The Creativity Festival in Florence

We finally arrived at the Creativity festival which takes place in Florence at Fortezza da Basso from October 26th to October 29th (free entrance). Today there is a little preview with “The Galileo’s finger” at the Pergola Theater but the biggest events are during the week end.
I already said something in my previous posts about some of them, but here below I just want to talk about others that I find particular interesting:
- PKN (Pecha Kucha Night): a Japanese event, famous also in Europe that offers to creative people such as architects, screen players, painters, graphic designers, writers the opportunity to present in 6 minutes and 40 seconds themselves and their works in a very relaxing atmosphere among friends and if fact the japanese word pecha kucha literarily means, chatting
- LOG607, a game of composing and breaking up words

- MIMOS round table with the Brain computer interface: with a special helmet you can pilot informatics application as a mental mouse.

And lastly the Technology Inside competition: competitors should go to the Avanada stands during the festival and sign up for the competition, between 10am and 5pm. Competitors need to prove that they are technology insider to present themselves to the job world. They need to tell how they used technology in the past or in the present and what they have done with it. The last day of the festival, the jury will name the winner who will have an I-Pod nano and a job proposal with AVENADE, the second and the third winner will have an IPOD shuffle.

ECCOCI, the Tuscan tapas bar

Last Friday I was at lunch with some friends and, as usual, I had to choose the place. Sigh!

I remember about, Joe, my hairdresser who once told me about this place in Piazza Ghiberti, near the Sant’Ambrogio market.

The interior of the restaurant is nice, modern and essential all in red and white. The peculiarity of this place is that you can have a sort of tapas but in Tuscan sauce: little miniature that costs few Euros (from € 2 on) and you can take them as appetizers or as a full dish. Of course, in their menu you can find complete dishes as well, such as meat, salad and pasta but always with an ethnic touch.
I had little miniature with mini-crostone with mushrooms and brie and a plate with meat and salad with a very strange name: picanha. They explained me that the meat is very similar of the T-bone Florentine steak, but with a different cut and above all without the bone. One of my friends had the same and he appreciated as well.
The others had a cacciucco, a typical livornese fish soup with an addition: fried anchovies and artichokes in miniature, as well!
The quality is in between the average quality that you can find in Florence even if I have to be honest: if you are going there for lunch the service is a little slow.
I know that on Thursday evening they have also the aperi-dinner.

Eccoci
Piazza Ghiberti, 5/R -
50122 Firenze - Tel. 055 2638223
http://www.eccocifirenze.it

What's going on in October in Tuscany

The sun shines high in the sky for this week end and I would like to underlines few open air events for people with children, too…

I have seen the website of the tourist railways and they organize a cho cho train along the amazing Val D’Orcia. Each Sunday of October, two in November and December; every Sunday with a different t theme. Trains leave form Siena at 8,30am, a nice walking in the wood and then lunch in a restaurant. This coming Sunday the theme is the porcino mushroom. The price (without lunch) is € 16, 00 for adults, children travel for free.
A great thank you to the association that once again want to bring back to our memory the revival of the smallest Tuscan rail line Colle Val d’Elsa-Poggibonsi (closed in 1987) with typical 1800 rails and the curve with the tightest manual gauge of Italy. In November the theme is truffle and the train leaves from Siena and goes to Grosseto. Instead for the Immaculate Conception break (December 8th), the theme is olive oil and the train leaves form Florence

If you want to go to North, instead of South, in the Mugello area there a series of festivals dedicated to chestnuts in Palazzuolo, Vicchio, Firenzuola and Marradi, the homeland of chestnut s; This coming Sunday a cho cho train leaves from Florence to Marradi.

In Pisa, there is instead an event dedicated to chocolate at Leopolda Station. Then in Montecarlo (Lucca) they have also their own Chocolate festival.
In Volterra: Dolcegusto and Wine. Stands in the narrow streets of this tufa hilltop town.
In Impruneta, there is the San Luke fair.
In Castelmuzio, Trequanda (Siena province) opens a new shop “Dal podere al palato” (From the farmhouse to the palate): to buy olive oil, pecorino cheese, wine, honey, meat and cut meats directly from producers. The opening of this new space is introduced in “The Olio nuovo di Podere”, fair from Friday, October 17th to Sunday, October 19th 2008, dedicated to Extra virgin olive oil.
In Florence, there is Florence wine and fashion.
From October 16th to 19th 2008: the Florentine artisans open their ateliers to the public during the European days of arts and jobs to enhance the old arts. Four days completely dedicated to cultural initiatives, meetings, workshops for families and for children in the Horne Museum
And very soon…the Halloween parties in Florence. Stay tuned.

