La Dolce Vita: September 2011

I think it's appropriate for the first post in my blog to be dedicated to the person who inspired me to start writing it. Surprisingly, my muse is not somebody I know very well. I can't speak her language, much less communicate with her. And yet I felt like I understood everything she had to say when I met her last week. And ever since then, I have been filled with this urge to pen down my thoughts about her and freeze in someway my memory of that afternoon.

She calls herself 'The Rose of the Wind' or La Rosa dei Venti in Italian. Rosa owns a charming restaurant in Albisola, a pretty little sea side town in the region of Liguria in Italy. I was invited to celebrate the birthday of a friend's friend's friend in Albisola and that's how I found myself at Rosa's amidst a group of chatty and hungry Italians.

I call it a restaurant, but it was really just Rosa's home. She cooks for only ten people everyday. And her meals are the stuff of Gods. We were eating for over four hours and each course only got better. Italians, not unlike Indians, take their food rather seriously. The traditional Italian meal comprises of five courses - The Antipasti (Appetisers), the Primo (First course, normally Rice/Pasta/Soup), the Secondo (the main course, normally Meat/Fish/Chicken), the Contorni (a side dish you have with the main course, normally a salad) and finally the Dolce (the dessert or anything sweet). And after this you will be served cafe or a digestivo (an after dinner drink)...I think you get the point-Italian meals are big meals. It was my first experience of eating the complete Italian meal and I was very keen to keep track of where in the course of meals we were at any point in time. But with Rosa serving large helpings and at least five varieties under each course, I gave up while we were still at the Antipasti.

As a foodie, I think I have an instant connection with anybody who enjoys food and loves cooking. But Rosa did more. She was the chef, the waitress, the cleaner and the entertainer all at once. And none of the roles seem to weigh on her and she handled them all with enviable efficiency. I later found out that Rosa also owned horses and made wine. She loves dancing and scoffs at the younger people she meets in the disco. "They come only to drink. How can you dance if you drink so much?" she asks reasonably. For a 60 something year old, Rosa's spirit and enthusiasm was inspiring.

After the meal, we chatted up with Rosa. Her's is a story of triumph against the odds. I am not going to talk of her difficulties. I am not sure if she would like that. But let it be enough to know that she woke up one morning to realise that life is sweet and that she should spend it happy and making other people happy. And what better way than to do it with great food and great wine!

As we stood up to take a walk to the beach, Rosa called out to us "Come back in one hour, I'll make you pizza!"

I leave you with some images of Rosa, her restaurant, my new friends in Italy and Albisola.