LAUREN WALDSTEIN

La Giostra is famous for its pear ravioli, balsamic steak and star quality service.  The restaurant itself is separated into two buildings - one with the kitchen and a smaller dining room and the other a larger, roomier dining area.  Both rooms are dark and lit romantically with delicate Italian lights.  The brick walls are lined with photos of celebrities eating at the restaurant, little pieces of abstract modern art, and a few newspaper articles featuring rave reviews of the restaurant.  The wooden tables are draped with eggshell table cloths and set with crisp white plates, sparkly silverware, wine, water and champagne glasses.  One or two candles on each table set the mood in side the restaurant as calm and chic but also cutting edge and updated.  What better way to enjoy fabulous food in a great venue than with three of your best girlfriends? 

I didn't even have to consult the menu to know what I was going to order - I came here as a girl on a mission and I was not about to divert from my plan.  Hallie, Bex, and I all ordered the pear ravioli, Hallie and I each ordered our own balsamic steaks, and Rach ordered a tomato and eggplant fusili and a steak to split with Bex.  As the waiter took our orders he poured champagne into our glasses and we toasted to our last time in Florence all together after a semester of amazing visits and incredible memories.   Without skipping a beat a huge plate of antipasti arrived at our table and I'm pretty sure my eyes did one of those cartoonish things where they pop out of your head and then slap back in making a sort of "Arooooga!" noise.  The plate was decked out into sections of appetizers with one for each of us so there wouldn't have to be any hair-pulling for bites.  The first taste I tackled was a tiny caprese made up of  little slices of tomato each with its own ball of fresh mozzarella sitting delicately on top.  I've had lots of fresh mozzarella and tomatoes in Italy, and maybe it's cause I was really hungry or really buying into the pizzazz of the restaurant, but I believe this to have been the best combination of the two yet.  The tomato was perfectly ripe, slightly sweet and soft, but not at all mealy or flimsy.  And the mozzarella was creamy and smooth - a light buoyancy paired perfectly with the acidity of the tomato.  Next was a sort of fried ricotta cheese and spinach dumpling.  It was dry and a little chewy and kind of reminded me of falafel, but it was salty and delicious - like an elegant take on bar food.  Then there were stuffed green bell peppers which were sauteed so that they were just soft enough to take the crunch out but not so soft that they lose their shape.  Inside was a sort of tomato, cheese paste that was also salty but kind of sweet and went together splendidly with the fresh green taste of the pepper.  Next there were small crostinis - one with bruschetta and the other with chopped liver.  I loved the bruschetta because it was fresh and light and uplifting with a little zing from the tomatoes and balsamic vinegar, but I am just not a fan of the chopped liver.  It's not my thing.  As if that wasn't a meal enough already, there were still marinated vegetables:  roasted red peppers that radiated smokiness and seduction - they're slick and sexy, bright red and smooth; raw eggplant marinated in vinegar that makes your lips pucker at first but then the buttery, rich taste of the vegetable slides down with ease; and celery root in a light mustardy, mayo-y sauce that made them tangy, with a little bite and a tiny pinch that makes you savor them slowly.  I could have stopped eating after the champagne and antipasti.  It was a sensational plate of interesting flavors paired creatively to make one bite after the other a delight.  If these were just the appetizers, how amazing would the meal be?

Amazing.  Out came 6 large ravioli in a shallow white bowl that looked like the backs of sleeping puppies.  Instead of flat, thin squares, these were big, round, dumplings of homemade noodles and filling.  I was expecting the pear ravioli to taste like pears but instead it was a light, layered, smooth taste.  Cheesy, but not overwhelmingly, at first it tastes simple and then sort of explodes into a depth of flavor that leaves you thinking "What ingredient made that ravioli so unique?"  Pear.  Pear did that.  You have to eat them slowly, to savor the flavors and to let the pear undertones come out.  If you eat too fast, you'll miss it.  Also, they're big so eating too fast means getting full too fast which means you can't as easily appreciate the perfectly al dente noodles and the smooth, creamy filling.  And if you're too full then you'll miss what comes next.

The Balsamic Steak.  After I said goodbye to my licked-clean bowl out came a plate, fit for a king - or queen in this case, robust and proud in all its glory.  The steak sits in the middle of the wide white platter, doused in a rich, tangy balsamic glaze.  At each corner of the dish are a few bites of a side: small quadrants of zucchini in a tomato sauce, sliced roasted potatoes, fresh purple radicchio, and finally these long orange chewy sweet things that are either roasted carrots, sweet potatoes, or some dried fruit.  I can't figure it out but I would have ordered a plate of just them if I could have.  As for the steak itself - it was cooked perfectly medium rare, slightly pink in the middle so that it still held up its steaky flavor against the intensity of the balsamic glaze.  The glaze was a powerful "Ping!" of flavor - tangy and spicy, warm and sweet all at once.  The steak was big, but not so big that you get "steak mouth" after a few bites where you get so full and tired of chewing that you just sort of relax your jaw and let it sit in your mouth for a few deep breaths through your nose.  None of that.  This steak was more elegant, less country - meant for small bites at steady intervals, interrupted only by a slow sip of red wine.  

After each savored bite of the first three courses, plus the decadence of champagne and wine we just had to order dessert.  Mixed berries with vanilla gelato, a caramel drizzle, and a little caramelized sugar ended the meal as a soft, sweet, pick-me-up especially paired with the rich, dense piece of chocolate cake we ordered.  By this point we were wonderfully stuffed with bite upon bite of extraordinary cuisine, now fully prepared to spend the next five days in teeny bikinis.