Happy Valentines Day!

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Buon Giorno di San Valentino! Happy Valentines Day!

As I waited outside at the bus stop one particularly dark and cold Valentines Day Eve, a typical small car passed by as I looked down the street for my normal mode of transportation.  It was possibly a Fiat.  Maybe not.  It caught my attention because either a passenger of that car did something, or fate itself got a hold of me.  I noticed a colorful piece of paper trailing the wake of the vehicle's air stream and the first thing I thought was, "Did someone throw their trash at me?"

Luckily, it didn't seem as such because a closer look at the paper showed it was an advertisement for T-Bone Station, my neighborhood's newest American-style grill. What I found interesting was that they were offering a special Valentine's Day menu for 49 Euro per person.  It included an appetizer of hot wings, a salad, a steak and I believe I saw wine and dessert.  

Besides making me hungry, it got me thinking of what I am used to seeing on Valentine's Day in the U.S. and wondered if it was the same here in Italy.  So the big question is this: Is Valentine's Day in Rome similar to the U.S.?

The short answer: Yes!  But of course there will always be differences.

For example, many of the grocery stores are selling Baci - a foil-wrapped chocolate candy kind of like ferrero rocher.  Candy is always a commonplace.  But a main difference is there are no heart-shaped boxes of chocolates.  There are no chalky hearts made of sugar with words printed on them. And I haven't seen boxes of cards with the latest cartoon characters on them expressing their sweetest regards of friendship mixed with words of thwarting world domination.  Ben-10, eat your heart out.  Your candy heart, that is.

But even though Italy isn't making this day as commercialized as the United States enjoys, a great many restaurants of Rome seem to be on-board with the idea of bumping up prices and offering extra-romantic packages for tonight's dinner.  Like including Buffalo Wings on the special menu... extra HOT buffalo wings.  

And this is where I wish I could insert an animated emoticon of a smiley-face blushing.  I think that innuendo just made VASGO a PG-13 blog.

I've seen advertisements in passing at tons of restaurants that range from authentic Italian to Chinese to Japanese and more.  It's a night to show the person or people you love that you care about them and it's possible that restaurateurs are ready to exploit that.  I'm not big into the crazy expensive nights where the food is mediocre.

I choose to express myself differently. I think making a delicious Porcini Mushroom Risotto ought to show my lady how much I love her! We will enjoy the finest salt-cured meats Italy can produce (prosciutto di san danielle) and the finest mozzarella bufala.  And she will know that love is truly in the air, and in her stomach.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!