Restaurant of Four Season hotel, Florence

After the sicilian restaurant, here is another review by Sabino, the restaurant il Palagio of theFour season hotel

The Four Season hotel opened in Florence last June and I red various reviews of the inside restaurant in some gastronomic blogs. I decided to try during one of my unusual long lunch break. I passed the sumptuous atrium of the hotel and I arrived in the restaurant, elegantly interior designed which is in communication with the wine bar area where from 7pm they serve the aperitif with finger food.

I have lunch in the garden as it is still warm in town: the scenario of the garden is fantastic if you think that we are in the middle of the historical city centre of Florence. I try the tasting menu’ at € 50, 00. As a first dish they serve an octopus with gazpacho sauce in a big iced bawl. Even if I don’t like gazpacho, the presentation was fantastic and at the end I liked it.
Then you can choose between a first course and a second, they were all fine, (meat of fish) but the dessert was the top.
A caramel sphere with violet, tasting as a violet, and then in addition I had also a tasting of a chocolate mousse with a very good pastry.

A spectacular place where the service is excellent and the waiters are careful. For dinner, prices are higher: it is very worthy for a very special occasion.

Here more info:
http://www.fourseasons.com/florence/

Osteria da Melo, sicilian food in Florence

I received a reviwe from Sabino about this sicilian restaurant in Florence: Osteria da Melo.

Thanks to an event organized by Slow Food, I had the possibility to try a good restaurant not only for the food it proposes but for the good value for money. The Osteria da Melo is a Sicilian restaurant and Carmelo, the chef, opened it just few years ago.
The dinner had a pre-set menu with the intent of showing some of the presided over by Slow food in Sicily.
We started with a very nice aperitif in the restaurant yard followed by appetizers with different kind of cut-meats: capocollo, salami and sausages from the Nebrodi black pigs accompanied by black bread from Castelvetrano.
Then we had fresh handmade fusilli pasta with Ercino pesto with red garlic of Nubia; an excellent equilibrated dish. As a second dish, very appreciated by all the guests was a Tortiera, a kind of quiche with anchovies and wild fennel with Pantelleria capers and small olives and after this they offered us also a tasting of local Sicilian cheese: Ragusano DOP, Blu di capra Girgentana (a kind of goat cheese) and a Vastedda del Belice.
For dessert: a cake with Ribera oranges and Bronte pistachio then a taste of special aromatic fried biscuits with zibibbo…
While we ate we tasted also the wine of the wine farm called I Gulfi: Valcanziria (white), then Rossoibleo e Neroibleo (red).
We paid 40 euro and half of it went to the Slow Food foundation: what can we add more?
We left the restaurant all very happy and excited of this culinary experience.
Osteria DA MELO Via di Rosano, 198
50012 Bagno a Ripoli (Firenze)
Tel/Fax: 055/6519000
E-mail: info@osteriadamelo.com

Events in October in Florence, Italy

On the 25-26 of October enjoy the white and black truffle festival in Barberino del Mugello (very close to the outlet). In the same weekend, in Florence there's a little market at Ciompi's square (not far from Santa Croce): the Florence's large monthly antiques fair.

From the 16th of October until the end of the month in Orsanmichele Church there's the 8th edition of Wine&FashionFlorence: fashion shows, exhibitions of jewels. wine tasting, and made in Italy products.

In Marradi, a small town 1 hour away from Florence, there's the chestnut festival. Food, events and ancient locomotives and steam trains you can get on.

Don't forget the event is taking place tomorrow at Rifrullo restaurant: Vernaccia wine tasting with a tuscan dinner.

And be prepared to Halloween! It's coming full of surprises and mysteries... Trick-or-treat?

Events in Florence, October 2008

Few events in Florence and the immediate surroundings.

Thanks to the opening exhibition of the painter, Alessandro Ferraro, each Wednesday and Thursday the Osteria Melo will open interesting bottles of wine combining them with food. Thursday October 9th, Pinot blanc Kellerei Bozen, Chianti Rufina Montesodi 2004 and Goldenmuskateller (yellow Moscato form Trentino). Instead on Thursday October 16th, they will propose a combination with beer and typical Sicilian food, such as the famous arancini. For info: info@osteriadamelo.com

Then from Thursday October 9th at the circolo SMS in Rifredi, Via Vittorio Emanuele II 303, there will be the Thursdays of the café of the science: meetings, symposium about technology, science, medicine, DNA, cancer and other interesting and important subjects.

The lastly, I just want to mark thanks to one of my reader a very unique concert of Matthew Herbert, a talented jazz man that his music combine avant jazz and electronic music. Friday October 10th at 9pm at the Theatre pergola 30/32, Florence to listen to some of his music you can to his web site www.matthewHerbert.com/music.php