Thursday's Child: Two dinners in San Gimignano

I’ll finish my month of writing about special meals with two memorable dinners in San Gimignano, Italy.  When we were in Italy two summers ago, we spent a couple of nights in a lovely farmhouse in Tuscany, just outside of San Gimignano.  I’ve written about this beautiful medieval village and its stately towers here.

On our first night in town, we decided to eat at Trattoria Chiribiri.  Because it's a tiny restaurant, we’d been warned to arrive early or be prepared to wait, as hopeful diners greatly outnumber the few tables.  Fortunately, we got there before the crowds, and enjoyed one of those rare meals where everyone was thrilled with what they ordered.  From the fresh gnocchi to the wild boar, the food was uniformly delicious.

But what made the evening truly unique was our effervescent waiter.  Shortly after we arrived, he told us in confidence that he’d just proposed to the cook the previous night.  He even invited her out of the kitchen so we could congratulate her in person.  How exciting, we thought, for us to share in their happiness.

Our meal was so memorable, in fact, that we decided to return the following evening.  Our waiter greeted us with a joy reserved for long-lost friends.  We had just placed our order and were chatting amongst ourselves when we heard him talking to the diners at the next table.  “This is a very exciting time for me,” he said, “because I just proposed to the cook yesterday evening!”  He beamed as they applauded, and gave us a wink on his way back to the kitchen.

Is it any surprise that the country which inspired Romeo and Juliet could encourage our waiter to propose to his co-worker every night?

The happy couple