How cool is it to have a full blown Film Festival in San Diego all about Italian movies?! The San Diego Italian Film Festival starts next Saturday October 3rd with an opening night at the Museum of Contemporary Art in La Jolla. Admission is free and the museum on Prospect is just lovely. You can’t miss it!

 

The movie playing for opening night will be “L’orchestra di Piazza Vittorio”, by Italian director Agostino Ferrente. This movie is a documentary on musicians from all over the world coming together in a Roman multicultural piazza. 

From the official Film Festival site: “Contagiously upbeat this is a rousing call to arms for world-music aficionados, with strong appeal to those who believe in the mini-miracles of neighborhood cultural initiatives. Describing how two Italians put together an orchestra of 30 foreign musicians living in Rome, all from different cultural traditions, this musical documentary shows us what art, initiative and politics can do”.

This is modern Italy. Forget the meatballs and go watch this movie if you’d like to understand modern multicultural, contemporary Italy.  

Friday October 3rd, 2008 @ 7:00PM
Museum Of Contemporary Art
700 Prospect, La Jolla.

And here’s a description of the movie I believe was written by UCSD professor Pasquale Verdicchio: “From somewhere among the palm trees of Rome’s Piazza Vittorio come the strains of “Mission Impossible” played on the cymbalon gypsy-style.  But that’s not the strangest thing you’ll hear or see in this lively film that delves into the newer reality of a multicultural, immigrant Italy.  Cubans, Ecuadorians, East Indians, Argentinians, Americans, Senegalese, Neapolitans all pitch in to teach us a little bit about getting along and making music together no matter what your native strains are! And so, a man from Caserta sings in Hindi, a New Yorker plays tablas, and a Senegalese griot singer serenades as we learn how to sell a used car in Tunisia, or anguish with a Rajasthani who has just arrived in Rome, wants to offer an orange drink to a girl on their first date, learn how to make Indian chai, Senegalese cous-cous, how to smoke a cigarette backwards, how to convince the city council to buy a red-light cinema and how to sing a song without words”. 

 

SD Italian Film Festival: www.sandiegoitalianfilmfestival.com
Agostino Ferrente on ImDB: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0274519/
L’Orchestra di Piazza Vittorio: http://www.orchestradipiazzavittorio.it/

Design is a term which sometimes is overused or used in the wrong contexts, at least in Italy. In fact, in the old country, design has become synonym of “high quality product”, going further and further from its industrial production and processes references. Why so? Because Italians like their stuff to be aesthetically appealing, never boring nor banal and trite. Hence the term is sometimes also used as a synonim of “made in Italy”.Why this introduction? Well, just because if you happen to be walking around downtown La Jolla and you’d like to see what Italians like to buy for their homes (and not just super rich Italians, mind you) then you must stop at MOS: My Own Space, an Italian design store.  They have everything a design junkie would want in a home: furniture, rugs, lighting, and accessories of all kinds. You may be not into this kind of contemporary, conceptual design type stuff, but only if just for the heck of it, stop by and check the goods out. Make sure to bring an overly stuffed wallet with you, in case you may want to dream of buying something.MOS is located at 7840 Girard Ave. La Jolla

 

www.mosmyownspace.com

Nothing beets a cappuccino at the good old Caffe’ Italia on India Street.
People behind the counter may not be Italian, and admittedly they are not always in the best of moods, but they know how to use the espresso machine.

Not only, they use my favorite brand of coffee: Lavazza. I know, I know the best Italian coffee is supposed to be Illy, but hey nobody is perfect.
On a side note I believe that part of the reasons why the place gets mixed reviews on the coffee is indeed the coffee brand, but I couldn’t care less.  The place is small and cozy, overlooks all the action on India, has magazines and dog bowls, wireless and an enclosed courtyard very Italian style. What else do you need more? Cute designs in the foam of your cappuccino? Oh wait… they do that too!

 

 

Caffe’ Italia is located on 1704  India St. 
619. 234.6767
http://www.caffeitalialittleitaly.com

Lavazza: another cool thing coming from Torino:
www.lavazza.com

A great opportunity wasted

 

 

When I saw that Buon Appetito Restaurant on India St. was going to open a small market right next door I was very excited and patiently waited for the opening.

