Rating: kiss 💋💋💋 😘 (for the meal, not the year)
We did it! We made it through all ninety-three months of 2020! Look at us!
To celebrate kicking 2020 out the door, my parents, Reilly, and I ordered takeout from ITA 101. I reviewed this restaurant's in-dining experience over a year ago, back when that was an option, but I would like to take this post to commend them for how they are doing take-out. ITA 101 has been our way of making weekends a bit special every so often. We order their delicious homemade pasta and relax a bit. New Year's Eve was especially exciting because we pre-ordered our dinner off of their prixe fixe menu.
As far as presentation goes, I am sure the experts at the restaurant would have done a better version than my plating, but that is take-out for you. You have to be understanding of the limits. In this case, my limits as a food designer.
L'Aperitivo: Carpaccio di Manzo (beef carpaccio, EVOO, shaved parmesan, manche) This meat was sliced into delicately thin strips, and the hard shaved Parm and sprinkling of sea salt heightened the flavor of the beef. We were raving about it.
La Zuppa: Contechino con Lenticchie (slow cooked pork sausage served with stewed lentils from Umbria) I remember when my host mom, Patrizia, made me her version of this in December 2017. She proudly served it as a delicacy she was excited to see my roommate and I try, and it was phenomenal. It is a traditional Italian holiday meal, with the pork bringing the diner good luck. We need as much of that as we can get these days. I would have had seconds if I could have, as an insurance policy for 2021. The deep flavor of the lentils tasted delicious scooped up with the savory sausage. Normally, prixe fixe menus stress me out a bit with all the courses, but ITA 101 did a fabulous job of serving the dinner as a tasting menu. We got a good amount of food for the price, prepared beautifully, and were not overwhelmed by the portions.
La Pasta: Tagliolini con Tartufo Nero (tagliolini, porcini mushrooms, black truffles) It was just gorgeous. I mean, this was an incredible plate of pasta. What really did it for me was, to counter the pungent fungi in all their beauty, the strands of pasta were coated with cheese. It was not too gloppy, but just the perfect amount of salty flavor to offset the umami. I would order a whole plate of this pasta. Heaven.
Il Secondo: Osso Bucco (braised beef shank served with polenta and mushrooms) Here, ITA 101 offered us an incredibly generous portion of beef and polenta. I confess, there was no way I could finish it after all the other courses, and still hoping to have room for dessert and champagne. I tasted a few bites of the beef shank, which was so tender you did not even need a knife. I swirled every bite in the polenta to get the full experience. Osso Bucco is not my nor my parent's go-to entrée, but the cool thing about prixe fixe menus is they open you up to new dishes. Osso Bucco has a very deep, rich flavor that can get to be a bit too much for me, but it paired excellently with the sweet polenta and ITA 101 did a really good job preparing it. If Osso Bucco is a favored dish of yours, definitely check their version out. I made sure to store the remainder of my plate in Tupperware and reheated it for leftovers. Fine dining on a week night - woohoo!
Dolce: Budino di Pane Pattenone (Orange & Chocolate Bread Pudding) After letting my stomach rest a bit, watching Dick Clarke's Rockin' Eve (I bet that show had record viewers this year since nobody had anywhere else to go), and facetiming my friend Rebecca for an end of year send-off conversation, I had dessert. My parents liked the bread pudding more than I did. I am not a huge citrus dessert girl. The citrus was not too strong here, but it was enough to alter the chocolate's flavor in a way I did not totally love. It took away some of the rich sweetness, which could be great for some tasters, not so much for me. That is not to say I disliked it, because I did enjoy the cake, and with the fluffy cream it was lovely. It was probably better for me that it was not too sugary. It just is not something I would likely order if given the choice between other options.
Then, all the sudden, after waiting all year for it, the clock was finally counting down. I have to admit, with thirty seconds to go, I was a bit nervous. 2020 had been so stressful and now it was over? What does that mean for us? Does it mean anything? What happens at midnight? My dad and I stood up and then Reilly and my mom joined, counting down from ten aloud and cheering when we finally - finally! - got to zero! Happy New Year! Happy 2021! Thank God that absurd year is over.
