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Tucson Yum: Allegro Gelato!

17 Thursday May 2012

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Italy has been on my mind a lot this week, for reasons more saddening than anything else. Two friends passed away; one only beginning his adult life, the other guiding young adults like me to become good people like her. I had begun writing this post about Allegro before the news arrived, and I actually think it’s fitting that I finish it sooner rather than later. Gelato is, after all, an Italian dessert with which I associate many happy memories, some of which I shared with those who are no longer with us. I’m going to ride that wave….

When I studied abroad in Orvieto from September to December of 2007, my friends and I all frequented Gelateria Pasqualetti almost every day. Two gelaterie were available to us, both on the way to or near school: one was across from the clock tower, the other next to the duomo. Despite cooling weather as fall arrived in Umbria, we rarely missed our daily dose of gelato. This was good gelato, too. The texture was just the right level of creaminess, and although the flavors themselves weren’t necessarily crazy or creative, they were consistently perfect-tasting. We felt pretty okay about the fact that we were eating it like mad because gelato is arguably less fattening than American ice cream. 
Gelato from a place in Rome with some friends in 2007. Pretty good, but no Pasqualetti.
Cold and tasty snacks have been around for centuries, and many cultures probably cooled off with treats using mountain snow and some sort of flavoring from fruit or even flowers. Italian gelato as we know it, though, was developed in Florence by Bernardo Buontalenti in the 16thcentury, who served it in the Medici court. Gelato traveled with Caterina dei Medici to France, where they were blown away. That says a lot, if the French palates condoned it. Another big player in the gelato game was Procopio Coltelli, a Sicilian who opened one of the first cafes that served his delectable gelato in the 1660’s. His cafe later went on to become a favorite haunt of many Paris literati.

But what the heck is the difference between ice cream and gelato? A very valid question, indeed! Nutritionally, gelato is made with less fat and sugar, so a 3.5 oz serving of gelato has less fat (10% vs. 21%), less sugar (24% vs. 30%) and even fewer calories (230 vs. 325). And those are on the higher end. Sorbet is even more healthful, with 0% fat! Better taste, less guilt! Plus, it’s perfect for those hot summer days in Tucson where all you want to do is go to the movie theatre where they blast the AC so much that you need a sweater. 

Allegro: Il Gelato Naturale. The interior is modern and chic, with neato gelato spinners that are fancy and futuristic. 


Where does one procure such a delectable delight in Tucson? I’ll tell you! Allegro!


Allegro was opened only a couple years ago by Ivan Lucchina (co-owner and Master Gelatiere–yes, you even have to go to special gelato university to get certified!) and Marco Rapella. 

Here are Five Reasons why Allegro Gelato rocks

  1. Ingredients. Allegro gelato is only ever made from the freshest ingredients possible. Period. They don’t compromise in terms of quality on that one; they squeeze and chop and mince and whatever in the gelateria kitchen, rather than using powders or mixes. That may mean that your mint gelato is not green. But guess what–that’s because when mint is actually pressed, it’s not green! A lot of ice cream shops and gelaterie use dyes to make their products “look” the way people expect them to. Allegro doesn’t, and it tastes better for it!
  2. Creative flavors. There is a certain canon, so to speak, of gelato flavors. A traditional gelato shop almost always has flavors like straciatella (kind of like chocolate chip), nocciola (hazelnut), caffe (coffee), and seasonal fruit sorbets. But Ivan gets creative! Another favorite on their menu is saffron (IT IS AMAZING), and the Allegro flavor has a nougat-y/almond-y/tasty combo. Depending on what they feel like doing behind the scenes, there can be anything from lavender to basil & pineapple to balsamic avocado behind the glass. You read it right: BALSAMIC AVOCADO. Whoa! 
  3. Variety. You don’t just have to get gelato. Unlike many gelaterie, where you’re relegated to the standard array of tastes, at Allegro you also can get granite (slush drinks, originally from Sicily), coffee, or blend together your favorite gelato with some milk for a satisfying frappe. 
  4. Enthusiastic customer service. Whether Ivan himself is working the counter or one of the many employees they’ve had to hire in more recent months to keep up with business, you’ll always find that the person helping you seems genuinely excited about what they’re selling.
  5. Old World, traditionally crafted quality. The art of gelato making is just that: an art. Although most gelatieri take pride in their medium, with modern techniques come the temptation to expedite the age-old ways of making gelato. Allegro uses the traditional recipes and it shows in the authentic taste. Trust me on this, I’ve eaten approximately a jillion gelati. Maybe not that many, but I would confidently say I have high standards for gelato, having indulged in quite a lot of it. Not all the gelato I’ve eaten has been good, even in Italy, so to find a place like Allegro which just happened to be close to my house has been thrilling. Let’s just say I’m a big fan of their punch card rewards…
Yes, there are a few other places to get gelato in Tucson. I contend, though, that Allegro is the best, with the best prices, the best flavors, and the most authentic gelato experience. So now that we’re starting our regular triple digit temperatures, go cool down at Allegro! 
Yeah, so I was going to take a photo of this strawberry rhubarb…but I ate it.
If you go:
Open true Italian hours, Sunday-Thursday from 11:30-10:30 p.m.
Friday & Saturday, 11:30-11:30.

