Family Dinner

Last Sunday, there was a reunion dinner for the people who had participated in the ski trip (and spouses and children and....) at the Ristorante Jacopone (owned by Fabrizio and Nadia...Nadia also runs the dance school where I take flamenco lessons, but I digress).

To tell the truth, I was feeling cold and pitiful and really did not want to go out for dinner, but we had said we would so we did.

We got there, and all the tables in one room had been pulled to the side to create a buffet table and to clear floor space for dancing. After a period of time for arrivals and greeting, we sat down at diverse tables (I'm guessing there were about 40 people?) and enjoyed an absolutely luscious meal.

One of the charming things about dinners of this sort is that at the end of a course, the waiters will come around with hot serving trays to offer seconds all around. You will never leave hungry!

The menu went something like this:

appetizer plate with prosciutto, a yummy muffin-sized potato creation (kind of like scalloped potatoes, but not), bruschetta with pate, and a rissole (small fried rice croquette)

risotto...the best I had ever tasted. I'm usually not a big risotto eater, but I had to pass the compliments to Nadia; the darling promised to teach me how to make it! Yum!

pasta...homemade, with a tomato-pancetta (think bacon) sauce.

Another plate of something...oh, little sausage sandwiches and something else, don't remember.

And then desserts, a smorgasbord of traditional Carnevale treats. I don't remember what veg we had, to tell the truth, but it was in there.

After dinner, the group started dancing, karaoke, performing instrumentals (one fellow had brought his flute along), and then the Conga line that went through the restaurant, back into the kitchen, out the door leading into an alley, down the alley, and back in the front door. The more "sober" of us hung out in the kitchen drinking coffee or a digestivo or both.

Everyone is related to everyone else, and Nadia spent some time explaining the relationships, which was very helpful.

Buon appetito!

Alexandra