Category Archives: restaurants

Odds and ends…

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I wanted to catch up with a couple of things. First, I don’t think I ever showed a picture of the garage we rent. It is quite spacious and we even thought we could use it to store things like pellets for our stove as the space, even with the car inside, is big.

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Last week when we went to Leroy and Merlin we purchased some items. It never ceases to amaze me that nearly everything I buy here is made in Italy. How they manage to hold onto industry here and we can’t do that in the US is puzzling to me. This is the box with the toilet paper holder and brush we bought for the guest bath.

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We also talked to Jim, our realtor about our fireplace and terrace shade (two items from our list). He dropped by and took a look. He knows just about everyone so we figured he was a good source. Also Emanuele is a busy person lately and we thought we’d try to manage without him this time. Jim said what we wanted to do to the fireplace was definitely doable. He is supposed to get in touch after he talks to some folks.

Saturday morning dawned gray but the Kilometer Zero market is hanging in, even in the dead of winter.

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We had planned to go with Joseph and Paul to visit a vineyard or two. We drove to Montifalco and first visited Adanti. We still had time before they all close for lunch so we visited Filippo not far away. We managed to fill the trunk of course.

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We had decided not to lunch because Joseph and Paul needed to get back to Georgia, their little dog. I had planned to make dinner tonight anyway. I want to share a great recipe that I found for roast chicken. This is the best, and the easiest roast chicken I’ve ever found and I’ve been making it over and over. It is by Thomas Keller of the French Laundry. The trick is to make the chicken very dry so it crisps up. You also put it in the oven and do not mess with it. So easy. Best Roast Chicken. I do not use a rack. It is just as good in a pan with space around it. And here is a picture of mine. SO GOOD!!

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And finally, on Sunday we went back to Calagranna for lunch. Alberto was in the hospital so Ely was cooking and had a big birthday party bunch of Brits coming but she said that is we just eat what she is making for them we can come. It turned out it was roast beef and yorkshire puddings with all the fixin’s as a main course. But for us the best part was the anitpasti. She made a bunch of wonderful little things. I couldn’t describe them all but here is a picture.

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Calagrana has reopened!

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Today is Sunday, clear and cold with pretty blue skies. Susan and Gary told us that Calagrana, one of our favorite restaurants has reopened after being closed for much of the winter. Alberto, the chef and co-owner with his wife Ely, had taken a catering gig in Wales to make some extra money since winter is so slow here. He’s back and cooking! So today we went for lunch.

There was one table there when we arrived and one table set for fourteen! We were urged to order before they showed up, which we did. Alberto out-did himself. One of the menu choices was little plates for antipasti. There were probably ten different things. Each coast 4.50 Euro. We each ordered two or three. Then most of us ordered the roast chicken. Here are pictures to make your mouth water.

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I had little roasted onions filled with onion and gorgonzola and goat cheese with sprouts on roasted beets. DSC03842

Luther had baked cod cakes, vitello tonato, and something he can’t remember but liked.DSC03843

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While we were eating another guest informed us that we had a puncture in our tyre. That’s British for a flat. Something to look forward to. Here are the valentines day cupcakes Ely made. So pretty!
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We walked out and I snapped a picture of the stone guest house and views. This is an Agriturismo as well as a spectacular restaurant. It is a working farm as well. It has beautiful rooms and in summer is a dream! Go to their website to see more Calagrana. Susan and I agreed that the Niccone valley, where Calagrana is, is the prettiest valley in Italy. Even in the dead of winter.

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Now for the fun bit. Fixing the flat. New car to Gary. It, like most cars has no spare. It had the little kit that you squirt something in and then plug a pump into the cigarette lighter and pump it up. It worked well and wasn’t too hard. Fortunately we were in a beautiful place, in the warm sun, and not on a busy highway.

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When we got back home the Piazza was filled with little kids in costumes throwing confetti at each other. From upstairs I watched some of the events and plays for the kids I guess. Another puzzling Italian thing.

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Follow up

So today we returned to the Dipartimento di Salute to finalize our health insurance. We could not ‘jump the line’ as we thought but this day was far calmer with fewer people waiting. After only about 40 minutes we went in to see LL.

What a surprise! She was quite nice to us. But she really opened up when we began discussing restaurants that we had been to. I guess food is a subject close to her heart 🙂 given her girth! We were given cards and assigned a doctor. We asked for the one Susan and Gary have. The only glitch is that our Permissi run out in June so it is only good until June. We have to go start up our Permissi process again and then they will extend it until the end of the year. Our doctor has hours and you just drop in. I’ll let Luther go first so I see how it goes.