446 N. Campbell Ave #120, Tucson, AZ 85719



Have you been to Allegro? What’s your favorite flavor?

In Memoriam: For Claudia

15 Tuesday May 2012

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Every evening before we convene for dinner on my dig—some of us coming down from the convent freshly showered, others driving in from the containers a bit outside of town—we stop at the bar. Conversation drifts through the patio in English and Italian with the inevitable cigarette smoke that accompanies us. As the dinner hour nears, chairs scrape against the ground and we stroll across the street to the renovated schoolhouse where we eat. Mealtime is often loud, as I think it should be. Not noisy, but loud with friends catching up on the day’s finds, joking, and the cultural exchange that takes place when Italians, Americans, Swiss, and Dutch unite.
As the meal winds down and cups of coffee replace cups of wine, often someone brings out a guitar. We have a great many someones who are skilled guitarists and singers among our crowd, and on nights like this music is what overcomes any linguistic barriers or cultural miscommunication. We gather chairs around in the front yard or lean against the doorway, creating silhouettes in that threshold between the dining room’s light and the nighttime blackness. Soon, more English and Italian drifts, but this time not in conversation but in song:
the familiar Hello, darkness, my old friend/I’ve come to talk with you again and On a dark desert highway/cool wind in my hair begin many of these evening recitals, but more often we hear native voices and tunes of Italian folk and rock songs.
I don’t know the lyrics to most of these Italian songs. Neither do the rest of the Americans. But I will never forget when a very special person would accept our pleas for her to play. I see her, as I always will, bashfully refusing the guitar before gently accepting it with a close-lipped grin and a bob of her head. It is her old friend and confidante, it seems. And she plays it that way. To her, we listen more raptly, more deeply, than to anyone else. She really felt that music, and in turn channeled that feeling to us. Eyes closed, she would strum and raise her voice with a strength and melody we’d never hear during our daily work.
One of the few times we played inside, I don’t remember why.

I wish I had a video of this to share. I could have sworn that in the many seasons of digging at Campo della Fiera I was sneaky enough to record one of her solos. Claudia, wherever you are right now, I hope you are at peace. Whenever we sing on those dark dig nights, we’ll think of you and hope you can hear us and sing, too.

 Claudia’s was the first rendition I heard of this tragically haunting and beautiful song, “Ballad of Blind Love” by Fabrizio De Andrè.

I Heart Tucson: Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum

10 Thursday May 2012

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Every visitor who we have to Tucson usually must do at least two things: a) eat some really exceptional Mexican food, because honestly, there’s no better place to do it in the States than here and b) go to the Desert Museum. 

The word “museum” usually brings to mind austerity, at least for me. Shushing and walking around looking at stuff on a wall usually go along with it. I, for one, am a big museum-goer, but it’s not everyone’s cup of tea. The Desert Museum is misleading in this way. Don’t picture it as an enclosed space where you go around looking at pictures of desert plants or taxidermied desert animals. Think of it more like a zoo, but specific to our Sonoran desert region. 

