April 17

What a treat. I am at a loss of words. Literally! I have spent the last 5 minutes staring off into space trying to come up with a pun about socks being knocked off. Anyways! Today, my cooking class went out to lunch. It was my kind of field trip. We went to a restaurant tucked in an alleyway behind the Uffizi called Ora d'Aria because my professor is friends with the head chef. We each had to pay 30 euro to attend. For the girl that scoffs at 2 euro gelato, I thought the price was pretty steep for a meal for students. Little did I know, the meal was heavily discounted and a person off the street would have paid no less than 90 euro for the meal. Fancy, schmancy. Upon sitting down, I placed my purse next to my chair. Within seconds, a waiter brought out a small stool and placed my purse on it for me. We were seated in a private room downstairs. Get this. All of the plates were sent to the basement on a food elevator that opened near our table. Get out of town. A food elevator! I can't wait to tell you about the menu. The meal started with a bread basket with three choices of bread: a salty rosemary, traditional, and yeasty rolls. Our glasses were constantly being filled with beer! Strange not to have wine. The first course was my favorite (upper left corner): farro stewed in port wine, topped with a poached egg and pancetta powder (for the meat eaters). It was sweet and savory. My lord, I wanted more! Next, we had a creamy chickpea soup with squid ink (lower left). I was horrified that some unadventurous students wouldn't try it with the mention of squid ink. Live a little people! Next came tagliatelli stuffed with tuna in a broccoli sauce with creamed cheese. Interesting dish. Served very al dente. Next, was the most beautiful piece of cod, poached in olive oil, topped with a pea puree. Took me straight to the Cape. Then, my phone died. I am only getting around 2 hours of battery life. Our dessert course was called "The Experience" and was a conceptual dish meant to symbolize the different soils of Tuscany. It had four elements: a lime gelato, a granita, powdered and sweetened cocoa, and a hazelnut foam. The four parts were served in a round bowl and we were instructed to swirl our spoons around to get some of each element before tasting. Wow. Loved it. The lime and chocolate were a surprisingly great pair. We ended with espresso. This meal was incredible! We were able to thank the chef on our way out.