acqua al 2.

When Carly and I studied abroad at the Apicius Culinary Institute of Florence in Italy a few summers ago, one of our favorite meals was a blueberry steak from a local favorite, Acqua al 2, in Florence. Only a few days after trying this amazing entree, the man who prepared the steak showed up as a guest professor in my cooking class! I never really knew what happened to our original chef but I wasn't complaining when Stefano, the adorable executive chef who owned Acqua al 2, would greet us each morning not only adding his own flare to our traditional textbook recipes but also preparing things completely separate from our course... including this amazing fruit tart he taught us how to make using extra supplies in our kitchen! Before leaving Florence, he insisted we come try his seafood restaurant for our last meal where he brought us out all kinds of things to try... including octupus that still had it's tentacles! I was so excited to try his restaurant in the Gaslamp district of San Diego while we were there! The ambience was the same. The menu was the same... and the blueberry steak was just as amazing as I remember! The only thing missing was my Italian amore. I dream of the day I'll return to Firenza to find him again...