Mario may have eaten Italy, but the world's a better place for it. Knowing that a person can cook like that somewhere in the world makes me really happy.
Well, drama ensued last night. I called my dingaling sister to tell her what time I was planning to pick her up today...and she had forgotten that she had promised to go with me. On top of that, she agreed to babysit a pile of kids at 1
So, my mom was going to take her place...but between 10pm and 8am it all changed again. My mom watched the pile of kids and my sister got to go with me after all.
And boy, was she glad she did.
We met Deanna at Lidia's and when we got inside, the waiter--who was told to seat us in the loft--took us to the dining room and said, "Seat yourselves." Now, I've never been to Lidia's so I don't know where the loft is...and it turns out that I still don't, because he put us in the main dining room. We were 15-20 feet from the demonstration stage. It was sort of interesting seating--they had us packed in, family style, so there were four other people at our table. Mario came out and the guy sitting across from me said, "This is like being at a rock concert, only with food." Which was entirely accurate. The feeling in the air was exactly the same.
So Mario comes out and starts cooking. He made Spaghetti with Garlic, Onion, and Pancetta and as he was cooking, waiters were dashing around everywhere serving antipasti: Genoa cheese bread and some really fantastic marinated vegetables--zucchini, red and yellow peppers, olives, and fresh mozzerella cheese.
Then he started in on the second dish, which was Ricotta Gnocchi with Fennel and Sausage, and by this time, everyone is wiggling with anticipation. When do we get to eat?? The gnocchi have come together with the sauce, the antipasti is gone, and they're reeling up the video cable getting ready to move upstairs. Mario answered half a dozen questions (What happened to Mario Eats Italy? Food Network cancelled it, if you liked it, write to them. What's your favorite thing to cook? 2 things: pasta and breakfast for his 2 boys every day. What's it like being an Iron Chef? Well, it used to be that middle aged people would approach him on the street and say, Hey Molto, how's it going? Now it's 11-15 year old boys who approach him very solemnly, bow quickly, and say "Iron Chef Italian!" So he bows back, because that's what they expect.). Then he started toward the loft to finish the demo, so the closest I got to him was when he passed about 4 inches from me--I was sitting on the edge of the aisle
The second demo started and the waiters rush out of the kitchen with these HUGE frying pans loaded with spaghetti and start dishing it out to everyone, and I took one bite and fell in love. I've GOT to learn how to make it. Tender pasta, a touch of garlic and hot chile, sweet onions and salty pancetta. I cannot say enough good things about that spaghetti. Meanwhile we're watching the video screen while Mario's making Pansotti with Walnut Sauce, which was sort of half-moon shaped ravioli stuffed with zucchini and cheese in a sauce made primarily of butter and walnuts, and we're served our gnocchi. It turns out that I prefer potato gnocchi, but these were still very good, and the sauce was so rich and full of flavor. Mario finished his demonstration, the pansotti showed up on my plate...and I was too full to eat them. I managed to eat one, which was the size of the palm of my hand, out of the six (six!! Holy smokes, do I look like a bottomless pit??). I had already eaten all my spaghetti and a little more than half of the gnocchi. I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped, but I'm sure that was because I was already so full. Then I looked around, and Deanna's got an empty plate. I glance at my sister's plate, and she's got one of the pansotti left, and I don't know where they put it And oh, you guys, even if everything I just described had sucked, dessert would have made up for it. Ever heard of Sanguinaccio? Me neither, but I'm going to learn that one, too. It's a bittersweet chocolate pudding with roasted pine nuts, and it was so rich and sweet with that dark chocolate bite...ah, it was heaven. Then they announced that Mario was available to personalize our signed books if we liked...for 20 minutes on the north patio. So 200 people run for the door after inhaling their dessert, and they hauled him back in for the 1pm demo before we got to meet him 
You know that feeling you get after really good sex? The way people can look at your face and know that you couldn't be more satisfied? I've had that look all afternoon. Deanna calls it gastronomic ecstasy, but secretly we both know it's just a food orgasm
Mario talked about a similar feeling--the lust that overcomes you for anyone and everyone who walks by after you've eaten a really fresh, well made meal. And let me tell you, when he walked by, he was the one I wanted to grab
although I did feel vaguely guilty for lusting over him when someone asked him about his family and he described them by saying, "I have a perfect wife and two wonderful sons."
And I got a few pictures--they're only ok. The lights that were on him because of the video camera kept giving my camera bad readings, and I kept forgetting I even had it with me.
