A Fine Dining Experience

Last night, for the first (and likely last) time of the trip, everyone in the program was taken out to dinner by the directors. This date had been marked on my calendar for quite some time because I knew it was going to be nice. And boy, was I right.

Everyone got dressed up to go out (we still paled in comparison to the Italians) and everyone was excited.

There was a long walkway to enter the restaraunt with paintings on either side and two giant scultpures of lions to greet those dining. Given the summer time and the heat, all of the tables were outside and the setting could not have been more lovely.

The entertainment for the evening was middle aged man who was dressed head to toe in white. I especially took notice to his Panama style hat that was white witht the exception of a black ribbon. Each server was wearing a bow tie and the lighting on the tables and the nearby tress was well executed.

There was a pre-determined menu so everything was going to be a surprise. If you are not too familiar with the Italian lifestyle there are many courses and it is always tasty.

For the anitpasti we had six dishes total: prosciutto, prosciutto with vegetables, cuscos, zucchini with muscles, fried tofu & cheese, and beats. I had every single type on my plate and I ate every single one.

Next, we had risotto with lemon al dente. I am usually not that big of a fan of the al dente but I did think this was tasty. Again, I ate it all.

For the secondi, we had pasta with muscles and shirmp. This was delicous. Everything was extremely fresh and cooked perfectly. And yes, I ate it all.

My apologies, I forgot to mention that we had the option of red, white, or rosse wine. And as much of it as we wanted. (Although this was ideal, I must admit that girl seated to my immediate left could have benefited from a fixed amount. However, we were able to get a video of her singing along to a Christina Agueilara song using a bottle of Pellegrino as a microphone)

Onto dessert. We began dessert with a tasty little lemon sorbet. This was followed by three little sweets. They were as follows: croissants with choclate inside, a muffin with rasberry filling, and shortbread cookies with choclate.

Lots of pictures were taken as well as requests for more wine. From the food to the music to the layout of the restaraunt itself, the ambiance was amazing.

After dinner, I went out with my teaching assistant from Wesleyan as well as my current Italian teacher here in Lecce. We shared what is called a "Maxi Mojito" and talked about everything from The Simpsons to Italian men and women to the best pizza in Italy.

All in all, I'd say it was an enjoyable night. What do you think?