Food- Trattoria Centrale

Another opportunity for a culture blog experience came as a surprise to me without planning it ahead of time. After leaving Sojourns fair trade store, I walked down the street to look around and find somewhere to eat lunch. I was really hungry, so I stopped at the first place that looked decent and would keep me from starving. The restaurant was small and bustling with noise. As I took my place in line I realized that this would be a new experience for me.

The name of the restaurant was Trattoria Centrale (I found out after some research that it used to be called ZaZa Trattoria) and they offer traditional Italian dishes. I recognized that I was in a new environment after looking at the menu and seeing choices such as linguine, risotto, and arugula salad, and I felt very out of place, not having a clue what any of the stuff was.

I did see one thing that I was familiar with, pizza. I decided that I couldn’t go wrong with traditional Italian pizza, and I was correct. The entrée was also served with a green salad, and unlike what I am usually used to, there was no ranch dressing in sight. The salad was topped with a light vinaigrette, a taste that was very new to me, but I wouldn’t say it was particularly bad.

Another thing that I have become aware of when eating at non American cuisine restaurants is the idea of portion control. Here at this restaurant, and others offering foreign food, I have been given a soft drink in a can. If you are eating at a traditional American chain food establishment, they fill up your glass just as soon as you can drink it. Habits such as these have led to behaviors which in turn cause the high rates of obesity in our country.

Also, it is interesting to see how our “Americanized” version of foreign foods varies so much from the actual authentic food. The pizza from Trattoria Centrale was very different than that of Pizza Hut and Dominoes, and actually a lot better. Individual slices were on display to choose from, and then as you placed you order, each slice was cooked separately. This kept an entire pizza from going to waste; only cooking the pieces that were actually going to be ate. Unlike American pizza, it was not greasy, and the crust was fresh bread. Inside the restaurant, I noticed people cutting their pizza with a fork and knife, and decided that this was the norm, and stopped eating my pizza with my hands.

I thought it was interesting how a culture blog experience could come out of the blue, and it made me realize how much other cultures are present in our daily lives.