Dining Out - Italian

One of the things that I know I am challenged with is my taste in food.  I know - people think I'm a fussy eater.  They may be right, but I prefer to think that I have distinctive tastes.  You have to understand, when I was growing up, the food I ate was generally neutral in nature... not in a bad way, just bland - there isn't any other way to say it.  I think my mom did a great job of trying to appease ten children and one husband who all may have had different palates.  I also think she might have preferred to cook a bit more exotically (which probably means something different to every one of us).  My meat and potatoes foundation was just the way I was brought up.

I actually believe that I am a more adventurous eater today - much more so than in my younger days.  My wife (or my children) wouldn't agree with my own assessment, but that's their prerogative.  I offer proof of this by pointing to some foods that I would have never touched as a teenager - broccoli, for example.  Oooooh, you might be thinking - that's really stretching it, Daren.  Believe me, for me, it is.  And I'm sure there are other foods I could name... but I can't recall what they are just now.

With this prohibitive background in mind, Erin brought us to an honest to goodness Italian restaurant for lunch today.  It was named Era Ora, which loosely translated means "it's about time" or "time is now" - not really certain if that is correct or not.  Nevertheless, I suppose it was about time I tested my ever expanding (?) culinary experience. 

I do have to say once again that on the way to the restaurant (which was only about a mile or so from the naval base) my belief in the ability of Italian drivers to be theological teachers was reinforced.  Several times the fear of God was instilled within me as drivers pulled in front of us, tried to pull in front of us, or just zipped to and fro with their smaller Italian made cars - designed for such zipping.  Maybe what makes this driving so hard to adjust to is the narrower roads in Italy versus what we are used to in the United States.  Smaller cars work well on narrower roads, but they also appear to be closer together.  At any rate, we made it to the restaurant in no time and entered the front door.

One of Erin's friends joined us - Lauren - with her daughter Elise.  Good thing because Lauren has a grasp on the Italian language.  I would have pointed to the menu and hoped that I received what I hoped for.  She was able to converse with the waiter more directly.  That was cool.  I looked over the menu and decided that I was going to try the Diavola pizza, which was a pizza with these ingredients listed in English: tomato, mozzarella, pepperoni, and spicy.  I didn't really know what the spicy ingredient was all about.  But I gave it a whirl anyway.  

Nancy ordered the Fresca Fresca pizza (flatbread pizza with fresh salad on top, fresh tomato and buffalo mozzarella); Erin ordered the Crocco pizza (mozzarella, crumbled crocche, ham, salami and cream); and Lauren ordered the Margherita pizza (different than what we might think - just a pizza with sauce, cheese and basil).  We also ordered a couple of antipasto appetizers which included bruschetta (a light bread toasted with tomato on top) and zeppalini (a fried bread which reminded me of doughnut holes that were not sugared - yeah, I tried one).

Our waiter was a very quiet, pleasantly dressed Italian with a gentle manner about him.  He watched over our table throughout the meal - waiting for any need we might express.  I wasn't overly adventurous, but I did try Erin's pizza which was different, but ok.  My pizza was very spicy, but I handled it.  I was impressed with the size of the pizzas - they appeared to be about the size of a medium pizza in the U.S. but only cost about 4 Euros ($4.96) which is a very reasonable price, I thought.  

My first experience of eating in an Italian restaurant - I'd give myself a C+ only because I stayed within the lines of my own experience.  Perhaps someday I may branch out and try other more interesting dishes, but for right now, I'm okay with where I am at.  

When in Rome... well, my driving perhaps, but maybe not when it comes to eating Italian... not yet, anyway.  Tomorrow might prove to be interesting - Erin has enrolled both of us in an Italian cooking class.  Wonder what will happen there...