I love figs. I love seasonality and I love food. Italy, is decidedly the best place on earth for all three of those things. What is better than enjoying delicious food and a beautiful country? Despite all the naysayers, trolls and disgruntled people who lament the perils of Italy, I stand firm that Italy is a country worth saving and not giving up on. I am inspired by this every time I bite into something wonderful, such as the luscious figs that started to creep in at the end of summer and sprawling the markets. Continue Reading →
Vogue’s Fashion Night Out is basically the night where I realize how much I am not “with it,” my outfits probably make no sense and that I should eat rice cakes and fat free yogurt for the rest of my life. It also painfully reminds me how much I cannot wear heals and how Florentines put the icing on the glitz and glamour cake. I may sound like an embittered Daria, but let’s face it- Italians and their well-dressed immaculate put-togetherness makes us question our outwardly presented existence. Unless you are one of those people who moved here and learned how to emulate the well-dressed gods who grace these Renaissance streets, you probably know exactly what I am talking about. To be diplomatic at best, it is a night filled with flashy events, openings and shows, albeit shoving along the jam packed boulevards getting from one palazzo to the next. Continue Reading →
Last year, I discovered a pretty chic gourmet nook in Florence smack dab in the historical center yet in a little backstreet that the massive hoards would have difficulty in finding. Everybody wants “off-the-beaten-path in Florence” in one of the most heavily stomped cities in Europe. If there was a literal representation of a quality food & wine bar off the beaten path in Florence, it was Uscio e Bottega:. Continue Reading →
Ah! Yes! The craft bar scene is finally making a decent presence in Florence! Since I moved in 2012, I have noticed craft brew pubs pop up and that made my Seattle soul glimmer with hope. Hope in that this over-termed “Renaissance Pearl” is getting with the times. In Seattle, I was constantly charmed by craft cocktail spots like Canon Seattle and Knee High Stocking Co. and that love affair with bitter imbibements came to a screeching halt when I arrived in Florence. I missed my bitter old man drinks for my tortured gluttonous soul. Little by little, I discovered bitter bars but only to be heartbroken when one of my favorites (THE Bitterbar, where I actually practiced performing a wedding at) closed their doors to a likewise closed city of Chianti sluggers. Florentines have their habitual ways and it has been my observation that they are not very warm to anything beyond the ordinary. Unless they are the artsy, hipster type. Even then, these kids got lots to learn about living “avant-guarde.” Pardon the extremely opinionated banter, I warned you of my bitter old man ways. Continue Reading →
One hope in my gourmet work, is that I promote the revival of some food traditions that are seemingly becoming garbage, such as Aperitivo. Why is it becoming garbage- there are more and more bars boasting Aperitivo more than ever.Precisely!
To me, the concept of Aperitivo is to have a snack and a light appetite-stimulating drink (socially) before dinner. Aperitivo is not dinner and I shun the current wave of “aperi-cena” Continue Reading →
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