Argh, sorry, this one's giant and out of focus
He wouldn't stop talking long enough to not have a dorky look on his face
Well, drama ensued last night. I called my dingaling sister to tell her what time I was planning to pick her up today...and she had forgotten that she had promised to go with me. On top of that, she agreed to babysit a pile of kids at 1
So, my mom was going to take her place...but between 10pm and 8am it all changed again. My mom watched the pile of kids and my sister got to go with me after all.
And boy, was she glad she did.
We met Deanna at Lidia's and when we got inside, the waiter--who was told to seat us in the loft--took us to the dining room and said, "Seat yourselves." Now, I've never been to Lidia's so I don't know where the loft is...and it turns out that I still don't, because he put us in the main dining room. We were 15-20 feet from the demonstration stage. It was sort of interesting seating--they had us packed in, family style, so there were four other people at our table. Mario came out and the guy sitting across from me said, "This is like being at a rock concert, only with food." Which was entirely accurate. The feeling in the air was exactly the same.
So Mario comes out and starts cooking. He made Spaghetti with Garlic, Onion, and Pancetta and as he was cooking, waiters were dashing around everywhere serving antipasti: Genoa cheese bread and some really fantastic marinated vegetables--zucchini, red and yellow peppers, olives, and fresh mozzerella cheese.
Then he started in on the second dish, which was Ricotta Gnocchi with Fennel and Sausage, and by this time, everyone is wiggling with anticipation. When do we get to eat?? The gnocchi have come together with the sauce, the antipasti is gone, and they're reeling up the video cable getting ready to move upstairs. Mario answered half a dozen questions (What happened to Mario Eats Italy? Food Network cancelled it, if you liked it, write to them. What's your favorite thing to cook? 2 things: pasta and breakfast for his 2 boys every day. What's it like being an Iron Chef? Well, it used to be that middle aged people would approach him on the street and say, Hey Molto, how's it going? Now it's 11-15 year old boys who approach him very solemnly, bow quickly, and say "Iron Chef Italian!" So he bows back, because that's what they expect.). Then he started toward the loft to finish the demo, so the closest I got to him was when he passed about 4 inches from me--I was sitting on the edge of the aisle
The second demo started and the waiters rush out of the kitchen with these HUGE frying pans loaded with spaghetti and start dishing it out to everyone, and I took one bite and fell in love. I've GOT to learn how to make it. Tender pasta, a touch of garlic and hot chile, sweet onions and salty pancetta. I cannot say enough good things about that spaghetti. Meanwhile we're watching the video screen while Mario's making Pansotti with Walnut Sauce, which was sort of half-moon shaped ravioli stuffed with zucchini and cheese in a sauce made primarily of butter and walnuts, and we're served our gnocchi. It turns out that I prefer potato gnocchi, but these were still very good, and the sauce was so rich and full of flavor. Mario finished his demonstration, the pansotti showed up on my plate...and I was too full to eat them. I managed to eat one, which was the size of the palm of my hand, out of the six (six!! Holy smokes, do I look like a bottomless pit??). I had already eaten all my spaghetti and a little more than half of the gnocchi. I didn't enjoy it as much as I'd hoped, but I'm sure that was because I was already so full. Then I looked around, and Deanna's got an empty plate. I glance at my sister's plate, and she's got one of the pansotti left, and I don't know where they put it
And oh, you guys, even if everything I just described had sucked, dessert would have made up for it. Ever heard of Sanguinaccio? Me neither, but I'm going to learn that one, too. It's a bittersweet chocolate pudding with roasted pine nuts, and it was so rich and sweet with that dark chocolate bite...ah, it was heaven. Then they announced that Mario was available to personalize our signed books if we liked...for 20 minutes on the north patio. So 200 people run for the door after inhaling their dessert, and they hauled him back in for the 1pm demo before we got to meet him
You know that feeling you get after really good sex? The way people can look at your face and know that you couldn't be more satisfied? I've had that look all afternoon. Deanna calls it gastronomic ecstasy, but secretly we both know it's just a food orgasm
Mario talked about a similar feeling--the lust that overcomes you for anyone and everyone who walks by after you've eaten a really fresh, well made meal. And let me tell you, when he walked by, he was the one I wanted to grab
although I did feel vaguely guilty for lusting over him when someone asked him about his family and he described them by saying, "I have a perfect wife and two wonderful sons."
And I got a few pictures--they're only ok. The lights that were on him because of the video camera kept giving my camera bad readings, and I kept forgetting I even had it with me.
Argh, sorry, this one's giant and out of focus
He wouldn't stop talking long enough to not have a dorky look on his face
VIEW 4 of 4 COMMENTS
Hope you had a great time! That was one heck of a journal entry!