On Sunday we drove to Citta della Pieve. It is very close to the Tuscan border and is a very pretty hill town. I was impressed that it was a really active place with lots of people about. Nice bars and outside spaces. Here is one of the pretty streets.

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We found one of the restaurants that we had read about called Zafferanno Pievese.

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The menu had a surprise on it. Hamburger!

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But WOW was it expensive. Note the price above. I guess since it was made from the famous Chianina beef with bernese sauce and to top it off the Famous Onions of Cannara. Perhaps it was worth the price. I resisted ordering it. Maybe if we go back. Below are our two appetizers. They were good but a lot of food. I did not care for my primi but maybe it was just the ingredients. Luther liked his steak.

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It was a fun day!

Cantine Aperte a San Martino

Yesterday was Sunday, November 16 and there was a festival called Cantine Aperte a San Martino or Cellars open for St. Martin. We had gotten a brochure with the participating wineries and a map from a winery we visited last week. It was organized by Movimento Turismo del Vino Umbria. We had planned to visit one or two wineries and then have lunch and then maybe visit another.

The weather was threatening. The first place we went was just south of Perugia and it was closed (!) and it was supposed to be participating. So we headed south near Todi. This one was called Roccafiore. It was quite an operation. When we arrived it was raining and after going inside where they have a gourmet restaurant, spa and hotel, we found out they, too were not opening the Cantina because of the rain. Shoot. We called and made reservations for lunch and decided to try one more. This one was called Tenuta San Rocco – a cluster of confusing buildings and it was POURING rain. Finally we found their make-shift tasting area which was in a newish building with the bottling machines. The man was very friendly and there was another guy and a young woman there. They not only served us wines but also two breads, a sweet, nutty cookie, and hot bruschetta and then they roasted chestnuts on a little brazier right there on the floor!

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Chestnuts in a cup.

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One of the wines was the Vino Novello which is almost exactly like Beaujolais Nouveau from France. Very young and meant to be drunk right away. It was fresh and good. They explained that it was due to the St. Martin festival that they had olive oil, chestnuts, and new wine as it is the tradition. I found it all charming. They harvest everything by hand. At the end Dottoressa Grassini who is the owner and enologist came and met us. She also was very welcoming. All in all a very fun experience.

New wine.

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Off to lunch at Locanda Rovicciano in Castel Ritaldi. We found it in our Gambero Rosso Ristoranti d’Italia book. Excellent restaurant. We were seated in a room with a big fireplace. I bet it would be cozy in the winter. There were large Italian families dining and many children. It was fun watching them. The kids were pretty well behaved and could go outside and blow off steam while their parents ate and drank wine. The table in our room had four women and four men. The four men sat at the end of the table, then the four women all together, and then the kids. So strange. We would never seat ourselves like that in the States.

I had the quail eggs with white truffles. They were fried and place on top of toasted bread with shaved truffles. Yum!

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Luther had Maltagliata which means “badly cut”. And it was very irregular. It had onions and bacon.

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I had the spit roasted Quail for an entree and Luther had grilled lamb. He pronounced it the best lamb he’s had here. My Quail was tiny and crispy and smokey flavored and not too much food. It was wrapped in bacon and I am pretty sure roasted over a wood fire. Very Very good. My Quail.

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Here is the sky just before we went into the restaurant. Spooky!

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All in all a fun day. This coming week will see us moving into our own place, or so we hope. I finished unpacking what I could unpack so there are not so many boxes. We went shopping Saturday and bought a vacuum cleaner. A Dyson Animal. We hope that will help us keep up with the cat hair.

Beautiful Fall day!

Yesterday (Sunday) we decided to visit a restaurant with Susan and Gary that was recommended by our local Enotecca and also visit a winery in the Cannara area. This town grows the famous Cannara sweet onions to be found only here in the world! The weather was just spectacular for November 9. Warm enough for shirt sleeves and with that lovely Autumn slanting sunlight on the grapevines that have turned red and yellow.

First the winery. We headed up into the hills and stopped at an ultra-modern winery. It was not the one we intended to visit which was further down the road. This one, Tenuta Castelbuono had an enormous tasting room and some sculptures. I cannot imagine how much it must have cost. Perhaps it is um, money laundering? Anyway, they had two Sagrantino wines which we tasted and bought. Here are pictures.

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ENORMOUS tasting room.

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Click to appreciate the colors of Autumn.

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The structure was designed by a sculptor. Very unusual.

