Warning: Don't Watch on an Empty Stomach

That was the warning I gave to people I knew would be watching Alan's Italy Show # 27 - Culinary Masterpieces at La Spada of Florence. On an empty stomach as I had for the show, one will end the show and make for the nearest cache of large quantities of food. We went out to dinner afterward at The Bear Cafe in Woodstock, the best restaurant in town, and I never ate so much. I blamed it all on the show, which made me starved to death. So back to the show. Lidia introduced me to this restaurant 15 years ago, and I have been having meals there, alone and with friends and family ever since. The place is owned and operated by Giuseppe, who, with his brother Claudio, and friends Agostino and Claudio (who are cousins) run the best restaurant in Florence and certainly my favorite. Since I know virtually nothing about cooking, and people are continually asking me when I would be doing a cooking demo, I asked Lidia, before our last trip to Italy, if she could ask Giuseppe to give us an interview (deep down hoping he would at least talk about how he cooks such amazingly delicious food). Tonight's show highlights an interview we did with him last May 21 at the restaurant and a 25 minutes cooking demonstration in which Giuseppe cooks us a 3 course meal. It was outstanding to present such a wonderful show with Giuseppe as the star. He is a wonderful man, charming, handsome, talented, and gracious. Although Lidia translated for him in the first 2 interviews, when he gave Laura and me the cooking demo, he spoke English very well. So I would like to thank Giuseppe and his co owners for not only the demo, but for their extraordinary kindness to us this past visit and also over the years. If you are planning a trip to Florence, please stop by La Spada at # 62 via della Spada and tell Giuseppe Alan's Italy sent you. Otherwise the evening was uneventful. Thank God !!!! Everything went very smoothly, no hassles as the ones which have plagued my show for weeks. Smooth as silk, a pleasure to produce and perform, but not so exciting to write about to you ! On the book front, I just cannot decide on a topic for my next book. First I thought it should be on Florence, but just cannot muster the enthusiasm. I thought I would start with some obscure towns in Tuscany, but I don't have enough of them yet, perhaps only about 10 or so, so I may venture into Umbria and Alto Lazio for additional material. I'll keep you posted. I do not wish to write about well known places such as Siena, Sam Gimignano, Montalcino, etc. but rather something entirely different. My first book already written, Alan's Italy: My Personal Journey is currently being edited by the company XLibris, which seems excellent so far, despite some bad reviews I have recently read. I will keep you posted. Bouna note e buona fortuna.