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 any wine library, but one that is unique in the world and perhaps even the … Continue reading
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 lake here. We have moved from Veneto into Lombardia, into the region of mostarda, tortelli di … Continue reading
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 (11 courses) for 225 euros each: Classico (with classic dishes from the restaurant), Max, and … Continue reading
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 of Italy that get the highest score. In Friuli there is one: Ai Cacciatori in … Continue reading
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 part of our vacation in Italy, it was an excellent opportunity to meet in real … Continue reading
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 arrived, the annual Festa delle Patate (potato harvest party) was going on in a big … Continue reading
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 Dolomiti, and run by the couple Fabrizia and Roberto. She cooks, he takes care of … Continue reading
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) by Gambero Rosso. Aga does not have a Michelin star yet. The tasting menu of … Continue reading
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, and 1, 2 or 3 shrimp (gamberi) to the best trattorias. There are only 18 … Continue reading
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 a lot, and went back the next year when we were travelling in the same … Continue reading
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 has some luxurious guest rooms. The hotel and restaurant are very different from Reale, where … Continue reading
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 too far from where we were in Italy. When Reale got its third Michelin star, … Continue reading
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’) rating by Gambero Rosso, and one of them is in Roseto degli Abruzzi. It is Vecchia … Continue reading
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 single Michelin star that lured us there, but Gambero Rosso’s tre forchette with a 56/60 score … Continue reading
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 one, two or three gamberi (shrimp). We’ve been using the Gambero Rosso guide since 2007, … Continue reading
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) of the Gambero Rosso restaurant guide. So it was time we paid the restaurant a … Continue reading
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 … Continue reading
For the 12th anniversary of our first date, I surprised Kees with a visit to La Torre del Saracino in Vico Equense, near Naples. We had been there twice before (in 2008 and 2010), but this was the first time we went there straight from home without going anywhere else. La Torre del Saracino of … Continue reading