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After we visited this winery there were few others open on Sunday so we went to Cannara of onion fame. We drove into this little town which is situated on the Topino river, another St. Francis town with two medieval churches and the site where he gave his sermon to the birds. It used to be to be a lake until it was drained in the Middle Ages. We passed a sign advertising onions or Cipolla for sale. Couldn’t pass that up – world famous and all! We rang the bell and the lady came out and took us into the shed. As we entered the gate another car stopped with a family inside and asked us if they sold onions. We said yes and he was thrilled and gave out a Bellisimo and stopped to buy also. Only Italians would get this excited to buy onions. The lady began scooping onions into a bag, and scooping, and scooping! 2 kilos later (about 4 lbs) we left. Fun.

Now onto our restaurant called Hazienda Ristorante Cafe. What else would you name an Italian restaurant? It was one of those holiday places. It had apartments to rent for holiday makers and a swimming pool, great views of Assisi up on the mountain. We ordered the 4 course degustation menu. After we ordered the owner warned us that it was a LOT of food. Uh oh. Well it was a lot but we managed it. No picture, sorry. We had an antipasti with several fried specialties like onion rings (famous onions!) fried sage leaves etc. Next was a pretty plate with three fried dough circles on which were three poached (famous) onions on top of a parmesan cream sauce with drizzled balsamic (heaven!). Next were Raviolis in a parmesan cream sauce. The Secundo or main course was supposed to be horse but we couldn’t deal with that and had them substitute lamb, grilled, not great. Over done and gristly but thankfully not a lot to eat. We skipped dessert. Burp!

Back in Umbertide they were having a big market with clothes, jewelry, roasted chestnuts and peanuts. Happening place. Pictures.

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Chestnuts being roasted.

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Today, Monday, always a slow day. BUT it was an unusual Monday because our kitchen was due today!! I went over to the house to grab some things I needed and take a little walk. They were washing the floors in preparation for the kitchen.

We also got good news from Gary that Luther’s long-in-coming medicines had been delivered to him (2 months!). It is so funny, Luther’s name was on the package, we had my sister send it to Emanuele’s office but no-one was there. BUT they knew other Americans lived nearby and they MUST know the recipient so went to Gary’s house. He paid the duty and we met on the Piazza to take delivery and pay. Also Susan brought me my share of the Famous Cannara onions. Now I need to figure out how to fix them to take advantage of their special qualities.

Here is the Pedini truck delivering our KITCHEN!!!

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I’ll go over tonight to see the progress. So exciting!!

A couple of trips here and there

Sunday we decided to go with Susan and Gary somewhere. Susan sent an email to check out a town called Monterchi as they had passed it on their way to Abruzzo. I did some research and found a little restaurant that got some nice ink called Trattoria al Travato.

Sunday November 2 was a gorgeous day. Hard to believe it was November. We found the town only about 30 minutes from Umbertide. It is a small hilltop town, but a kind of low hilltop town. Not way, way up like most. We could actually drive right up to the top on a very tiny road. The restaurant sits in the little piazza on the very top of the hill. It is very pretty with plane trees planted all around the edges which softens it. The trees still had most of their bright yellow leaves.
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There was only one restaurant and it was ours. Unfortunately we had forgotten to call so all the outside tables (yes is was nice enough to sit outside) were taken. We got seated haphazardly in the enotecca. We got a bottle of wine and chose from the small but good menu. The smells of grilling meat wafting from the kitchen were killing us. So, of course, we ordered way too much food! Still it was great.

The good news was, after the pasta course we got seated outside. So nice. We got two plates of bruschetta to share, we all got house made pastas and all were excellent. And we all got the grilled veal. Superb. It was a very nice lunch.

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After lunch we wandered over and found a lovely little jewelry store owned by a very nice young couple. He was a very skilled gold/silversmith. Susan and I bought bracelets. They told a tale that is repeated all over Italy. They want to immigrate to Australia mainly because there is no opportunity for their children in Italy. Very sad to have to move away from all you know, all your family because Italy crushes the small business and families.

We walked up to the bell tower and the ramparts with lovely views.

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I laid low all Monday with a cold. It was an odd cold. Came on very suddenly during the night with a searingly sore throat and quickly moved into the sinus and nasal passages. I was stuffed up all day Monday but by bedtime I was no longer stuffed up and got a good night sleep and felt fine today. How weird is that?!

So we proceeded with the plan to go to Orvieto to visit a winery and have lunch. We bought a couple of cases from the winery called Decugnano Dei Barbi. We drove to Orvieto – always a sight up on its tuffa cliffs. The elevators and escalators had no power today! Just our luck. So we hoofed it up about 8 stories. We wandered around town, stopping to get reservations at Il Palomba for lunch. We enjoyed window shopping and stopping in the wine shops and then headed to lunch.

