Roman Holiday: Thanksgiving
Take that, Pumpkin Pie.
No turkey day for me this year. Although my study abroad program and my school were both sponsoring traditional American Thanksgiving dinners tonight, I vouched to hold family above the food and spend the evening with my lovely aunt and uncle, who are visiting me and the Eternal City this week.
We ventured to a higher-end restaurant called “‘Gusto,” located in the northern reaches of Rome. ‘Gusto features a 4-part harmony of pizzeria, fancier restaurant, wine bar, and gift shop. We ate in the pizzeria section, although the menu expanded far beyond just pizza.
We started out our meal with a Caesar salad and a tomato, mozzarella, and basil pizza to share. Side note: I am having a relationship with mozzarella. I am so saddened by the fact that I hadn’t experienced truly fresh mozzarella until this late in my time here, but you know I’ll be eating it every chance I get for the next 22 days.
For my main course, I had a sort of flank steak dish with arugula and cherry tomatoes, drizzled all over with balsamic vinegar, paired with a glass of Pinot Grigio. Not exactly turkey, but it felt so good to eat steak again (I’ve had beef maybe thrice during my time here, all three times in hamburger form).
Post-dinner, we walked to a gelateria my aunt had heard about called Gelateria del Teatro. It wasn’t far from the popular Piazza Navona, nestled in a sweet little alley, nicely decorated with flora and tables. But inside is where the real beauty lives.
A bemused frenchman served us up delicious and unique flavors in perfectly portioned cups. I tried three flavors: Sicilian Pistachio, Apple Cinnamon, and Rosemary+Honey+Lemon. Pistachio had chunks of real pistachio in it, Apple Cinnamon actually tasted like real apple sauce with a slight gelato consistency, and Rosemary+Honey+Lemon was refreshing and unlike anything I’ve ever tasted.
I may be missing out on a twenty-pound turkey and my grandmother’s sweet potato casserole, but that’s not a bad Thankgiving if I may say so.
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‘Gusto:
Gelateria del Teatro:
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