Rossella and her son Andrea from Milan invested their life
savings in a little corner of English Harbor to create a Spanish/Italian
restaurant they named Incanto (“enchantment”). He is a young and beautiful man
about 30, speaking perfect English. She speaks very little English but is
adorably outgoing and not afraid to
practice on you. The food is delicious and imaginative. They furnished the
restaurant with chairs from Italy that have back springs, and with a little prodding you can get the chair back to give you a gentle rock. You discover
this after your second glass of wine and it is luxuriating. Rossella saw me
appreciating the chair, davening like a Chasidic jew, and announced…”you like? In my country, when
you do this, we say you are ‘dondelino’”
I did not understand the term, but there seemed to me no American word that could
better describe my state of mind at that moment….boat firmly at anchor, belly
full of ragu spaetzle ( an amazing pasta that will soon be the craze at
home), my head woozy with Malbec, and me gently rocking my Incanto chair above the waters of beautiful English Harbor. I was
indeed, at that moment, dondelino.