We have been to Il Palomba once before with the Gang o Six (sister, husband, 2 friends and us). I remember it being popular but today they must have turned away as many people as got tables. It was as good as I remembered. We had pastas and secondi. Luther got the lamb and I got the filet with green peppercorn sauce. Both were excellent. Here is a picture of the filet.

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For a wine Luther chose Gatto Gatto which means Cat Cat because we have two cats. It was a very nice Orvieto wine.

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Also a miracle happened today. when I opened my computer to download my pictures it asked me if I wanted to update my software. I thought a second and then I realized I must be connected to the internet! Sure enough ZyXEL (wifi name) is BACK! Who knows why but I took advantage of it to update the blog with out Luther’s help with the pictures. Who knows how long it will last!?

November 1st

Well, here it is November already. Yesterday day on the way to the bank we passed a bar with two carved pumpkins. Last night out on the piazza the shops were being visited by lots of little witches and caped crusaders! So Halloween is alive and well in Italy!

It has gotten pretty chilly lately so we’ve been using the stuffa. That’s the little stove in the apartment. You load it up with pellets of wood and it feeds them into the hopper slowly.

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What have we been doing… Well on Thursday we took a trip to Norcia. We also visited a small town called Sellano on the way. It was a place where I had fallen in love with a house before we came over. It is a lovely little town. Very nicely kept. BUT it is devilishly hard to get to. I am glad I gave it a miss.

Norcia is a really nice little town that is known for it’s cured meats, truffles, lentils and faro. We walked about and visited a couple of churches, went into some shops and bought some of the specialties and then had lunch! Here are some photos, first of the town, then lunch.

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The restaurant was called la Cenoloco. They were very proud that they used only local foods from just around Norcia. It was pretty quirky and very tiny. Enjoyed the experience.

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I dropped by the apartment after five or six days. They have cleaned up most of the trash and swept the floors in the bedrooms and hall. Probably preparing to refinish the floors. They have to do that in two steps. First the back of the house while it’s empty. Then move everything in the living room back to the back and paint and finish the floors in there. Other than the lights it is mostly done now. Here are a few pictures that don’t really tell you much. Shows the new paint and cleaned up rooms.

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Trip to Fabriano

So I am in the hotel and able to use my laptop to update and upload all my pictures so I can catch this blog up. Yay!

We left around 10AM. It is only about an hour drive. Very rugged countryside with lots of big national parks in the Appinine mountains. Big bald mountains and lots of gorges. It was pretty but supposed to rain later and quite cool.

We arrived in Fabriano about 11AM and found our hotel with the help of Serena, our GPS lady. We are staying at Residenza la Ceramica which got good reviews in TripAdvisor. I have to agree. It is a small boutique place right in the heart of the old town. One huge plus is they have a big, gated parking lot right out front.

We went in and checked in but didn’t ask if we could take our bag in as it was early. We headed right out to find the Giotto exhibit. I loved this town. Beautiful Centro with lots of nice small streets and lots of shops. Amazing that I had never heard of it but that goes to show you that the Marche region is way off the tourist track at least for Americans. We heard no English spoken today. The Marche has much to recommend it. Adriatic coast with beaches and cliffs, huge rugged mountains and gorges, lovey interior towns. Nice.

The show was good. It consisted of a main show in the museum downtown and three churches with frescoes. The show explores the vibrant fourteenth century. At this time Fabriano was considered part of Umbria as it had close links. It was close to Gubbio and Assisi and St. Francis visited regularly creating a culture of faith. At the end of the thirteenth century an entirely new western pictorial style was introduced. Giotto’s influence had found it’s way through the pass to Fabriano. Many of the masters are not known widely. Campodonico and Nuzi are among the best and had schools of their own. We looked at all the paintings, statues, and frescoes in the museum. Then we visited the Cattedrale di san Venanzio where a very nice lady showed us into very small, very tall chapels on either side of the alter where there were the remains of beautiful, very vibrant and colorful frescoes. Wonderful.n

Cathedral.

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Pictures of the frescoes in the small, very tall side chapels.

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Same church, one of the side chapels outside in front of the altar with amazing frescoes.

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We then walked to the next church. Kind of a nice touch is that they have stenciled on all the streets the pathways between the churches and exhibits so one only has to follow them.

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The next church we again had a nice lady take us into secluded chapels with gorgeous frescos. All about 700 years old.

The sky had clouded up and we found a place just in time before a huge thunderstorm hit complete with thunder, lightening and hail. But we were snug inside with our nice lunch and bottle of wine at Sbrodovino.