Walking by while they were getting ready I could see stands, baskets and displays that looked Italian style so I was even happier.

The concept itself is also very Italian: a tiny market in a densely populated area, there for you when in need of something handy down the street.

I must admit that perhaps I had too high expectations, but I was really hoping to see a modern Italian shop with delicacies and imported items displayed in a way that doesn’t make us all look like third world (if you know what I mean).

Instead what I found was a place half step up from a convenience store, mediocre at best. Don’t get me wrong: it’s good and handy to have a little convenience market on India, but I just think it was a great opportunity wasted: wouldn’t it be much better to have a high quality, clean, and tidy imported Italian specialty store right there?

Italian Gelato in Little Italy

 

OK, I tried. Then I tried again. And I tried once more. I am sorry, but their ice-cream just doesn’t do it for me. The first time I thought that perhaps it was about the flavor I picked. So I went back and gave some other flavors a try. The second time I thought that perhaps being just back from Italy I was simply in a spoiled mode. Hence I tried once again. The third time I decided I gave Pappalecco’s ice-cream enough tries, and if I still wasn’t quite sure about it, there must have been a reason.

In all fairness gelato is one of the toughest Italian delicacies to replicate. Too many factors play in: the milk, the water, the fruit (or the lack of therein) and many more. These ingredients are simply not the same over here and when you put them together, well they don’t give quite the same result.

So in essence it’s not that Pappalecco’s gelato is bad, it’s good enough, but doesn’t live up to the hype.

The place itself looks very modern Italian and the owners seem to be very dynamic young people, the place has lots of young international customers too (Vantaggio Suites are just down the street).

Anyhow, their coffee and croissants are actually good, a bit pricey, but good for a nice breakfast in the neighborhood.

So this is not the review of the aperitivo, it is a review of a complete dinner experience. This place has two staples: the First Course Sample and the Filet in Blueberry Sauce. We tried them both and although we were unimpressed with the first, we liked the second quite a lot.

For an Italian abroad, ordering pasta is always a tricky deal. It is kind of a double-edged sword: we generally stay away from pasta as we know the chances of being satisfied are not in favor, however we reserve to order pasta dishes when we truly want to find out what the restaurant is all about.

Pasta at Acqua al 2 was not inedible, but it came out at weird intervals and it was kind of scarce so it would get cold soon. The “funghi porcini” sauce was cooked using frozen mushroom, but hey it’s San Diego I don’t think it is even possible to find those suckers fresh around here. The noodles were cooked with little salt, which was then added later on the dish – ouch! Kind of like for an American dipping fries in mayonnaise, some may do it, but it’s kind of a no-no, right?

Anyhow, the filet was marvelous although a bit pricey. Cannot say much about the appetizers, they had run out of virtually everything we tried to order.

The crowd was typical Gaslamp material, which does not agree much with me, but that’s truly a matter of personal preference.
In conclusion: I’ll keep on going to the Aperitivo on Thursday nights, however I will have to skip the dinner, specially during week-ends when the service gets hectic.

A true Italian experience in the heart of the Gaslamp 

 If you are a fan of Italian style aperitivo, Italian wine tasting, Italian culture lectures and free Italian food then the good news is you can find it all under one roof, in one special night.

Acqua al 2, Italian restaurant located in the Gaslamp has launched a series of Italian Events consisting of cultural lectures, wine tasting, wine lectures and free appetizers “aperitivo style” and they have become increasingly popular.

The events are offered in collaboration with the Italian Cultural Center of San Diego, which offers the cultural expertise, several sponsors providing the wine tasting and of course Martin Gonzales, the restaurant owner, who puts together an excellent and abundant, spread of authentic Italian food.

During the events Martin also shares some tips on Italian cuisine and culinary arts which he learned during his intense training in Florence, Italy.

In fact, it is to be noted that Acqua al 2 in San Diego is the sister restaurant of Acqua al 2 in Florence. The two restaurants look the same and even offer the same menus. Martin goes back to Florence on a regular basis to coordinate with the original restaurant in Italy and each time comes back with new ideas for true Italian style delicacies.

