Sunday, May 18, 2008
Weekend n-7. La Giostra
Well, not the whole weekend was spent there, but this was the highlight of the weekend, I'll say. Haha. Jason and Ben came for a visit on Thursday, and unfornately, having an exam on Friday - and on Tuesday, I couldn't entertain them as much as I would have liked to. =( So they ended up going to the Cinque Terre by themselves, and wandering Pisa a little too by themselves. I played "Big Two" with them on Thursday night though, and brought them to the Mensa. Of course. ;) And dinner on Friday was at this little pizzeria on the other side of the leaning tower that was pretty yummy, and the atmosphere was really nice too! Since it's so out-of-the-way, we were the only tourists there. Heh. On Saturday though, we left for florence in the afternoon so I could try and get some last minute cramming done for my next exam, and this was seriously the highlight of our trip. I wish I had all the photos, but I was distracted enough to not have taken it from their cameras! Such a waste right? So they'll only be back to upload and stuff at the end of the month methinks. So you will have to live with my descriptions till then. :p  This restaurant, is the benchmark for all the other places I will visit from now on. The Italians and their penchant for eating dinner late meant that we got a reservation at a perfect time: 7.30. =) This quaint little place, is named La Giostra meaning carousel - because it used to have a cellar which house a carousel. Haha. It was so cosy! There are virtually no big lights. The arched ceiling is red-brick, and there are these branches stretch out above our heads, with sparkly lights entwined. There are no other lights in the whole place other than the candles in the centre of our tables, so it was incredibly cosy, although photo-taking was slightly tricky. The moment was sat down, someone appeared with a glass of bubbly (Prosecco - the white sparkling wine which is the italian equivalent of champagne)- and looked highly amused when I declined - and the cutest Colombian waiter ever appeared with a plate of Hors D'Oeuvres while we decided what to order. (He was so cute Ben was contemplating growing his hair out to look like that. Sorry Ben, only looks good if you're South American. :P) Before we got there, Gaston was checking out all the stars that went there, and he got so excited because Sting and John Travolta, and Metallica were there before, so he was wondering who we would meet this time. Alas, we were so bedazzled by our food, that we didn't pay attention to much else. Just our (cute) waiter and (canadian) waitress. Then someone else (maybe the chef? i'm not sure?) appeared to help us the the charming Italian menu - and we followed his reccomendation for the freshly handmade ravioli. with pear and pecorino! And the Penne with Gorgonzola and Pear. Ok, it sounds better in Italian: Pennette con Gorgonzola e pere William's Ravioli di Brie con carciofini Morelli And when the food came, after our first bites, it was like heaven. Seriously. It was sweet, and tangy and amazing. Just purely mind-blowing. Extraordinary enough for us to decide to order dessert, despite the fact that we were definitely blowing our budget on food for like, the whole month or something. Haha. The had the Tiramisù... sù... sù... sù... (That was how it was written in the menu, seriously! So cute!) And I had the Sacher Torte Imperiale (Warm chocolate cake, with molten chocolate sauce, and cream on the side with straweberries) They the Tiramisu was amazing, but I couldn't try it cos of the alcohol. =( Although my chocolate cake was so good, that I didn't even mind that it was dark chocolate! Haha. It was the coolest place ever, and the people were incredibly friendly - coming to our tables to check on us, how everything was. And the price was surprisingly affordable for service and food that stupendous! I heart it. I will tell everyone who comes here to go there. And if you want, I can bring you in exchange for a chocolate cake. I was even contemplating working there for free, as long as I get a meal each time I go there. I would so do it. Travel an hour there, and an hour back, just to have that amazing experience every single day. If I could do it in NUS to go to dinky school, I would definitely do it for food this good. Definitely a place I will return to before I leave Italy. I'll see it as my last farewell from here. ;) Oh and by the way, it's Michelin-rated. ;)
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