Ferragosto: “A night were everyone’s Italian”

Hmm, great motto, but I think this one better fits our experience: “a place where everyone can dress in extravagant costume, sip on wine while preparing for your best auctioneering, and meanwhile, eating yourself silly.”

My friend Carrie and I did the latter, of course. Stuffing our faces is what we do best.

After visiting the Banco San Marco, we exchanged our real money for fake Euros and sipped on wine.

We checked out the great auction items, but once we turned out our empty pockets, we realized that participating wasn’t a viable option.

We didn’t dress in themed costumes such as these—

—but we did wear beautifully decorated masks, that were definitely the most unique pieces there!

Carrie, the awesome artist that she is, crafted these masks to match our personalities, as well as our outfits. [See below for a quick DIY: Mask Crafting]

The entertainment was fantastic.

As you can tell, we are very entertained.

The decor was delightful.

Now, let’s start the Ferragosto culinary journey. Here was our ticket.

Craft and Commerce: Fried polenta with crispy sage and a tangy-sweet blackberry sauce that tied it all together. This appetizer was unlike any other. It was so creative, and had great flavor.

Fig Tree Cafe:

I think if I ate this bread alone I would be happy. The freshly made focaccia could be served alone and no one would even know if they were missing out on the sandwich toppings inside.

 I L-o-v-e Fig Tree Café! They have a “farm to plate” menu, and the freshness of their dishes really stand out. Not to mention, the PB location is a few strides out my front door.

Mona Lisa provided the crowd with some tasty meats and cheeses.

Vigilucci’s Seafood Stuffed Artichoke: the presentation was lovely!

Solare’s Fregola: Funny story here, I had mistaken the name of this dish for the name Fragola, instead. Well, the Italian fragola, means strawberry, where Fregola is the name for a larger cous cous-like grain. Anywho–it was to die for. I ate two of them.

Salmon Tartare with Golden Beats:

A lovely pasta dish.

Davanti Enoteaca’s Polenta and Tender Pork:

Holy creamy polenta goodness from heaven above! 

I have never in my life tasty such decadence. The slow cooked pork just melted in my mouth, blending perfectly with it’s creamy counterpart: the mascarpone polenta.

Carrie and I couldn’t even use words to describe what we were tasting; but instead, a simple look of sheer joy was exchanged as we went in for a second spoonful.

Excuse the effusive description… Go to Davanti, and you will understand.

Tre Porcellini: Sage Gnocchi. As a gnocchi connoisseur, I’d say this dish was right up there with the best.

The Busalacchi Restaurants treated us to this insanely tasty pork.

All that roasting and toasting for this juicy hunk of meat!

Bencotto’s homemade pink sauce was too good to pass up. So fresh and had great flavor.

Osso bucco & Polenta:

This bone-in tender and juicy meat was served atop a tasty polenta that was slightly more textured than the last. These bamboo serving dishes gave a fashionable presentation.

There is always room for dessert. Especially if that dessert happens to be cinnamon sugar crepes...

…or a CANNOLI!

Oh, the cannoli’s… these were no ordinary cannoli’s, no. These cream-filled pastries could put an end to war.  I couldn’t be more serious.

Although, the war in my belly that I was feeling right about then is probably the only type of war that these cannoli’s worsened. Rightfully, so; tonight marks the night I officially ate myself sick. The food baby I was carrying could have been easily mistaken for a real one. How embarrassing.

No crumb left behind. That was my motto, and Carrie can attest to the reverence of such a motto.

 Here’s a quick DIY for you:

Buy a plain white mask at the craft store, along with paint, glue, glitter, rhinestones, ribbon, and other crafty decor to match. With an X-Acto knife, cut down the mask to the preferred facial fit. Paint the outside and let dry. Then bejewel and decorate to your hearts’ content! Secure ribbons on both sides to be able to secure the mask on the head.

Time to party!

From the Little Yellow Kitchen,

Chrissy