 

The next event is set for June 17, at 5:30 PM at Acqua al 2, 322 5^th Avenue.

Participation by RSVP only (619) 230-0382

The theme for this particular night will be:

“Rome! Florence! Venice! The Local’s Prospective”

The event will include:

• Free admission
• Free appetizers
• Wine tasting
• Cultural Interactive Lecture
• Wine flights $12.00

 

More info on Acqua al 2 website: www.acquaal2.com

or Italian Cultural Center of San Diego: www.icc-sd.org

Acqua al 2 Restaurant in Florence, Italy: www.acquaal2.it

 

Have you ever heard of Western all’Italiana? Perhaps Spaghetti Western rings a bell?

The San Diego Italian Film Festival (SDIFF) will offer a free miniseries at the Museum of Photographic Arts in Balboa Park every first Thursday of the month at 7:00 pm.

• June 5^th – Per un pugno di dollari
• July 3^rd – Per qualche dollaro in piu’
• August 7^th – Il buono, il brutto e il cattivo 

From the SD Italian Film Festival website:
In the early 60’s, a then obscure director, Sergio Leone, was given $200,000 and a load of leftover film stock and told to make a Western. With a script based on Akira Kurosawa’s samurai epic Yojimbo, an American TV actor named Clint Eastwood, a music composer named Ennio Morricone, and a cameraman named Massimo Dallamano, Leone made Per un Pugno di Dollari — A Fistful of Dollars. This violent, cynical and visually stunning film introduced The Man with No Name, the anti-heroic gunslinger for whom money is the only motivation and the villains are merely obstacles to be removed. Many later films followed this formula of the lone gunman in pursuit of money to the exclusion of all else. Leone’s unique style, artistic camera angles, extension of time and raw, explosive violence presented a skewed view of the West, making his film different from any earlier Western.

If Sergio Leone defined the style of the Spaghetti Western, Morricone invented its music. His hoof beat rhythms, whistling themes, and the use of the human voice as an instrument became the standard for the scores to follow. Morricone’s simple, haunting tunes did more than merely fill the gaps between passages of dialogue. They became an audible presence — punctuating action, accelerating a chase scene, or driving a showdown to its conclusion.

 

 

A Fistful of Dollars on IMDb        
For a Few Dollars More on IMDb             
The Good the Bad and the Ugly   on IMDb           

Mercato in Italian means market, more precisely in this case: open market. The open market is an Italian staple and the good news is we are going to have one in our very own Little Italy!
The Mercato will open on Saturday, June 7th and will be located on Date St. between Kettner and State. It will be a weekly appointment from 9:00am to 1:30pm.
Yes, parking stinks, yes an American Farmers Market doesn’t quite resemble an Italian Mercato, but Little Italy is a marvelous place for spending a Saturday morning and buying fresh seasonal food is the way Italians do it in the old country. So, take the trolley, or come early and have a cappuccino so you won’t have to worry about finding a parking spot and enjoy the experience!

Check out the Little Italy Association website for the press release and more details:
http://littleitalysd.com/mercato/press-release.asp

Once a year in Little Italy streets close down for the Sicilian Festa.
One may think that all those stories and jokes heard about being Italian vs. being Sicilian are indeed true if we have two seprate festas, right?
Don’t think so: just like spagheti and meatballs and fettuccine Alfredo, this Italian v. Sicilian thing is yet another American invention.
Yes, it’s true that Italians from the north  have jokes about Sicilians, but more generally  about southeners (and viceversa of course), but it is just like Americans have jokes about the Southern States and the rednecks -in the end everyone is American.
The reason why there is a Sicilian Festa is because San Diego’s proximity to the ocean shaped up the immigration patterns and the majority of old Italian immigrants came from fishing villages, which everybody knows Sicily, by virtue of being an island, is full of. Makes sense?

So don’t read much into it and go visit this festa, it’s fun and it is full of Italian as well as Italian-American stuff. How do you recognize one from the other? That’s the hard part, but not impossible.

Sicilian Festa Website: www.sicilianfesta.com
Little Italy Association Website: www.littleitalysd.com