Our Version of Pretty Woman....
Milan, Italy 2012

Before we began this evening in Milan, it was imperative to introduce Rebeca to the 1990 classic "Pretty Woman." I mean if you are going to do this you gotta do it right. So if you are not familiar with the movie, some of this may not make perfect sense but it is a good story none the less.
First we begun the adventure by scoring tickets to "Luisa Miller" by Verdi that was playing at La Scala.
Why would anybody be excited at going to an opera while on vacation you may ask? Well when it is in one of the most world renowned opera theaters from over the past 200 years, which has hosted some of the most famous works and artists of all time, then I think it is worth taking a timeout for this.
Part of the day was spent shopping Milan. Not much luck with that so we went back to our hotel early to rest for our evening out. I mentioned to the receptionist that we were going to the opera and she asked if we had dinner plans yet. I said no and she said she had a place to recommend for us that was close to the theater and had good food. Not only was she able to suggest it, she was able to call and reserve a table for us at this restaurant early enough that we could eat and make the opera on time. You must remember that in Italy, most eat at 8pm or after and to find a nice place at 6 or so in the evening is not easy. So with nothing but a business card with Il Marchesino written on it and a rough set of directions, we fancied ourselves up and took off for the evening.
While you would think that the opera would be the highlight of the night, for both of us it was the dinner before that really made our night. We found Il Marchesino right next to La Scala. We walked into a rather elegant dining area where the maitre d' was expecting us and escorted us to a table with linen tablecloth and plush red chairs. This was the kind of dinner where you had many forks to choose from and where they place the cloth napkin in your lap for you. As we decided on our food choices, we noticed the picture of a man holding up an egg on the wall behind us. Rebeca asked the maitre d' who that was.
To say he was shocked by the question would be an understatement. His eyes grew wide and he said, "why that is Chef Marchesi the owner of this restaurant! In fact he is sitting right over there tonight." That is when we looked over and saw a gentleman who had the undivided attention of all of the staff and chefs in the restaurant. If he took a breath, someone instantly was at his side to offer him something. We enjoyed our meal, watching the show at the other table for Chef Marchesi, and as we were served a divine final treat, Rebeca asked if one of the waiters could take our picture with the picture of the chef in the background. He said, "you know the chef is here tonight." We said that we did and he went off to speak with the maitre d'. Before we were finished, Chef Marchesi came out, shook our hands, and took a picture with us.
We thought that was pretty neat and took ourselves off to the beauty of La Scala. The performance went well. Box seats in a beautiful theater. A tale of romance, misunderstanding, and tragic death were the themes of the night.
It wasn't until a day or two after the performance that I had a chance to look up who this Chef Marchesi was.
For those of you in the culinary know, he is a Michelin Star winner many times over. One of the highest awards you can be given. He is known as the Godfather of new Italian cuisine, fusing French, Japanese, and Italian flavors together with amazing success. Several of his proteges now run the top restaurants in Italy. Although he does not personally do much of the cooking anymore, he likes to be a part of his restaurants and conduct his orchestra of chefs. He has a very musical family and in a way, he feels that his cooking is an orchestra of flavors. I cannot disagree with that attitude or flare for life. He has won more awards than I can mention. Look him up if you are interested. It just goes to show that sometimes the highlight of an evening can come when you least expect it.
Who knew that two box seats to an opera would turn out to be a parallel from a Hollywood film.  Sadly no Richard Gere character for me in the end, but I will take what I can get. What I got was a terrific memory.