On an evening walk, I saw that a little Italian restaurant that I like had reopened, and that there was not a single solitary customer inside! We made the kind of Significant Eye Contact that can only pass between two very anxious people in a pandemic who have also been in love for 14 years, and we decided to risk it.
The otoshi was fresh octopus with summer tomato, which was DELICIOUS. I’ve never cooked octopus at home, so it felt really special. We ordered zeppoli (zeppoline?), mushroom and ham pizza, and bolognese sauce with sansho pepper. Everything was so tasty and the owner was so friendly and pleased to have customers.
Language note: the menu said 岩のりの揚げピザ (iwanori no age-piza), or fried pizza with wild nori. And I knew what zeppoli were, and I knew that the pizza frite my grandma used to make was actually fried dough, but my brain did not make any sort of sense or connection from the name until the owner set down the plate and I said, 「あっ！ゼッポリー！」and he said 「そう、ゼッポリーネ」. So that’s where I am mentally these days!
