So many vegetables! With my pizza and pasta.

With the kitchen closed on the weekends, I was finally thrust into the Italian restaurant scene. Besides the gelato place I have already been to three times, my current goal is to not eat at the same restaurant twice. At least not until I can justify and articulate what makes that restaurant worth returning to. I have not had enough experience with Italian cuisine to fully understand what separates one restaurant's dish from all the rest, but I'm rather determined to figure it out. So, here are the beginning of my explorations:

Last night I got pizza. The same way Americans have supersized, well, everything, Italians supersized an "individual" pizza. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to scarf down that entire thing. It was a very Hannah style meal. Pizza with as many vegetables as they could find in their kitchen. I left full and pleased.

The only frustrating thing is not understanding what is on a bill. We're starting to figure out that just because we do not understand what it says, doesn't mean they're cheating us.

We did get to see an Italian dance performance as well. There were three pieces, and while I can't say I loved them all, I was happy we went. The first piece was phenomenal, with paper dolls, two women in brightly colored outfits, some onstage costume changes, and a lot of raw, natural movements. There was a heavy focus on the hip thrust and fist pump in a way that made me smile. The choreography, music, and movers were all enjoyable to watch, and seemed really passionate about the work. The second piece mostly consisted of a woman standing on stage singing and yelling. I must have missed the movement part. The third piece was odd but the performer had a good understanding of her body's ability, so I enjoyed watching her kinesthetic awareness.

Anyway, enough about dance. I know everyone's really just interested in the food. Today after mass we went to a restaurant that we'd heard was good. And it absolutely was. Of course we've given up on ordering water, because hydration is not worth the money. I'd rather spend it on this perfect ribollita:

For those of you who want to yell at me for not ordering pasta, ribollita is a traditional tuscan soup. It's filled with vegetables and tuscan bread. It was hearty and perfect for a cool day. Plus, I warned my friends I would be mooching off their pasta dishes. My roommate, Emily, got this gnocchi concoction in mozzarella and tomato sauce. I have never seen this much gnocchi, nor such small and circular shapes, but it was certainly tasty.

My other friend, Seth, ordered ravioli with 4 cheeses, spinach, and mushrooms. It was a heavier, creamier dish, but epically tasty. I couldn't get a picture because we dug into that one too quickly.

While I think this restaurant may be a winner, especially because they had English on the menu so I knew I wasn't ordering a full pig, I'll get back to you after I do more taste testing.