Having grown up in Tucson, I lost count of how many trips I’ve made there long ago. But I revisited last week, when my Italians were here. We took the scenic drive west through Gates Pass, along the winding road flanked by blooming palo verdes until we pulled into the parking lot. It was a weekday afternoon, so although we didn’t necessarily beat the early May heat, we beat the weekend crowds. 
The Desert Museum is a well oiled machine of an institution. Educational outreach, knowledgeable docents, an art institute, a digital library and more are all part of its programming. More than 100 mammals, 241 birds, 360 reptiles, 120 amphibians, 10,700 fish and 840 arthropods call the Desert Museum home, in addition to the 40,000 plants. Exhibits about Arizona’s geography, summer evening events, gems & minerals and more supplement the flora and fauna on display. To detail every aspect of the place itself would be folly, and one of the longest posts ever. You should just go check it out! Read more, though, for highlights of our outing there.
We started in the humming bird enclosure, where the babies had recently been born. THEY WERE SO TINY. They also needed to be fed a lot, since their metabolisms are so fast; the mama bird who was gathering food for her baby, we were told, would feed it again in another 20 minutes. 
Hummingbirds are kind of ridiculous. Here are a few fun facts about hummingbirds:

1. They are the only type of bird that can fly backwards (sweet!)
2. Depending on the species and whether they’re courting, a hummingbird can beat its wings from 25 to 100 beats PER SECOND. Per second, people! 
3. The Aztecs and other ancient civilizations believed hummingbirds to be symbols of potency and energy, and of course we can see why! 
She’s on the feeder! Do you see it? 
We wandered through along the paths to the aviary, which houses other types of birds. It was en route there where I took this photo. 
As we ambled along the dirt path, we learned and read about the plants surrounding us. 
Next stop: Bighorns! Bighorn sheep have big horns (duh) that can weigh up to 30 lbs! They also have an interesting relationship with Arizona. By the year 1900, the desert big horn sheep population had plummeted, largely due to hunting and disease. Cue the Boy Scouts of Arizona in 1936! They worked for a few years to help set up areas of conservation for the desert big horn, essentially saving them from extinction. We saw them hanging out under the sun. 
It was like they were modeling just for us! 
Although the desert isn’t always associated with water–more like with the lack thereof–we still have it! And we have critters who like it, too! The beavers were putting on a show for us that afternoon, swimming and washing up. Here’s one of our watery friends:
Cat Canyon featured desert kitties, including a pair of sleepy mountain lions who had little interest in us. In fact, most of the animals were having their siesta by the time we got to them. The javalinas were napping under the bridges, a coyote slipped beneath a bush into its cooler underground burrow as we passed, and the black bear was barely (sorry! Couldn’t resist!) visible lounging by a rock wall. 
The prairie dogs were out en force, though! I love these little guys. They poke their heads out when there’s a disturbance. If they were in a horror film, they’d be the dumb guy who went looking for the killer when everyone knows he’s just around the corner.

Whenever I think of prairie dogs, I always think of this video:

By the time we got through most of the acreage at the ASDM, we were spent. Before heading home, I took a shot of the landscape I’ve been raised in, grateful to have been so. The desert will always be home for me, and I will always value the fact that I can identify cacti, and know how to pronounce gila monster (tip: the g sounds like an h). I value the time I’ve spent, and time I will spend, showing others all the beauty the desert offers. Driving back home through the saguaros and colorful blooms made the long journey feel a lot shorter. 

Saguaro, prickly pear, cholla, mountains in the distance. Ah, Tucson. 

Trip Update!

09 Wednesday May 2012

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Plans are in the works! Things are going slowly but steadily. I finally made a concrete list of official Things To Do, which was a lot harder than I anticipated. I had mustered up half-hearted things to do, none of which deserve capitalization, because none of them were very concrete. Things like “Buy ticket. Research WWOOFing. Etc” topped the list, and I’ve found that for me, those types of lists don’t work super well.

I’m a visual to-do-lister. My planners, starting even in middle school, listed every single thing I had to accomplish for the day. Even throughout college and beyond, through the advent of google calendar and smart phones, I used a planner (I prefer this Moleskine) wherein I would detail every task at hand. Third parties gazing over my shoulder usually exclaimed things like, “How can you read that?!” and even one of my students recently remarked at how messy my lesson planning calendar was. Messy to you, maybe, but not for me. In any case, I”m a big list-maker. My thoughts settle, I can prioritize, I can feel accomplished when checking something right off that list. I finally changed course when I got my Droid Razr, and now use the calendar and To-Do functions on my phone. As evidenced by my student’s comments, though, I still prefer writing when it comes to the important stuff.