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By the time we finished lunch the sun was out. We headed to our hotel where we checked into our very nice suite. It has nice skylights, two big rooms and a big modern bath. Very nice.

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For dinner we went to Ehmbe. It was a modernish looking place inside an ancient building. It was FREEZING outside. Wow what a change. We had a nice dinner and returned to our hotel. The people at the desk are very friendly. We chatted a bit and headed up to our room.

Morning now and bright sunshine but it’s still cold. We are heading to Metalica (not the band!), a wine region south of here and then on back to Umbertide. I want to post this now while we are here in the hotel with good WiFi.

Catching up

I am still having problems with updating so no pictures right now. I will add them a little later since we are going on a short overnight trip and I should be able to use the hotel wifi. [added pics below]

Sunday was a most gorgeous day. It was sunny, 70s and the perfect blue sky with that beautiful fall sunshine. We had been invited to go to lunch with Susan and Gary and their two guests from California, Irene and George. We went to Calagrana which we had enjoyed once before. It is so pretty. I took some pictures and will add later. Irene and George are vegetarians and Susan had called ahead and they had made a few dishes that they could choose from. Top picture is my veal chop. Next is my porchetta appetizer. Last two are semifreddo desserts.

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After lunch we went to Preggio, a hill town that was having a chestnut festival. The place was packed and there was not terribly much to see. Still, since we had to park miles away we got to walk off lunch and continue to enjoy the day. View from Preggio.

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They have started to paint the apartment. It is a nice creamy white. Still have not begun to clean up. We got bad news yesterday. Our kitchen is delayed and won’t be installed until November 10th. Nuts.

Yesterday we looked at outdoor furniture. We need to measure before we buy but found some nice stuff. We also bought the living room lights and the ones for the guest bedroom.

As I said in the beginning of this post, we are off on our first trip. It is a town in the Marche called Fabriano about an hour away. They are having a special exhibit at their museum of Giotto works. But the whole town is involved so we thought it was worth an overnight. It will be the first time we left the cats alone.

Another day, another winery and lunch :-)

So Luther decreed that we had to go buy some more wine. He chose a place or two down in the Sagrantino wine district. It takes about 45 minutes to get there from our house. The day was fine. We found the first winery called Particaia which means plough. When we exited the car we were assailed with the overpowering odor of the new harvest of crushed grapes. The older gentleman who met us at the door of the office was super nice. He took us to the big building to see the vats with the piles of grape peels and juice.

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Then we walked up to the tasting room where he showed us the previous years harvest aging in French oak.

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We tasted three wines and bought a couple of cases. The old gentleman turned out to be the owner and vintner! He was super welcoming and I have to say, his property is beautiful.

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They had a dog. His name was Flick. He reminded my of my dog growing up, Cricket.

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We went to one more winery. They were not as welcoming. In fact they pointedly looked at their watch when we arrived at 12:15. I guess lunch was getting near and they didn’t want us hanging around.

Next came the really big adventure. We were looking for a restaurant called Ristorante 4 Piedi & 8.5 Pollici. It means the restaurant of the 4 feet and 8 1/2 thumbs. I have no idea why they call it that. We had a map from the internet. We tried to use the GPS but it didn’t recognize the street. We drove up to a small hill town but we knew that was wrong so went back to Bastardo. Yes it’s really called that! It is an unattractive town with little to recommend it. The review we read said the restaurant was hard to find. Boy were they right! They said it was in a strip mall. Well after driving slowly around the streets and asking two people we finally found it behind some big tents and in back of a big supermarket. There were no signs for it anywhere. Typically Italian.

It is a quirky place. Strangely decorated. The people were friendly and welcoming. There is no menu. They come out and recite what they have. We chose the Antipasti to share and a pasta. Hand made Strangozzi pasta (local specialty) with onions and ham. The Antipasti was a multi-course affair. Here are pictures and descriptions. It was a great lunch.

Started with a plate of ham, mortadella, mozarella, a grilled mushroom which was spicy and a round of bread with melted cheese inside. I didn’t take a picture of that plate. Next were slices of pecorino cheese with two little dishes, one home-made applesauce and the other a conserve of something I couldn’t place. They both paired with the cheese nicely.

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Next was a hot plate with melted cheese over a bread.

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Decor included big, hand drawn figures. This one, Captain Hook.

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Wonderful faro with vegetables. SO good!

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Finally the home made pasta.

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Today I didn’t go to the apartment. I decided to let them make a little more progress and go tomorrow. Pictures to follow.