We arrived early and went for a tour with Giovanni, the farmer.  He showed us various plants and the bugs that eat them and explained why each bug likes each plant.  Then he went on to state his theory of the creation of the universe.  I think.  He was talking really quickly and my Italian isn’t exactly perfect yet but I think I understood most of what he was saying.  The part of the farm that we saw isn’t huge but supplies most of the food to the American Academy.  There are a lot of different kinds of leafy green lettuces and vegetables growing including cardoons and fennel (okay not sooo leafy).  We stomped around and tried the bits of leaves he handed us to taste.  Afterwards he’d say things like, this thins your blood or this is medicinal.  Blind faith.  We followed him back up the hill to the road and over to his villa.

The villa is under construction but the view from the large terrace was amazing and there was a small cooking shack with an open fire and a pizza oven ready for us to use.  We set to work.  I helped prep the meat, which consisted of tearing open the packages and sprinkling with olive oil and salt, and then spent a good amount of time eating and drinking.

The meal started with fennel salad, fresh sausage and little blocks of cheese (some kind of parmesan I think).  The pasta with some kind of meat was next and so good, followed by an endless stream of delicious pizzas.  Toppings included anchovies, tomato, mozzarella, parmesan, caramelized onions, lots of olive oil, spices and the potatoes I prepared yesterday.  All the pizzas were amazing and the dough was so easy to work with (compared to Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods dough).  I made a potato, onion and mozzarella pizza with a sprinkling of rosemary.  The meat was cooked over the open fire and sliced and we ate it with our hands along with the pizza.

We had to take a stroll around the grounds after dinner to prepare for desert.  A huge cake, special for Halloween and a huge apple tart awaited our return along with espresso.

A little later we said our goodbyes, crammed into the van and headed home, singing songs inspired mostly by two of the more musical kitchen interns.  I would do this every weekend…. so if you know anyone looking for a farm hand, email me.

Our first stop today, about 50 miles away, was a small town called Potigliano.  There’s a synagogue in the town and of course, it was closed because we got there during naptime.  Sadly there are only three Jews left there, not nearly enough for a minion or to have a traditional Shabbat service.  But still, it was cool to see.  The town is built into the top of a hill and the façade is very impressive.  I would say it’s worth a visit.

Next was Sovana, a very small and cute town with a Duomo built around 1100.  Cool to see and fun to walk through.  Finally, our last stop of the day was Orvieto and its huge Duomo.  The architecture and mosaic on the outside of the Duomo is really impressive and the inside is also pretty grand but not over the top like in Venice.  We walked the streets and went back to a little bakery I had been to a few years ago with a friend to get some biscotti.  We got lost walking through the streets and of course ended up back in the center of town at the Duomo where we had parked.  Offseason is great because you can park anywhere and drive anywhere and no one says anything to you.

We went back to Il Frantoio for dinner and this time had a pizza lesson before dinner.  They showed us how to make the dough and how to stretch it the right way.  Can’t wait to experiment.

We ordered a pizza with truffles and everything else we had last night.  We watched the pizza chef make the pizza and slide it into the wood-burning oven.  It came out paper thin in about four minutes, perfectly browned.  This pizza is the best pizza I have ever had ever from anywhere in the world ever.  Period.  The rest of the meal was just as good as last night and afterwards we fantasized with our waiter, Fano, for a while about opening a pizza place in Los Angeles or New York and having him come and run it with us.  I take back what I said yesterday, if you are within 200 kilos of this place, you should come and try it.  Sleep in your car and have lunch the next day too.  It’s worth it.  And it’s so cheap: three or four Euro for a pizza.

Fano and I are Facebook friends.  We are going to take over the whole pizza-loving world.

So, the Arsenale: smashed mirrors, African villages, bread and bread, mechanical moons, cool benches, neon with mirrors (always cool), bird-feeder-chandeliers and much much more.  My favorite installation was a video piece made by two Catalan  filmmakers, David Bestue and Marc Vives which I found a pasted in below.  Enjoy.

We met our old friend Max, his wife and his new baby girl Margarita for drinks (Margarita did not drink) and then returned to Birraria for a late dinner.  Makin’ zucchini flowers for breakfast!