For those of you outside this particular hemisphere it’s been beastly hot here in Florence this past week, although by all accounts it’s nothing compared to the terribly hot temps here the week before we returned to Italy. Still, we seem to spend most of our time during the hot part of the day inside our air conditioned apartment, reading, sleeping, drinking plenty of water and just waiting for the sun to dip below the horizon so we can go outside and scurry around with the other ants looking for gelato, vino, or whatever. (photo: corner of Giotto's Tower.)
And speaking of scurrying, this past Wednesday we caught up with Melinda and Dave. We arranged to meet them at about 8:30 for dinner at Simone’s “ristorante” (a “club really, but more of that later) in the “Oltrarno”, the funky part of Florence on south side of the Arno River (and birthplace of Machiavelli for your poli sci majors).
Now one of the attractions of the “Oltrarno” is that there are fewer tourists around at night – although this time of year pretty much everyone is outside until late in the evening, probably to get away from the inferno inside their apartments. Anyway, we thought we would head over to the Piazza Santo Spirito for an aperitivo before dinner – and discovered – now get this – not only is there live (and free) jazz every night in the piazza but “they” have made a point of declaring it a free Wi-Fi access zone as well! Bring your laptop, surf the ‘Net, sit outside, buy a drink, eat some antipasti and just hang out listening to music. Now is that civilized or what?
Susan and I found a table, ordered a brace of Negroni Sbagliati (equal parts Campari and red Vermouth with a splash of prosecco) and just sat enjoying the warm evening air.
About 8:20 we got a call from Andrea, a woman in Holland who has an apartment for rent in Paris – and a great apartment too. We had been in contact by email and have decided to go with her offer. She just wanted to call and make sure we understood the disadvantages -- well only one really, there’s no lift and it’s on the 5th floor. It’s also more than we wanted to spend but we have come to the realization that in Paris rent schedules are on a wholly different plane than what we have previously been used to. More importantly, the apartment has a dynamite kitchen, a very homelike feel to it, is in a great location, across from the huge Jardin des Plantes (botanical garden), and should be a pretty easy Metro ride for Susan. We talked for about 20 minutes and reassured her that the “liftless” nature of the space was outweighed by the other (vastly more important) considerations. So now we have a place in Paris. Now comes the packing.
As I was talking with Andrea (“Drea”) Susan and I walked around the corner, to get away from the noise and bustle of the piazza. We had no sooner rang off than Melinda and Dave showed up just across the street from Simone’s “Club Canapone”. (The club is just around the corner from the Piazza Santo Spirito.) We rang the buzzer by the side of the “green door” and were let in. (photo: just off the Piazza del Duomo.)
So why “club” and not “ristorante”? Well the way it was explained to us is that in Florence there are far fewer restaurant licenses available and thus it is much more difficult (and far more costly) to open a restaurant where you can advertise your menu outside on the street than it is to open a “club”. Same deal otherwise from what we understand.
In any case, the food is outstanding and Simone does some truly interesting things: for example every Wednesday is Sushi night – Simone brings in a Sushi chef just for the occasion –and Sashimi is also available as well as veggie rolls and superbly prepared fish (Dave had grilled tuna, “tonno” and it was perfectly done).
For Susan and I the “piece de resistance” actually came early on in the evening; it was a seemingly little thing at the beginning of the meal that truly amazed us both. Before we started we were each given a bowl of steamed mussels in a fish broth (not a tomato broth please note). Now some years back I fell under the influence of the well-known Miami humorist Dave Barry, at least when it came to eating “mollusks”, which he described as the in the “phlegm family” of food. But this night we wolfed down the mussels – they were tender and cooked to perfection – of course what do I know about dining right, listening to Dave Barry all these years – and the broth at the bottom of the bowl was sooooo tasty. I just popped a bit of meat out of the shell, dipped into the broth and put in on a piece of the grilled toast which accompanied the “soup” and washed it all down with a crisp Falanghina white wine from Campania. The rest of the meal only got better as it continued the Asian theme: a smoky flavored fried rice that we all thought most unusual and very delicious, and three of us had Simone’s marinated chicken (Dave had the tuna). Wow!
Although the “Canapone” seats maybe 40 people, it doesn’t seem crowded or jammed. Moreover the prices are very reasonable (four courses with wine and water, about €35 per person) – indeed we think “Canapone” is one of the least expensive dining experiences we’ve had since moving to Florence. And they welcome you with a glass of chilled prosecco.
Is this a civilized country or what?
Wish you were here,
Steve
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