When we went out on our porch to cheer as we usually do, we were met with a surprise. Our neighborhood is terribly quiet 365 days of the year, and usually on New Year's Eve we are out there whooping it up alone. Not this time. When we cheered, a crowd of people somewhere cheered back. We yelled across the night "Happy New Year!" to each other, being goofy and celebrating. There was this universal feeling of ecstasy and relief. We were out! We still have work to do. All the problems did not dissolve at midnight. Still, we were out of globally the worst year in a long, long time. I think we need to go into 2021 gently, with no bold statements that will freak the universe out and cause another tantrum, but I have hope. We can do this. We have the power to make our personal lives the best that they can be in any circumstances, and I really hope we have the strength to help the world recover from last year's damage.
That feels so great to say. 2020 was last year. Sooo passé.
I could almost laugh looking at my post that kicked off 2020. I was so young! I had so much hope! Laugh at me here. If anything, 2020 has taught me that what you do for New Year's Eve absolutely does not indicate how good or bad the year will turn out. My New Year's Eve going into 2020 was the best one I have ever had, but it certainly had no bearing on how 2019 had gone, which was not my favorite year, and it turned out that it foretold nothing of how 2020 would go. I mean, my gosh. What a train wreck.
I am not going to try to spin 2020 into something it was not, just because I want to be positive. Globally, nationally, for humans as well as for ecosystems that have affected animal and plant life and pretty much everything on this earth, we have struggled. We have suffered. We have grieved. We are going to have to take time to heal from the tragedies. I would like to thank the many People of the Year of 2020: the medical professionals who have fought this virus head-on; the scientists who have poured their all into producing a safe, effective vaccine; the activists who have spoken up for people's rights to help create a better future, the essential workers who toiled on the front lines to provide us with food, water, medicine, deliveries, and more; the teachers who have done incredible acrobatics to keep education going against all odds, and just everyone who has cared and taken this pandemic seriously and acted selflessly to protect others. You are all the good of 2020 and I so admire everyone who, despite all the pain, has brought joy to others.
Personally, I am trying to find the silver linings in my year. It is the only way I know to find the strength to keep pushing forward, and I cannot accept the concept of just stopping. I may not have succeeded at all of my 2020 resolutions, but I did my best within the limitations that confronted us. My first resolution flopped. I could not very well move across the country as I intended, for example. That is simply not essential travel. The second, though, went okay for me. I wanted to get more involved in more screenwriting and acting gigs, and I did. I am involved in several projects right now, working virtually. I look forward to the day we can get on-set, but I am just happy to be doing something I love. 2020 brought many changes to my work life, over and over again, and on the surface they were not always positive. I think perhaps though, they were needed. They were the push required to get me into the life I am supposed to live, as unconventional as it may be. The pandemic could not touch my third and fourth resolutions, which were to be kind to myself and trust my instincts, and to know my worth. When trapped inside alone with yourself, introspection becomes very fashionable, very quickly. It used to be pretty avoidable. Who had the time? When life forces you to sit still, though, you cannot keep running from things. So I had to confront a lot, and even if it was uncomfortable, it was so worth it. I am so much better off. It is something to take into 2021 and years beyond that, because personal growth is not a task that you complete. It is a little bit of self-discovery and understanding every day of your life. That might sound interminable and daunting, but it has turned out to be pretty cool. It has made me safeguard my plans and dreams and needs. It has helped me advocate for myself - and if you don't, who will? It has helped me understand my past so I can be better in the present and hopefully build a better future for myself.
I think 2020 has also emphasized just how much I have to be grateful for: access to clean water, food, electricity, a place to go when I could no longer stay in New York, the technology to be able to work off of my laptop, and even just the time to spend with my family that is so unique and likely not to happen quite like this again. It is the gratitude that needs to be paid forward, which brings a lot of positive energy into life. I am also grateful for little joys, like discovering I like farro, getting to attend my first virtual concert performed by the lovely Dua Lipa with Studio 2054, and Netflix Parties with friends.
I might never be twenty-three again and it was not much of a year as far as living goes, but who cares about twenty-three, anyway? I mean, of all the years to miss, I would say this was a good one. Even that is something to be grateful for, really. I just hope I have used it to lay positive groundwork for the years that do count. (Starting with twenty-four, my champagne year - don't mess that up, 2021! Please 🥺)
Last year, I had really positive vibes for 2020 and I am so sorry, but I was wrong. I will not say anything so bold this year. I just hope that you all are feeling the love in your lives and have some successes, big or small, to take away from this very turbulent past year. I hope we bring good energy into the new year and that things start to look up! We can do this ❤️
Happy New Year!
XX,
MK
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