Because of the pandemic I haven’t visited any wineries for a while, but luckily the nice people of Bisci Wines contacted me. They were enthusiastic about the recipes I have posted that pair well with Verdicchio, and offered to send … Continue reading Pairing Food and Wines of Bisci
This is our 4th dinner at Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense with view on Mt Vesuvio and the Gulf of Naples. The previous time in 2011 we took a flight just to eat here. And so we had high … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Torre del Saracino** (2018)
Don Alfonso 1890 is situated in the town of Sant’Agata sui due Golfi, on the Sorrentino peninsula in the hinterland of the Amalfi Coast. It has three forks from Gambero Rosso and two Michelin stars. On the photo you see … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Don Alfonso 1890**
The last trattoria with tre gamberi (see yesterday’s post) is Al Convento in the fisherman’s town Cetara on the Amalfi Coast. The most important local product here is alici, anchovies. Al Convento has nice outside seating (in the town center, … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Al Convento
Reservations for all other restaurants worth writing a blog about have been made well in advance, but Cala del Citro is a new restaurant that we discovered by chance. It belongs to the hotel of the same name and was … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Cala del Citro
La Tavernetta is the restaurant of the San Lorenzo si Alberga hotel in the national park of Sila, in the mountains of Calabria, close to Lago Cecita. This is not only a change of scenery but also a change of … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Tavernetta
Ceraudo is one of the best wineries in Calabria (the ‘foot’ of Italy). It produces wines in the Val di Neto IGP, mainly from local grape varieties pecorello for white and gaglioppo for red. They also have an agriturismo, which … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Dattilo*
The next stop in our culinary tour of southern Italy is La Locandiera in Bernalda, near Matera in the region of Basilicata. Gambero Rosso has awarded it tre gamberi (three shrimp), which is the highest rating for a trattoria. We … Continue reading Dining in Italy: La Locandiera
Già Sotto l’Arco is one of the best restaurants in Puglia according to the Gambero Rosso, who awards it two forks, and it also has one Michelin star. It is located in a nice old palazzo on the main square … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Già sotto l’arco*
There are many restaurants in Italy called Antichi Sapori (Old Flavors), but the one owned by Pietro Zito in Puglia (in Montegrosso, near Bari) is probably the most famous. We’ve already had the pleasure of eating there in 2008, and … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Antichi Sapori (Pietro Zito)
We are touring the coast of southern Italy, and our first stop is in Brusciano, just outside of Naples. Taverna Estia has two Michelin stars and three forchette from Gambero Rosso. The dining room has full view of the kitchen … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Taverna Estia**
The series of recipes from our trip to Sardinia has not ended yet. One of the goodies I brought home with me, was a bag of dried myrtle berries. I did not only use them to make wild boar with … Continue reading Mirto (Sardinian Myrtle Berry Liqueur)
S’Apposentu di Casa Pudu is the restaurant of chef Roberto Petza in the hinterland of Cagliari in Sardinia, near the famous nuraghe in Barumini. What drew us here is not the one Michelin star, but the three ‘forks’ (the highest … Continue reading Dining in Italy: S’Apposentu*
If you go to Enoteca Pinchiorri in Florence, Italy, you should go there for the wine. The name “enoteca” is already a big hint that this is the case, because it is an Italian word that means “wine library”. And not just … Continue reading Enoteca Pinchiorri***
For our final night in Italy we went to another famous trattoria with 3 gamberi from Gambero Rosso: Locanda delle Grazie in Curtatone, on the border of the Parco del Mincio. The Mincio is the river that changes into a … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Locanda delle Grazie
Le Calandre of chef Massimiliano Alajmo is one of Italy’s most famous restaurants, has three Michelin stars and is listed as number 34 on the World’s 50 best restaurants. It is located just outside of Padova. There are three tasting menus … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Le Calandre***
During our travels in Italy, we always try to include as many trattorie with 3 gamberi from Gambero Rosso as possible. Each year, leading gourmet magazine Gambero Rosso publishes a restaurant guide and there are only 18 trattorie in all … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Ai Cacciatori
It is always a joy to meet fellow food bloggers. Marina of Le Ricette di Baccos and I have been following each other’s food blogs for almost two years now. Since we were visiting her home town of Udine as … Continue reading Food Blogging International: Le Ricette di Baccos
Agli Amici is a two-star restaurant in the village of Godia, just outside of Udine in the Italian region Friuli. It is run by a brother a sister: he is the chef, she is the sommelier and maitre. When we … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Agli Amici**
We had been looking forward to going back to Laite again, because we had good memories of our first dinner there in 2010. It is located in Sappada, a mountain town in the far North East of Veneto in the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Laite*
Aga is a new restaurant of chef couple Oliver Piras and Alessandra Del Favero, located inside a hotel near Cortina d’Ampezzo in the Dolomiti. We decided to give it a try because Oliver Piras has been awarded chef emergente (upcoming chef) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Aga
In Italy a distinction is made between ristoranti, more formal restaurants, and trattorie, more informal restaurants with rustic food like grandma used to prepare it. The Gambero Rosso guide awards 1, 2 or 3 forks (forchette) to the best restaurants, … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Pretzhof
In 2010 we ‘discovered’ Piazza Duomo of chef Enrico Crippa in Alba, at that time still relatively unknown (although it already had two Michelin stars), thanks to the Gambero Rosso guide, in which it already had tre forchette. We liked it … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Piazza Duomo***
The next stop with tre forchette in our culinary tour is Casa Vissani, by lake Colbara on the road between Orvieto and Todi in Umbria. Because the restaurant is located outside a town, it is very convenient that it also … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Vissani**
Reale is the restaurant of chef Niko Romito and his sister Cristiana in the mountain town of Castel di Sangro in Abruzzo. I had been curious about this restaurant with tre forchette from Gambero Rosso for a while, but it was always … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Reale***
The next stop in our culinary Italy tour is the beach town of Roseto degli Abruzzi, on the Adriatic coast in the region of Abruzzo. There are only 15 trattorie in all of Italy with a tre gamberi (3 ‘shrimp’) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Vecchia Marina
Is there a good reason to go to Torriana, a small village half an hour inland from the Adriatic beach town of Rimini? Yes there is, and it is chef Piergiorgio Parini of Il Povero Diavolo. It is not the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Povero Diavolo*
Our favorite restaurant guide for Italy is that of “Gambero Rosso”. It is available as a book, but also as a handy app. The best restaurants are awarded one, two, or three forchette (forks), and the best trattorie are awarded … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Locanda al Gambero Rosso
Enrico Bartolini is one of the rising stars in the Italian restaurant scene. For his restaurant, located in the Devero hotel by the autostrada just outside of Milano, he recently received his second Michelin star and his third fork (forchetta) … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Devero**
My regular readers may have noticed that I haven’t posted for a few days. That’s because I was in Italy, to visit friends and to eat at Combal.Zero. In September we dined at Combal.Zero in Rivoli (close to Turin, Italy) for the first time and were totally impressed with the food. So much, that we wanted to go back there again soon. And so we did. Combal.Zero has two Michelin stars (I can only guess why there aren’t three), ‘tre forchette’ (3 forks) from Gambero Rosso (the highest rating from this leading Italian guide) and ranks 59 in the … Continue reading Dining in Italy: Combal.Zero
