Dinner at Obika: Finally, some mozarella in Italy! (March 7, cont'd)

It was 9 PM.  We'd just arrived in Florence.  We were tired and hungry.  We were perilously close to falling victim to:

 

Late + New City + Tired + Hungry = Grumpy Holly + Relationship Stress

But Kee-Min is a clever man and had an ace up his sleeve.  He'd already scoped out a dinner spot: Obika, a mozzarella bar located just a block away from our hotel.  Did I marry a smart guy, or what?

Obika has locations around the world: Japan, UK, Turkey, Canada, US (New York City and Los Angeles), and Italy.  You can find links to each are here.  My research just this morning indicates that menus aren't standardized among locations; I'm actually pretty curious to check out the LA location.  

[My research also indicates that it is DineLA Restaurant "Week", July 16 - July 27, 2012.  Ohmygoodness.  Locals, check it out here.  While this is unrelated to blogging about Our Big Adventure, I can't continue without at least mentioning it.]

But - *ahem* - back to Florence, and Obika.  We spotted a sign board for the restaurant on the sidewalk, which directed us through an old stone courtyard to another building in the back, which housed the restaurant.  Unfortunately, it was too dark to capture this sneaky little stone entry/courtyard in the dark, and we never went back in daylight.

We were seated quickly in the bright, open restaurant.  The floors, tables, and chairs were all made of light wood, as were the shelves that lined one wall.  The opposite wall looked out on the courtyard area, where seating was offered during the warmer months.  Indoors, seating was at a mixture of "regular" tables and taller, bar-height tables that accommodated 8-10 people, either several smaller groups or one large group.  There were also a few seats facing the mozzarella/appetizer prep area, in the style of a sushi-restaurant.  Patrons were, as far as we could tell, a mix of locals and tourists, of all ages.  I quickly felt at ease.  This probably helped:

Prosecco: Such an easy pre-meal habit to acquire in Italy...

We opted to share a few plates.  We started with a mozzarella tasting (of course!):

3 mozarellas: Paestum (mild), Pontina (strong), and Affumicata (smoked)

We agreed that the Pontina was our favorite, and the Affumicata wasn't doing that much for us.  The smoking left a bit of a weird skin on the outside that we didn't especially like.  Still, I love me a good side-by-side comparison of anything (thereby relieving my memory of having to hold on to anything for too long), and this was a great way to compare flavors and textures.  I was feeling a bit veggie-deprived, so we moved on to a platter of roasted veggies:

Clockwise from top: Eggplant, Zucchini, Carrot, Mushrooms

The veggies had a kick of charbroil without tasting burned, and they were left a bit crunchy (my favorite).  And there was not a trace of sliminess, although eggplant & mushrooms are often prone to sliming while cooking.  These were dry, and delish!

We also shared a pizza:

Prosciutto Pizza: Prosciutto Crudo di Parma DOP, Mozzarella di Bufala,
Organic Tomato, Rocket (the green stuff)

Sorry, Naples - Call us American, but we liked this pizza better than yours.  I'm not sure how traditionally Italian this restaurant is; it certainly didn't have the down-home-cookin' vibe that we enjoyed at Sora Lucia on our first night in Rome.  The atmosphere felt more like an enoteca (Italian wine bar), which we haven't really told you much about yet, but we will, soon.  But enotecas typically serve finger/snack food, rather than full-on meals, like Obika does (we didn't have any, but they also serve pasta dishes as entrees).

 

We weren't in the mood to split hairs over categories, though.  Whatever you want to call it - the food was delicious, the space was relaxing, and the service was solid.  We left full - but not too full, and I insisted that we back track to a gelato place I'd seen when we walked in from the train station.  Despite the late hour and chilly temps, gelato was calling my name.  I enjoyed a tasty-but-not-outstanding scoop or two, and Kee-Min ordered what turned out to be an enormous waffle/Nutella sandwich, which we forgot to photograph.

A note about these waffle sandwiches: SERIOUSLY GOOD.  The waffles are made fresh, while you wait, and slathered with enough Nutella to fill all the waffle crevices.  The heat of the waffle makes the Nutella warm and melty and mmmm....delicious.  Kee-Min doesn't have the dessert stamina that I do, so of course I helped him finish this delectable creation once my gelato was gone.  To work it all off, we walked the whole four blocks back to Hotel Scoti and fell into bed...

Next up: Full day of adventures in Florence!!