Got To Be Real

As fine a week as we've had in Florence requires a fine final meal.

Once again we wander up San Gallo, open to anything that looks interesting.

Ristorannte da Mimmo beckons with open doors, musical instruments on the walls and a scent of well-prepared food.

At a cozy table near the back, we settle in for the long haul; who knows when my next dinner in Florence will be?

On the wall overhead is an antique coronet, over the front door is an upright bass, violins are everywhere and a gramophone sits in the front window.

The ceiling is vaulted and painted as if we are in a place of worship.

And, to a certain degree, we are. Food worship.

In the back near where we sit is a huge aquarium with straw-covered Chianti bottles lining a shelf all along the back wall.

When our waiter comes to take our wine order, he brings a mound of freshly fried onions on a piece of brown paper, the oil seeping into it.

We order a bottle of Fontane Tayba Anglianico because our first choice is unavailable, but we don't mind because the onion rings are hot, crispy and salty and the wine is a more expensive one that we will get for the price of the original we ordered.

Hey, ten Euros is ten Euros.

A plate of mixed cured meats delivers salame, salame with fennel, prosciutto, bruschetta and chicken liver mousse, which we savor while discussing our favorite sights so far.

Ordering ravioli with red chicory and Pecorino leaves has us comparing it to Chef Carlos' ravioli at home while admiring how the chicory plays off the rich ricotta filling.

Not for the first time I comment on the distinctive patterns of the china we have eaten on at various restaurants this week.

Variations of blue white and yellow in any number of patterns (sunbursts, polka dots, bands) show up again and again.

The only time we've even seen white plates is in casual lunch eateries or in modernist geometric plates like at Florens last night.

I can't remember the last time I ate on a colorful, much less patterned plate in Richmond.

For our main course, we get grilled rabbit with rosemary, the skin crisp and redolent of that herb.

It's a rich finish to a rich meal, meaning we don't even look at the dessert menu.

But we're not finished for the night, either.

We wander a few doors down until we see a lively bar in distinctive shades of red and black.

Welcome to Kitsch, a step back into the '70s...but this being Italy, there is of course a statue of Bacchus painted gold on the bar.

For the first time in Italy, I order tequila while my companion does a more appropriate Negroni.

At a high table near the bar, we proceed to hear several hours of music, the kind one or both of us could identify from the first four notes.

Bonnie and Leo, you'd have been in hog heaven.

We walked into "Magnet and Steel," a perfectly apt description of this couple.

Things got serious next with Barry White's "Can't Get Enough of Your Love, Baby" and Donna Summer's "I Feel Love."

Andy Gibbs' "Thicker Than Water" led to a discussion of which of the Brothers Gibbs are still alive and Chic's "Good Times"was a starting point for how many songs have sampled that distinctive riff.

The Spinners' "Then Came You," a personal long-time favorite gave way to the Village People's "YMCA," and ruminations on the culture's co-opting of it.

Naturally, there was "Night Fever" (and another round of drinks), causing the attractively nerdy bartender with the Italian boy 'fro to bust out his best Tony Manero moves.

My date called Billy Preston's "Nothing From Nothing" the best song we'd heard all night, while I got more excited about DC's Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes' "Bad Love."

That's what you got, that's what you got.

MJ exhorted us to "Shake Your Body Down to the Ground" and Hot Chocolate testified "I Believe in Miracles."

Who doesn't in Italy?

In between we heard Cheryl Lynn, Thelma Houston and the Commodores.

It was truly Le Disco.

And, if you ask this slightly loopy visitor, a hell of a way to finish out a week of art excellence and fabulous food.

Florence, you are my "Shining Star."