Una Sorpresa Squisita: A Delicious Surprise

Last night after work, Aaron and I drove into the westside to have dinner with our friend and my law school roommate, Pam. Pam owns a lovely place in Brentwood and she told us that her roommate for the summer had offered to make us all dinner. She mentioned that he was Italian and because of this, we should probably take him up on his offer. We didn't really have any idea what we were in for!

Ricardo, or "Ricky", is 26 years old and while we didn't catch the name of the city he is from in Italy, he did mention that he lives about 2 hours from Cinque Terre and 30 minutes from the second highest mountain in all of Europe. He came to the United States to attend a UC Berkeley Extension program in International Business. Following his 4 month program, he worked as an intern for Fantini, a company that designs high end Italian (obviously) faucets and showers. Since his internship ended, he has been taking Kaplan English language classes and studying for the GMAT because he would like to go to Stanford business school. He will be leaving soon to go back to Italy, but in October or so, he will return to the states to work full time as an Export Manager for Fantini. He is charming, driven, and an excellent cook.

Aaron and I were catching up with Pam in the living room when Ricky returned from his swim (he is a marathoner, skiier, and swimmer) and he introduced himself quickly and then told us he would have to excuse himself to start the dessert because it had to sit for one hour. This should have been our sign that we were in for a real treat. Shortly after disappearing into the kitchen, he came out with a bag of t-shirts from his company and insisted that we each pick one out. As Pam and I chatted on the couch (wearing our t-shirts over our dresses, naturally) Aaron kept Ricky company while he cooked. As wonderful smells began to fill the condo, Ricky called us in for dinner. Round one: penne with a nut sauce. The sauce was wonderful, unlike anything I've tasted. It was ricotta cheese, parmesan, and hazelnut, we think. Ricky wasn't sure what the word was in English but it sure didn't stop us from chowing down. He also served a pizza as our "appetizer" and then round 2 came along: spaghetti with tomatoes. Aaron mentioned that Ricky told him that you must use some of the water that the pasta has cooked in to mix with your sauce (you heard it here first!) Everything was wonderful and I have not been that full in a long time.

Next, however, came dessert. Ricky had prepared a beautiful fresh fruit salad with raspberries, peaches, strawberries, and bananas. He let it sit in a mixture of freshly squeezed lemons and mandarins with a touch of sugar and orange juice. It was delicious. Since coming to the US, he has fallen in love with, of all things, mochi, a japanese rice cake made of glutinous rice, pounded into a paste, and molded into shape. So, we had strawberry and green tea mochi ice cream along with our fruit salad.

After dinner, we listened to Ricky explain the business world of Fantini. He had brochures of the products and everything! It was a great evening and we couldn't believe what a gracious host he was. We've already told Pam that she needs to rip up his passport and visa so he can't go back to Italy. We hope to see him at least once more before he leaves in mid August.

Here we are in our new t-shirts, details provided by Picnik of course:

Aaron's shirt references this Fantini product. Mine is a more general logo shirt.

It was a great evening and we were so happy to see Pam and make a new precious friend. Happy Wednesday, everyone!

"Be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the LORD gave you: to love the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to obey his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and all your soul." Joshua 22:5