Teatro del Sale

Well, last night didn't turn out to be everything that we had been excited for. Elia (our cultural adviser) had emailed us in the beginning of the week inviting us to dinner at Teatro del Sale. All week, we looked up the place and reviews and got ourselves really excited. It's a type of club where you have to become a member to go, so we felt really cool to have been "privileged" enough to attend.

So last night, we met Elia in the center around 7:30 and all walked to the place together. It took about 15 minutes to get us signed in with our new membership cards and everything. We were so excited. When we finally got inside, the place was very unique. In the front room, they were selling artichokes in olive oil for 30 euro and sea salt for 15 euro. So, we figured that the place must have been really expensive. The dining area was very cool. It looked like an old, warm and cozy library with big leather couches and chairs, and lots of little coffee tables. Everything was fairly low to the ground, so we got all mushed up and very comfortable. Unfortunately, we had to sit at two separate tables because there were 9 of us, but the maximum place seated 5. It was alright though.

Once we got settled, the host explained the way the food and drink worked. Basically, the chef from the main room would scream out whatever dish was coming out of the kitchen. Then, it would go on a table and people would scramble to get some from the waiters that were assigned to dish it out. This main room had lots of tables and was much louder. So, I preferred our location in the back, lounge-esque area. We were also conveniently sitting right next to the never-ending, all-you-can-drink wine spouts. Everyone seemed to be entertained by that.

The whole night, the entire restaurant was basically on the same eating schedule. The chef screamed various entering appetizers and first course dishes for the first hour, and then moved onto the second course for the next half hour. The appetizers I liked included the freshly baked bread, kidney beans in olive oil, polenta with cinnamon, fuselli pasta with meat sauce, some other type of pasta with tomato sauce, sciaciatta bread soaked in olive oil, and mini meat balls. I also tried tripe since we didn't have to pay for the meal. For those that don't know, tripe is sheep's stomach, and it was gross. I don't think stomachs are made to be eaten. Anyway, the main course consisted of fish, veal, and chicken with the most amazing roasted potatoes. They were all very good. The chef also came out of the kitchen and walked around with huge sticks of bread that were made to look like femur bones. I got a kick out of that.

Now, despite the fact that all of this was very good and entertaining, we were also very frustrated with the crowd. ITALIANS ARE RUTHLESS when it comes to food. They can be rude and pushy and very unfriendly. At one point, I stood up at the buffet table waiting for the food to be handed out, and some lady came up from behind me and mushed her boobs into my back to get me to move! Then, she cut completely in front of me and I'm so short that the servers didn't even see me! Another time, I waited patiently for the veal and ended up being the last person to get served. At that point, all that was left was a bone, which I politely refused. I decided to share Kevin's.

At one point, I got my camera out to take a picture of my friends. Within seconds, the host came over and told us (in English, even though we had been speaking Italian the entire night) that photos are strictly not allowed. That was fine, whatever. BUT, I hate it when people switch to English when they are well aware that I know Italian. I think it's offensive because I know it means that they want to be SURE that I understand whatever it is that they want to yell at me about. It's always when we're doing something wrong that people switch over to English. I hate it.

After the meal, everyone was asked to get up and move their chairs into the main room for the performance. So, we brought over our chairs and our glasses of wine, excited for the show to start. As Maggie was setting up her chair, the same rude host (who we had originally thought was being really nice to us) turned around and bumped into her back, causing her to spill her red wine all over her dress. His apology was flat and insincere and he followed with "no drinks are allowed during the show." At that point, he walked away and didn't come back with anything to help her clean herself up. We were not very happy about that. Right before the show started, he came back to us specifically and said, very slowly in Italian, "do not under any circumstances get up during the performance." He said that to no one else but us. That pissed us off even more. How old did he think we were!? Five!? I've been to enough shows (better than this one) to know that you don't just get up and walk around during a show. We are not retarded. I know it was because we were the only Americans, and also the youngest in the place. So, Grace, Carla and Jeff snuck out while me, Kevin, Maggie, Maggie, Andrea, and Elia stayed for the production. It was some lady who sang and acted while her son (I think) played the guitar.  Everyone was laughing, but I didn't find it very funny, especially after all the singling out that we had to deal with that night. So, I sat there not really listening and dozing in and out of sleep until it was finally over. Turns out that Elia (who's Italian born and raised) didn't even like it or understand that well either.

We were so happy when we were able to leave. We remembered that Elisa had told us that we would really enjoy the dinner and show. But then, we also remembered that Elisa is a middle-aged, very rich and intellectual woman. Therefore, this place was exactly her scene, and not ours. All of the adults were very snobby and selfish. I could tell just by looking around that everyone knew that we were there, and that in their opinions, we didn't belong. I even saw Elia texting his friend commenting on the snobbery within the place.

I kept thinking back to the Yacht Club, the snobbiest place that I've experienced, and I have to say that this place, though different, was definitely more frank about it. At the Yacht Club, people are usually snobby to each other, and not as much to me. However, I wasn't a waitress last night either. So, I'm not sure what to make of it.

After leaving, we all went to Shot Cafe to meet up with Jeff, Carla and Grace and hang out. Elia surprisingly came with us (he's incredibly religious and rarely goes out at night), but looked so uncomfortable and out of place that we weren't surprised when he said he was going to head home. Either way, it was really nice of him to waste his time trying to entertain us when it was clear that none of us had wanted to be at Teatro del Sale. He said that next time, we'll all just go for a pizza. WAY BETTER.

After Elia left, we tried to hang around, but the mood had been completely killed. So around midnight, we all just headed home and went to bed.

Thankfully, tonight should be much better. Maggie, Maggie, Andrea, Kevin and myself are going to Benedetta's birthday party at a Castle in Fiesole. She's turning 18 and in Italy, that's the big one. It should be really fun!

Anyway, I have a lot of studying to do before that, so it's time to go.

Ciao!