World Record: Rome, Italy

If you've ever ventured down the green or orange lines into the North End, you know that the food you find there surpasses that which  you might find at the big "Italian" chains. Most of us have seen the line outside of Mike's Pastries and enjoyed one or two of Mike's delicious cannolis. Well, if you like that, just imagine how good the food is in Italy.
Everywhere you turn, there's either a pizzeria or a gelateria. Students flock to the bars between classes (don't get too excited – the word bar also refers to some cafe-like places where you can grab a caffe, panino, or perhaps a chocolate treat). On one hand, the calories piling up around me tend to be a bit scary, but, on the other hand, I'll only live in Italy once,  so how could I not take advantage? Plus, walking a couple miles a day to get to class and explore the city helps.
Back home, I am not really a fan of pizza – I eat it when someone else suggests it, but it is never my first choice. Here, I cannot help but be tempted by the pizza place two doors down from me. Like most of the pizzerias here, Mary Pizza serves by the slice. Not the typical American slice of a circular pie, but a piece of a large rectangular pizza with  a size that the costumer dictates. You pay by the kilogram, so you can choose exactly how much you want to eat. The pizza is made with ingredients so fresh that you  have to stop  and grab a slice, especially when considering how conveniently they wrap it so you can "take away" and eat on the walk to class.
After class, the gelataria between the two buildings of John Cabot University calls my name. If I manage to ignore that particular shop, one of the other four on my walk home just might grab my attention. I love ice cream and frozen yogurt back home (the real stuff, not the soft-serve you get at late night). Gelato sits so far above that. I wish I knew exactly what makes it so creamy, yet almost fluffy. Though I have yet to find a mint flavor to replace my mint chocolate chip, I have thoroughly enjoyed the limone, especially when coupled with nutella gelato.
Hearing about two such seemingly unhealthy foods, one might wonder how the Italians avoid obesity (and if someone might have to roll me off the airplane come May). However, eating pizza, gelato, pasta, sandwiches, and all the other delicious treats here does a small portion of the damage that eating the American equivalents would do. For one, the portions are smaller here. Most people presented with an entire pizza pick at it until nothing remains. When you can simply point  out how big of a piece you want and walk away, you cannot pick up the extra slice you did not really want anyway. The biggest contributing factor to the quality of the food is the fresh ingredients.
As a society, Italians pretty much only eat fresh food. The refrigerators hold much less food than those in the States, and I cannot find a Ziploc bag anywhere. Italians do not need to preserve as much food because they buy the ingredients fresh and use them quickly. Small markets, indoor and open air, dot the city. Italians stop and grab the food they need for the next few days, planning to return before the week ends.
When I walk into the little market by my apartment, I can see the actual leg from which my prosciutto crudo is cut. The deli does not even put the sliced meat into a plastic bag, but wraps it in paper because the man behind the counter expects me to use it while it is fresh. Even the pasta is fresh. You can grab a box of Barilla like at home, or you can grab the plastic package of fresh pasta – and you will in fact taste the difference. Italians will only eat the freshest of produce. For example, I could not find a jar of minced garlic anywhere, and the man working at the grocery store did not understand what I was asking for. So I grabbed a fresh head – I'll just take the extra time to chop it myself. A little background: The fresher a head of garlic is, the tighter the cloves will be and the harder to separate. I had to pull out a knife and peel back almost all of the skin before I managed to get a clove. (My hands still smell of garlic from the work.)
After finding fresh ingredients in both the restaurants and my own kitchen, I understand the movement for local ingredients in the States. Fruits and vegetables begin to lose nutrients as soon as they are picked, and meat does not take long to start deteriorating. The taste of the food here really reflects both of those facts. I may just get spoiled and have a problem adjusting back to American food. There is no way that reheated pasta in Lower is going to make the cut after this.
You might not be able to make it over to Italy, but at least do yourself a favor and skip the chains. Bertucci's in Brookline may be close, but I am not sure that I really believe that it trains its chefs in Italy. The North End definitely serves as the next best thing to the Italian food in Italy.