Food Week 

Walsh Global 6 

Noah Drlik 

         This past week I was given an opportunity to truly explore the Italian culture of food.  My classmates and I got to visit three different food places, Alice’s Pizza, Fassi Gelato, and the Casa Masca Farm.  The three sold three different types of food but shared the culture of Italian cooking and sticking to their roots.  The first visit we had was Alice’s Pizza, an Italian owned and operated pizza chain.  I got the pleasure of meeting with the owner, Domenico Giovannini, and asking him questions about his business.  He is a really nice man and cares about the customer. He wants to make sure every slice of pizza made by Alice’s, is the same great quality, no matter on the location of the restaurant. We met with Mr. Giovannini in Alice’sRome headquarters, where Alice’s Academy is located. This academy is truly unique and shows just how determined Mr. Giovannini is to create the perfect slice of pizza.  The academy is for any aspiring pizza chef to learn hands on the pizza perfecting techniques. Here is where future Alice’s Pizza chefs are trained on the basics of creating the above average standard that is Alice’s Pizza.  Mr. Giovannini believes this training both four months in the academy and then a few weeks at the restaurant is what makes Alice’s pizza so special, and I would have to agree with him.  After our meeting with Mr. Giovannini, the academy made us sheets and sheets of pizza for us to eat there and bring back home.  The pizza was phenomenal, and I hope that an Alice’s Pizza franchise opens up near Canton.  It was a great experience and I thank Mr. Giovannini greatly.    Our next stop during the “food week” was to Fassi Gelato, located in Rome.  This Gelato is all-natural Gelato made in-house.  The company is over 100 years old and is located in Rome and Seoul, South Korea.  The locations in Korea are not Fassi directly rather they are a side brand of Fassi that uses similar gelato making styles.  The only difference in Korean gelato Is that they use less cream, all other techniques are the same.   The shop itself was massive, we got a tour of the kitchen, the dining rooms, and the private dining room.  Fassi Gelato was very generous for allowing us to come and visit their Rome headquarters and learning the business of Gelato.  Our final stop for “food week” was to a small family run farm known as Casa Masca.  The farm was started over thirty years ago with the idea to bring city children back to the Italian roots of cooking and agriculture.  It is called a zero Kilometer farm because everything made and eaten on the farm is grown within the premises.  Our trip consisted of the cooking and aspect.  We spent the entire day there and we started the day off with the preparation of gnocchi’s, that we ate for lunch.  After lunch and exploring the farm we made pizza that was cooked in a man-made brick oven.  Both meals were very traditional and completely home-made.  The Casa MascaFarm experience was very special, it showed me the traditional Italian ways of cooking and tips that I will bring back to the United States.  I really enjoyed “food week” Italians are very proud of their cooking and I was glad I was able to enjoy the food with some of the biggest names in Italian food.