December 18, 2025

Kansas City, MO, USA

Thursday. Early this morning I did some scouting for Harry V. He is going to meet Ali in Roma for Valentine’s Day, and Ali’s birthday which is a few days after Valentine’s Day. We fondly remember the Il Giardino di Albino is Roma near Piazza Barberini. The front of the restaurant looks like nothing. It is only about 3 meters wide. You can only see two tables.

When you walk in you still can’t see anything other than the two tables and the podium for the Maitre d’. You can see the kitchen just behind and beyond the Maitre d’, up a few steps. They lead you up the steps and through the kitchen into a beautiful garden like setting which is the restaurant. They prepare a tagliere which is to die for. It is an assortment of delicious salumi, formaggi, breads, olives, and other appetizers. It maybe called an aperitif or antipasto, but it is a full meal all by itself.  

It is possible it is still the same, but the name had changed. It is now called Antica Osteria 1909. Perhaps Il Giardino di Albino (the albino’s garden) isn’t politically correct any more. In the back of my mind there is a nagging thought that it closed during COVID. The photos online still look the same. So, if you get to Roma visit Via Zucchelli 29 between the Piazza Barberini and Scalinata di Trinità de Monti (Spanish Steps). You can see it beforehand at ilgiardinoanticaosteria.it.

The remainder of the morning and afternoon was uneventful. I drove down to the River Market to Carollo’s Italian Grocery & Deli for salumi e formaggi. I also managed to pick up a load of really good Italian bread. Then there was a stop at the Brookside Market for black olives, sweet Gherkin pickles, and carciofi. Back at the hotel I put these in the fridge so they would be cool for dinner.

I worked with V on things to do in Torino. We planned some of the visit. Ali has to leave on the 5th as she had to be in Roma by noon that day. That does mean taking a 05:50 train from Porta Nuova in Torino. I asked Serra and Pietro to help coordinate our arrival on the 1st. Dario will pick us up at the airport and take us directly to our apartment in Torino. Ali gets there an hour before us, so he will meet her first. Although she is traveling on a US passport and will probably take longer to get through immigration than we will with our Italian passports.

Yes, the anipasti is dinner tonight. All antipasti. We have a 19:00 show “A Very Sinatra Christmas” at the Gem Theater at 18th and Vine, the “theater district”. It is billed as local jazz vocalists performing classic holiday tunes popularized by Frank Sinatra. Getting into the holiday spirit with a touch of classic swing and jazz in KC.

We went over to the house about 17:00 and laid out dinner. Harry IV was already there, and Rochelle can in from work a little while later. We had the antipasti and the headed out to the Gem Theater. Well, it turns out KC is trying to upgrade the area and it is totally under construction. In fact, the area directly in front of the theater is completely fenced off. We had to park a couple blocks away. Not too bad it was slightly above freezing, and with the wind chill factor probably not below 20° F.

The show itself was something of a disappointment. The trio, pianist, bassist and dummer, were actually very good. The vocalist on the other hand wasn’t. First, he had no idea what he was singing. He had an iPad on a stand in front of him, and he was basically doing karaoke. Second, there is significant doubt that he had even ever head a Frank Sinatra song, let along one sung by Frank. Third, he had no panache! No stage presence. Yes, he had a fairly good voice, but didn’t know how to use it. About a third of the audience left the theater long before it was over. We stayed. They were offering free drinks.

Afterwards Harry IV drove us back to the house. We dropped them off and Mary, V and I headed to the hotel for the night.

Buonanotte e ciao

Enrico e Maria