Favorite Italian meals---there are 3 of them.
1. Rome, in the Jewish ghetto. We were participating in a big academic meeting about Sacco and Vanzetti. After a meeting where Peter spoke, we were taken out to dinner in an ancient building. It was our first meal in Italy, and we didn't understand the order of the courses, so we didn't know how to pace ourselves. This is where I discovered broccoli rabe. Yummm!
2. Another meal with the academics. The dinner guests included Giuliano Montaldo, who directed the S&V film in the '70's, and Fernanda Sacco, Sacco's niece. This was at a seafood restaurant that would have been very difficult if we weren't all following the leader as it was on a tiny back street. This really was one of the best meals I've ever had in my life. The theme was "Voyage from the bottom of the sea". It started out with things you'd find on the ocean floor; shellfish, and lettuces, and progressed through different seafoods as you rose to the surface, where you were then presented with dessert: lemon gelato which was symbolized an ice floe. I really can't do it justice. After the meal, people broke out guitars and sang old song; it really was like a Fellini movie.
3. We drove from Rome to Puglia, home of Sacco. We got there on a Sunday evening and met up with our translator. It was a very small town, and she took us to the best restaurant there. CLOSED! Then she remembered it was sunday night and most people eat dinner at home that night. We went to her second favorite restaurant: CLOSED. So we went to the only one that was open. The owner was in the process of closing because no one was there, but he graciously stayed open for us and brought out things he had on hand: a HUGE slab of peccorino, various prociuttos and salamis, olives, the best bread I think I've ever had with olive oil (this was an olive region) and freshly made bruschetta. We couldn't believe this wasn't her first choice---it was SO GOOD!
We also loved the little rest stops on the highway, where you could get delicious panini and espresso...cheap and delicious!