This is what my vague, new but relatively more specific To-Do list looks like. I made sure to save it to my Desktop, to make it totally T D L worthy. The adjective modifying this wonderful list is: ULTIMATE. It’s missing a few things, I know, I know. And it’s obviously  not listed in order of urgency, seeing as “buy plane ticket” should happen pretty soon. It will (and you’ll be informed, don’t fret)!

TO DO:
Make a list of countries you want to see and the entry/visa requirements
Call regional consulate or visa office re: travel within Schengen
Go to Verizon store to ask about phone options
Make doc appointments!
Buy plane ticket
Get copy of glasses/contacts prescriptions
Buy travel insurance
Notify bank
Get a credit card
Get wwoofing position
Research volunteer options
Go through clothing & books to purge non-essentials
Yard sale for stuff!

Now I can cross off 2 things. Sort of. 
Thing 1: Figured out phone stuff. Normally when I travel, I use a phone I bought a few years ago in Rome. It’s nothing special; just a Nokia. I’m pretty sure it’s this: 

C1-01_Hero_LP
Thanks for the pic, Nokia.com!

The handy thing about European phones is that they operate usually with SIM cards, so you can pop it out and put a new one in in the event that a) your SIM expires and you can’t use it anymore or b) it gets lost or c) aliens come down from outer space and remove all chips and electronics from your bag, leaving only the husk of what once was your communication device to the world.

What I did not know in January, when I caved and bought my fancy (and admittedly awesome and slightly addictive) Razr is that I would be traveling for many months. I did not know, when I bought it, is that it is not really internationally compatible for data and voice, unless I want to pay beaucoup bucks. I do not. But! The friendly folks at Verizon answered all my questions, and I plan to travel with it and use it with WiFi. A cool thing about that, is that there’s this app, called WhatsApp. WhatsApp basically works as a messaging service, but it’s free and you can text internationally because it works via WiFi. So if I have WiFi, I can text you from abroad! (If you have a smart phone, that is.) And I’ll also be using my trusty Nokia. 


Thing 2: GOT MY FIRST OFFICIAL FARM GIG! So, my first reality check that this was real, that I’ve really decided to go off without a fixed itinerary to write and travel and adventure, was when I received my WWOOFing membership for Italia. A friend of mine worked on a family farm in Baschi, very near to Orvieto; she highly recommended it, raved about the folks who ran it, and per fortuna, they accepted me! I’ll be WWOOFing with them from September 1-29. Apparently, the back roads of Baschi look like this:

Beautiful and exciting are two words that immediately come to mind. This also means that I’m going to have to figure out a way to get out of the Schengen countries so I can be back in them for Christmas time…


In any case, two big things were accomplished today, and now my list looks more like this:

TO DO:
Make a list of countries you want to see and the entry/visa requirements
Call regional consulate or visa office re: travel within Schengen
Go to Verizon store to ask about phone options
Make doc appointments!
Buy plane ticket
Get copy of glasses/contacts prescriptions
Buy travel insurance
Notify bank
Get a credit card
Get wwoofing position
Research volunteer options
Go through clothing & books to purge non-essentials
Yard sale for stuff!

Still a lot left. But hey, I’ll take it. 

(A little more than) 36 Hours in Tucson

06 Sunday May 2012

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My Italians came to visit this week! Yes, the same ones whose lights I couldn’t turn off, who have carted me to their country house, who took me on my first moped ride, who have been the most generous and kind hosts I could ever ask for on every visit I’ve made to Italy since I was 16 and I stayed with them for 3 weeks one summer. Other destinations called, however, so they only could come to Tucson for a mere 48 hours, and I could only see them for about 36.  

Rome 2011: Dinner with Esa, Pompeo and Maddalena. Their son, Umberto, was at summer camp in the USA!

So what did we do with Italian tourists in Tucson for such a short time? I’ll tell you!

