TRATTORIA PALLOTTINO -- FLORENCE, ITALY
Thanks to Trattoria Pallottino, the upscale Italian
restaurants seem average, the dependable red table cloth joints have become
barely mediocre and my homemade pasta just plain lousy.
Maybe it comes off as backhanded, but that's about the
highest compliment I could pay to a family-run trattoria in the heart of
historic Florence.
Family is key, as the owner cradles a sleeping infant
against his shoulder as he hands you the menu.
He returns, little one in stroller this time, to tell you
the day's specials and to help steer you toward the menu items that are most
representative of Tuscan cuisine.
Tuscans are proud of the olive oil, white beans, wild
boar, beef, tomatoes, mushrooms and other items that come from their region.
They want patrons to know that no matter what the 100-plus
item Italian restaurant back on Mainstreet USA tells you, there IS NOT ONE
ITALY.
The nation has barely been unified for a century and a
half and unlike the globalization that kills individuality in the states, Italy
takes pride in its unique regional flavors.
PART 2 POSTS TOMORROW -- JUNE 8
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