cereal, orange juice and other food. I ordered a cappuchino which turned out to be the best ive ever had, which i kind of expected. After breakfast we loaded up and headed to our school check in. When we arrived i couldnt feel my passport. I got all worried and nervous but figured i would retrace my steps and if I couldnt find it there was no sense getting all worked up. I filled out the paperwork to get my room key, cell phone and instructions. The cab that picked us up and we swung by the hotel, where my passport was waiting on the counter. The scare convinced me to carry around a copy and leave the real one at home. We then took a cab to Brittanys apartment, or as close as we could get. We had to awlk a couple blocks as her apartment is in a building in the middle of the downtown market, which is awesome. On the way there we saw all the stores you hear about, Gucci, Farragamo, fendi, and all the rest. The street market was really cool. It was ON THE SAME STREET as the Duomo ( google it) which is the most amazing building i had ever seen (until we found THE most amazing building later). Its a huge building with an impossible number of detailed statues and painting all over it. I havent been inside it yet. Right next door to that was the medici building, where the statue of david is. And this is right in front of her apartment. (which has a really cool rooftop patio that loos over the entire plaza. After unloading her bags we walked about 4 blocks up through the market to my flat, which doesnt have the view hers does but still was in an excellent location. The duomo towered ower all the other builings, making it impossible to get lost, as we lived right next to the structure that dominates the skyline. We then set out to shop. I have never even imagined the amount of stores that exist in Florence. Every other door is full of designer clother or the best looking food and gellato you have ever seen. We stopped by a little cafe and bought some pizza which, once again as expected, was easily the best pizza i have ever had. we walked around and shopped for a few hours. I tried my hand at haggling and it worked out well. I was able to get some money off almost everything we bought. While looking for the arno river we walked into a large plaza with statues. At the other end was an ancient looking huge building. On a whim i decided to go in. Inside was the mose breathtaking building I have ever seen. It was a church called : Bsilica Santuaio della ss. Annunnziata . Please google it. It was huge and every inch was filled with art. The ceilings were so high up. The walls were covered in sculptures big and small. Different areas branched off and were dedicated to different saints or religious figures. the center ceiling was huge and domed and had a painting comparable to the sistine chapel. After taking about a hundred pictures we left. After some more shopping we returned to our respective homes and met some of the roommates. I am now at an internet cafe. I dont have my cord for my phone but i promise pictures. they are pretty cool. I had high expectations and so far everyone of them has been surpassed. The people are great (especially if you try to speak in italian) the food is amazing, and the buildings and ard is unbelievable. It seems like a dream. I wish my entire family was here to share my experiences. There have been things all day that have made me think of you guys and how you would enjoy them. Not trying to rub it it! Just saying come visit..... More later. Arrivederci