Tuesday 
6p.m.ish: Pick up Italians from airport. Try to take them to eat at Mi Nidito, one of Tucson’s most famous Mexican restaurants. President Bill Clinton ate there when he visited Tucson. They have since then named the platter he consumed the President’s Plate. Arrive at restaurant to find that it is closed, even though it is Tuesday. People, learn from this: Mi Nidito is closed Monday and Tuesday. Because they can be.

6:15p.m.ish: Call our back-up restaurant, Feast (another one of my absolute favorite Tucson eateries). Find out that they won’t have any openings for a few hours due to a crazy big reservation. Italians have spent 13 hours in flight, and it is about 3 a.m. their time. Need food sooner.

6:25p.m.ish: Take them to Downtown Kitchen instead!  This time, I got the orecchiette with mushrooms, asparagus, braised duck and noticed that they misspelled orecchiette on their online menu…We also devoured the desserts: warm apple & pear crumble, featuring ancho caramel, streusel & cinnamon ice cream and one of the tastiest chocolate cakes I may have ever eaten, Ibarra chocolate cake with Kahlua ice cream & almond candy. 


8:30p.m.ish: Go home, settle in, drink tea, catch up.

10 p.m.ish: Sleep.

Wednesday 


I took the day off work, figuring if an event like this isn’t worth doing so, then few are.

9 a.m.ish: Go to Chez Button, where our guests are residing for their visit. Find that Maddalena is feeling a little out of sorts. Agree to run errands for dinner and sorting out international phone issues while naps occur.

9:30 a.m.ish: Pompeo and I embark on an epic and grueling trek to figure out how to make Maddalena’s Blackberry work in America. Lots of discussion is bandied about regarding GSM, SIM cards, internet settings and network configuration. Something about wifi. Go to 3 different stores. Give up.

10:15 a.m.ish: We continue on this journey to pick up buns for our cookout dinner tonight. My mother has reserved torta buns from La Estrella Bakery.  La Estrella provides some of the finest tortillas and baked goods in the area, but I’ve always ever seen them at stores rather than at the bakery. Unbeknownst to aforementioned mother, said bakery is located very far away, in South Tucson. Pompeo and I kept driving south and south and south, and finally we found it. So worth it. Apart from being a really authentic Mexican bakery, they have super prices. We got a dozen torta buns and I couldn’t resist a pineapple empanada, and it was like $5 for all of it.

11 a.m.ish: Drive all the way from South 12th Ave & Irvington to Prince & Campbell, where we picked up the evening’s dessert: fruit tart from La Baguette Bakery. If you’ve never been there, it’s a part of Ghini’s French Cafe, and was another worthwhile expenditure of gas (after these couple of days, I wouldn’t want to know what my carbon footprint was…).

A palo verde blooming. I had forgotten how vibrant their colors are, and juxtaposed against our clear blue Sonoran sky, they’re quite magnificent.

1p.m.ish: Take the Italians to arguably the most important place if your visitors are only here for a brief time: The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum. That’ll get its own entry, as I have many photos and it certainly deserves a detailed heart post. Admire blooming palo verdes, napping mountain lions, and newborn hummingbirds.

4p.m.ish: Nap.

5:15p.mish: Start preparing dinner! Welcoming guests!

6p.m.ish: Take advantage of Tucson weather and grill buffalo burgers in the backyard. Eat them, some fresh, home-made gazpacho, and Mediterranean salad. Drink good wine and relish good company.

9:30p.m.ish: Relax once everyone has left. Figure out how to fix Blackberry with some handy googling! Download WhatsApp, an app that makes it easy–and free–to message internationally so I can keep in better touch with my friends.

10:30p.m.ish: Be sorry that the day is over, but happy that I will be back in Italy soon!

Note: Since our friends didn’t have a flight until the next afternoon, they also liked walking around at the University of Arizona, my alma mater (and also where my mother and Maddalena met 30+ years ago. Go, Wildcats!) and an elegant lunch at the Arizona Inn. 

Overall, it was a marvelous visit. Although Wednesday morning was spent riding around in my car to various bakeries, it was still an adventure during which I got to see more of my own city, and Pompeo got to see more of Tucson. Also, now I know where La Estrella is if I ever am craving the perfect tortilla!

Where would you take guests if they were here for only a couple days? Share in the comments!