Dreaming of Gelato: 9/23

Wednesday night was pretty much a dream. I got to go behind the counter at my favorite gelateria and scoop for two hours! Scooping was surprisingly easy and incredibly fun. I would happily do it again.

It all started a few weeks back. We were hanging out at My Sugar and asked if they ever needed any help and they mentioned there was an event on the 23rd. Turns out, The Florentine, the English newspaper here, was putting on a free tasting event. They asked if we could come help out and translate, since their English is pretty minimal.

So this past Wednesday night, my friends Annie, Rachel and I headed over to My Sugar a little after 5ish to get ready for the event from 6-8pm. We were greeted by Julia, who came around and greeted us the proper Italian way, with a kiss on each side. She took us out and around through the building entrance — conveniently next door to the shop — and behind a few locked doors into the store! Behind the counter… behind the sinks and scoopers… behind the containers with all the cups and spoons… behind the big freezer. Later on, I got to view what I referred to as “Alberto’s secret lab” upstairs, with the actual gelato machines and his test kitchen.

Side note: the compost movement hasn’t really picked up here, so everyone still uses the same paper ice cream cups — not the cool compostable ones that are everywhere in the Bay Area. However, there isn’t any styrofoam, at all. But the Italians are far more resourceful. “Zip loc” bags, which don’t really exist, are re used. You get a bag of little plastic bags and TIES, they don’t zip! In America, we trash them after one use. Here? You wash it with a little soap and reuse it! On a similar note, most places don’t have dryers. Luckily we have a nice drying rack to hang our clothes on, otherwise they’d be clipped to a string out the window!

Allora (next), they told us how the night would go down. They had three new special flavors (chocolate rum, Greek yogurt with honey and sesame, and melacota — this one isn’t actually new — but it’s ricotta cheese with apples and cinnamon). Each person would taste them all and then they had to try to guess what they got! They would get a piece of paper to write their guesses on, and after submitting it, they got a coupon for a free scoop next time. In addition, every entry (right or wrong guesses!) was eligible for a raffle every 30 minutes for a prize. We didn’t end up getting to see what the prizes were since they did the raffles outside on the street. It was a busy night. There was so much foot traffic for awhile that it even blocked the road!

Our role was to scoop. Alberto would hang out with us and Julia was out in front meeting people and running the contest (her English is much better than his.) A little before 6, The Florentine people (a photographer and one or two head people) came by and started to set up some signage and an abundance of free newspapers. Customers started coming in and we would explain how it would work, give them their cup, and then try to get them to move out of the way so we could serve the next person. This last part proved difficult, as people liked to just stand there for awhile and ponder what they were tasting. Very few people guessed right.

Sadly, very few of our friends made it, even though we had told countless people and sent even more an invite on Facebook. All of the UC program had a big test the next morning and most people didn’t want to leave for free gelato. My Sugar isn’t super close to most of the student apartments, so unfortunately most people didn’t make it. My four housemates came though, which was really nice.

After a very fun, and busy, two hours, we closed down the shop. We took off our aprons and said goodbye to the behind-the-scenes tour of My Sugar. They told us they had made a reservation for apertivo nearby. One of our favorite bloggers here, Girl in Florence, had been hanging out for most of the evening with her dog and her fiance. They were there until the end, and we all hung out in front of the shop for a few minutes. Then we headed up the street two blocks to Kitsch.

Aperitivo traditionally is just a before-dinner drink and some light snacks. Now it’s become a whole ordeal, and if the food is good enough, or there is enough variety, it’s very easy to make a full dinner out of it. It’s also usually cheap. This place Kitsch is known for having some of the best aperitivo in town. We all ordered a drink and then went to the buffet in the back. It was HUGE. There were so many options, all delicious. I had a massive plate with a few types of pasta, some chicken, I think some fish, a bit of a potato dish, some veggies, some more veggies, and a few onion rings on top. I skipped over the hot dogs.

As the night went on, we started getting a little nervous because it was so late. Annie was more nervous than Rachel and I, but having a long dinner only in Italian is far better studying than going through flashcards of vocab or verb conjugations. We ended up at Kitsch for almost two hours! We left just after 10ish.

Speaking solely in Italian wasn’t easy, but I could definitely understand almost all of what they were saying. I’m at the point now where I can usually say what I want, or ask the right questions, but the verb tense and grammar isn’t perfect. Most of the time, it’s fine! People are very appreciative of the effort to speak, and a smile doesn’t hurt either. Most people are happy to help when I can’t finish a sentence and have to ask “come se dice…?”

We learned that they aren’t married… yet! But they’ve been together for five years and are hopefully getting married next summer — once in Korea for her family, and once in Italy for his. Maybe we’ll get an invite, just so I have an excuse to come back to Florence so soon.

They also invited us over for lunch one day. Julia said she’d make us Korean BBQ, which they don’t have here in Florence! We’ll have to wait until November though, when they will start closing on Sundays. Right now they’re working a full seven days each week. Also, this week Julia leaves for Korea for two weeks, leaving Alberto flying solo. He’s going to a bachelor party in Spain for a few days, but the rest he’ll be working alone. Maybe this will be a good time to try to work a few nights or learn from him on the weekends. In return, we told them we’d have them over for a Hanukkah party, as well as maybe Thanksgiving too. Overall, the aperitivo was delicious, and the conversation flowed well throughout the two hours, something I initially was nervous about. We had plenty to talk about and were able to communicate well for most of the night. There weren’t any awkward silences, instead there were selfies.

Wednesday night was great. We got to scoop gelato, get in a bunch of people’s pictures (of a very crowded store!), go out for aperitivo (they paid too!), all while hanging out with Italians! This is why we study abroad — not to go to American bars, not to hang out with other students from California — to get involved in the culture and make friends here.