Saturday, September 26, 2009

Scout goes to Piccolo Italia, San Diego

Scout and I went to Piccolo Italia (Little Italy) today to pick up a few of my favorite things - pasta e gelato.



It is still very warm here in San Diego, California so our first stop was at Cafe Italia per gelato espresso. Scout waited patiently. If you are wondering whether I looked silly taking pictures of my dog while standing in line here, I did, but really, who cares. The Italians have a saying, "No te preoccupare" (which literally translates to "Don't preoccupy you" or non-literally, "No worries") and is always accompanied by a shrug of the shoulders and a tsk sound as though to say, well, "Who cares. Life is short. Enjoy ...".


Next, Assenti's Pasta where I bought fatto a mano (hand-made), gluten-free linguini. This pasta is made from CeCe (chickpeas) which is pronounced che-che in Italian - another fun word to say. Take a look at their website for recipes like portobello ravioli con salsa di noci (mushroom ravioli with walnut sauce). This shop was started by Adriana e Umberto Assenti and is now managed by their handsome sons, Roberto e Luigi. It is always a pleasure to be assisted by a handsome Italian man.



Our last stop was the Chiesa Cattolica. We sat on the shady steps outside Our Lady of the Rosary so we could fully enjoy the last of the gelato which Scout finished up. On the first Sunday of every month at noon the entire mass is delivered in Italian. Even if you don't parla Italiano and you are not Catholic, it's lovely. The church is always full with at least three and sometimes four generations of Italian speaking families.



Ciparliamo presto
(We (informal) will speak to one another soon).



4 comments:

  1. Hi KIm
    This sounds like my kind of place!! Casual relaxing and everyone letting everyone else just be themselves. Perhaps that's why I like the Italians so much!

    The church sounds gorgeous too.. I love religious art and artefacts and .. no I'm not catholic, just something about the emotion of the art.

    Well, I would love to get my hands on that Gluten Free Linguini!!! I have a wheat intolerance... do you? Have a great Sunday... you and Scout and your other boys too!

    PS thank you for your lovely comment!

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  2. What a great way to spend a warm sultry San Diego day; with one of your ever faithful pals.
    It sounds like you and Scout had a great day. Thank you for sharing information on gluten free pasta. It is good to have another source so close to home.

    Salvete

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  3. Cute picture of scout!
    Thank for sharing about this place... the pasta sounds great!!!

    I love the Italian Mass how beautiful!!!

    smiles,
    Joy~

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  4. I wish I could walk along with you...it sounds lovely!! I make a dish with CeCe, broccoli rabe and orecchiette- so good! Even my kids like it! I want to try gluten free pasta, also. What a nice place to go.
    ~Nancy

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