Normally, one encounter with an old bear would terrify a person. It would probably scare a person out of the wilderness and into solitude
for an unforeseeable amount of time. It would most likely be an
experience worth putting behind and never having to relive. In fact,
the only person I have ever read of, other than circus acts and zoo
trainers, to have ever made his life about becoming friends with old
bears is Mr. Timothy Treadwell, who was deemed Grizzly Man by Mr.
Werner Herzog in a 2005 documentary by the same title. Treadwell was
the victim of one of the old bears he had become friends with during
his life in the wilderness with them.
Recently, I survived an encounter with an Old Bear – only this one wasn’t big, fuzzy, and scary – this one was located in the center of Rome – this one was just a hidden gem crouching in a dark alley waiting for it’s prey to walk by and step inside. This one had sharp teeth that captured my friends and myself and welcomed us for one of our most wonderful dining experiences in Italy yet—this one was an old bear worth encountering.
“You know, I once saw an American TV show where someone was eating a fried Oreo.” This was the phrase that poured out my host in Torino’s mouth as we discussed the difference of food in each culture. I
couldn’t help but laugh. Instantly, an image of Oreos, fries,
chocolate, and dough being deep-fried at a county fair entered my mind.
‘In America, we can fry anything…even cheesesteaks,’ I thought.
I just spent my first night in Rome and wanted to share my dinner from last night. It was at 
When I first heard the phrase “ZaZa,” I thought it might have referred to some strange dance move created decades ago, possibly performed by the Tracy Turnblad character, played by Ricki Lake, in the
original Hairspray (John Waters, 1988). I imagined Lake’s character
flailing her arms in the air, shaking her bum from left to right,
tapping her feet to the drum, and exclaiming, “ZaZa!” on a certain
beat. Thankfully, I had thought wrong: Instead of the ZaZa referring to
a dizzying dance stunt, it was the most tremendously tasty Trattoria in
Tuscany—a restaurant in Florence, whose food is so good, it may make
you want to flail your arms up in the air and yell ZaZa!
The first time I ate at Coco Lezzone in Florence, it was at the invitation of film producer Dino De Laurentiis, who knows a thing or two about Italian cooking: 