Friday, January 9, 2009

2009

I'm finally getting around to post the festivities of New Years Eve. Being off from work for two-and-a-half weeks, it has been hard to get my gears back into "work" mode.

This New Years we spent in Bologna with The Pacheco's. Giancarlo made reservations at one of the BEST restaurants (in my opinion) that Bologna has to offer, Osteria Broccaindosso.

Ready...set...go...

The osteria is named after the street it's on - via Broccaindosso, which means Street Spilled Jug. Legend has it that back in the time of the renaissance there was a cardinal, or maybe even a pope (I'm not really sure), that was visiting Bologna and leading a procession down the street that now houses this osteria. The cardinal, surrounded by gold and all this wealth from the Church, was carrying a jug of sacramental wine, when all of a sudden he slipped and this jug spilled all over him. Hence the name via Broccaindosso. Go there hungry.

Here's a little backstory- One random night we walked in with a friend to try and have dinner, they were booked (of course) but it smelled so out-of-this-world that we knew we had to come back and eat there. After talking with other friends, we found out that it is the type of restaurant where you don't order. You sit down, and whatever they decided to make that day, you eat. And, you eat everything.


Lentils and a pig's foot... we let Giancarlo's dad enjoy the pig's foot

Primi piatti- Tortelloni alla zucca (pumpkin) e agnelotti ai fungi (mushrooms)

Secondo- Manzo e vitello (Beef and Veil) con patate

So, skipping lunch in preparation for dinner, we arrived hungry and in anticipation. Before we could even take off our coats, the waiter started to bring out the antipasti. Not just one, but one after another, after another, after another. I lost count of how many plates were on the table while I was taking off my scarf and trying to reach for my camera. There were so many plates on our little table, that the waiter had to wait till we finished one off to bring out the next.

Next up were the primi piatti, which (thankfully) was just one course of two different pasta types, unlike the table next to us which had endless amounts of family style spaghetti dishes (spaghettoni) being delivered. The secondo followed.... and then... there was the dessert. Every single dessert imaginable was on our table that night, and just like the antipasti, it was never ending. Every time we thought we were finished, more desserts were brought out. Then fruit. Our saving grace was walking after that meal to the Piazza.

Dessert- round one. (Eat it, Marcello.)

Round 72- Zuppa Inglese

Round 131- Cream puffs

Round 132- A bowl of chocolate... to go on top of the cream puffs...

A sampling of rounds 175, 197 and 205

Making it to the Piazza with 10 minutes to spare, we watched a variety of events already taking place. I can't even begin to explain, and at midnight they lit what at first I thought was a rat (it's actually a wolf) but it represents an old man (or the old year) and they set it on fire. Needless to say, it was quite amazing, I mean where in America can you have a huge bonfire in front of a 500 year-old landmark building and no hippies joining the party? (Sorry Burning Man... you got nothing on this.)

A puppet.... on fire....

The old man/rat/wolf thing pre-fire & circ-du-soelil dude on the crescent moon

The old man/rat/wolf thing on fire

Happy 2009!!!

2 comments:

nicole aka gidget said...

You had me at big bowl of chocolate. :)

Brad said...

it all looks so delicious!
Brad :)

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