There are many great ways you can top off an incredible semester abroad in Rome. You can go to a Roma soccer game, scream your lungs off in pride and potentially risk being assaulted by the enemy team. You can take a trip to see all of the glorious tourist sights, musing at how familiar the landscape has become, which my apartment-mates and I did on Friday. You can go to Papal mass and re-explore Vatican city. You can tour the breathtaking Borghese gallery one last time. But if you think like I think, all you want to do is eat until the cows come home.
Sara and I enjoyed one of the most absolutely incredible meals of our semester at Antico Arco restaurant, a ten minute walk from our apartment, when my aunt and uncle were visiting in late September. The culinary experience was so memorable that, despite the steep prices, we promised we would return to toast to our final days in Rome. Last night was the night of our "last supper." Okay, maybe not exactly our last, but by far our best. And I had to go all out. If you know me, you know that I'd trade a trip to Paris for an unforgettable meal. So that is sort of how I rationalize selecting the tasting menu. There are only a few instances in your life when you can feasibly rationalize eating such an amount, especially when you are a 20-year-old girl who probably needs to refamiliarize herself with gym classes, but this was our last hurrah. This was it!
The meal was absolutely divine (see courses below) and it was incredible to rehash the past three and a half months with Sara, who has been there through it all and who I luckily get to take back to Emory with me. I know that, down the line, when we are missing these days to the extreme, we will be able to get together in our Clairmont apartments at school, throw some gnocchi al pomodoro together, listen to sappy Sara Bareilles songs and relive it all again. That is what is keeping me together right now, knowing that when it's over, it still won't be over for us. Cheers Roma! Thanks for your gastronomic goodness and the ultimate experience abroad!
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| Anchovy crostini with passionfruit mayonnaise |
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All of Sara's overjoyed expressions capture my
feelings about this food as well... |
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| Amber jack fish tartare with ginger, lime and puntarelle salad |
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| Poached egg, cauliflowers, yogurt,ricotta cheese and black truffle |
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Spello chick pea soup with chestnuts and breadcrumbs
flavored with dill |
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Risotto with Castelmagno cheese...nebbiolo sauce to the side
(the best red wine flavor ever!) |
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Eating her Rigatoni Gerardo di Nola with carbonara sauce
and black truffle...they gave me a little portion, too...as if I needed
to be eating more... |
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Beef tenderloin, pioppini mushrooms, pecorino cheese sauce,
potato and black truffle puree |
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| Pan brioche chips, goat cheese with herbs and a fruity compote |
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| A mini palate cleanser...walnut ice cream with dark chocolate! |
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And the final touch of any life-changing meal: Molten chocolate
soufflé cake with vanilla & rhum ice cream |
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| Sara snacking on killer tiramisu |
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| A cheesy Christmas tree pose was essential here |
In 6 days I will be back in Rockville, MD. It's surreal. Hoping the last six are as great as the past three months and change have been.
Baci,
Alexi
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