My view is better than yours at lunch

Late lunch of a salad and beer at the Villa Ottone on Elba.

San Gimignano, Italy

Let me tell you about the night when I ate way to much food.

It all started at Ristorante Dorando, in San Gimignano, Italy.  We were only there for a brief stopover before heading off to Elba.  We had spent the night before in Lucca, and were really debating on whether we wanted to spend more time in Lucca or what we really wanted to do.  Somehow, we ended up in San Gimignano.  We never could pronounce it and it wasn't until we asked, did we learn how.

After a full day of sightseeing and me walking up and down the same hill several times, we made reservations at Ristorante Dorando.  We were the first people there when they opened for service since eating a late dinner isn't really our thing.  We were lead into a bricked room that looked like it had served as some sort of vault for something in days gone by.

We started our meal with an amuse bouche.  It was a a small roasted tomato with a mustard vinaigrette, ricotta cheese and a pepperoni mouse.  It was very good.

  

After that, we ordered our appetizers.  Lynn got a rabbit stuffed ravioli and I opted for a vegetable cannelloni.

I had thought that the cannelloni was going to be more pasta-style.  However, it was a spring roll.  It was good, but not what was expected.  The sauce and the small salad was good.  The pasta that Lynn ordered was better.  Again, I was expecting a square ravioli, but was surprised.  It was topped with Parmesan cheese triangles.  The rabbit was ground and very tender.  The sauce that was served with it complemented it perfectly.

We of course had a bottle of wine with our meal, and I can't continue without mentioning it.

It was a white wine that went perfectly with the meal.  Again, it was a local wine.  The San Gimignano whites are very well known in the area, and are better than the reds.

I opted for pork with a homemade applesauce puree for my entree.  The pork was moist and tender.  It was also well seasoned.  I have to admit something here.  I have never been one to eat pork with applesauce.  In fact, overall, I am not a fan of the stuff.  But this has changed my mind.  The puree tasted of fresh apples and was smooth, not grainy.  And of course, it went well with the pork.  The pork was also served with a bean puree and fresh roasted vegetables.  The bean puree was mouthwatering.  I know that it was a white bean that was used along with some rosemary, but beyond that, I have no clue what was in it.  It drives me nuts to this day.  The beans were that good.  The vegetables were good- nothing to write home about.  It was simple root veggies that were well-seasoned and roasted.

Lynn had guinea fowl with a sausage and mustard grain stuffing.  It was served with fresh baby spinach.  She assured me that it was very good.  Now, normally, at this part of our meal- after we have eaten a starter and an entree, we would either get dessert at the restaurant or go home.  Keep in mind, we also have had a bottle of wine between us and a glass of champagne before the meal started.  So, we get dessert.  But, have I forgotten to mention that the World Gelato Champions for 2007-2010 happen to be in San Gimignano?  Yes, I did forget to mention that.  So, now it's a dilemma.  Do we split a dessert and get a scoop of award winning gelato?  Or, do we each get a dessert and then have gelato for breakfast (they open at 10am)?

We each get dessert of course.  I opted for the chocolate cookies with a white chocolate mousse and a cherry sauce.  Lynn gets the ginger apple pie.  Both were fantastic and amazing.  And both were also enough to make us full.  Like the, go home and go to bed full after Thanksgiving dinner.  After our dessert, we sat there, relaxed and then headed off back to our hotel. 

But wait, the gelato.

Did we get some that night?  Or the next morning?  Well, since I started out by saying that this was the day I ate way to much, we of course got some that night.  Was it world champion?  Yes and no.  They certainly do make a nice gelato.  However, I liked the one in Florence better.  But, if you can't make it to Florence, or you are just a gelato lover at heart, this gelato is up there.

So finally, after eating way to much, we made it to bed.  Thankfully, they didn't leave chocolates on the pillows.

    

Florence

All hail one of the greatest art cities in the world!

Look, Ma!!  I'm in artwork!

Anyway, we spent three days in Florence.  That's enough time to see the main things there- David, Caravaggio and TONS of the Masters.  And you want to pass out every night from exhaustion.  If not, I recommend a slightly longer time frame to see and enjoy Florence.

The first day we got there, we headed to our hotel and then out to the Academia to see David.  That's right- the huge, perfect guy made out of stone.  We got there and saw that the line was insane.  Thankfully, for 4 euros more a person, you can book a timed entry.  Which we did.  We also got tickets for the Uffizi at the same time- timed entrance as well for 4 euros more a person.  Then, we set off for lunch.  We ended up eating at what Lynn called a truck stop.  Overpriced food that was just ok for what it was.  It was near the Academia since we were seeing David soon after.

After the Academia, we headed out for Mass at the Duomo.  Thankfully, that killed two birds with one stone- Mass and seeing the Duomo, thus avoiding the huge lines.  After Mass, we headed to the Duomo Museum.  There were some beautiful pieces there.  Thankfully, it wasn't that crowded.  Ok, there wasn't a person there at all.  Then it was time for drinks and then bed.

The next day involved a trip to the Uffizi and lunch at Ristorante Paoli.  

Sorry, no pictures of the food this time around.  I started with the Asparagus Risotto.  That was a disappointing choice.  It was regular rice with asparagus in it and maybe a bit of stock and butter.  It wasn't what I was expecting.  For my main course, I had the Medici chicken.  It was cooked in a cream sauce with mushrooms.  It was served with peas that were heated through with Italian olive oil.  The peas, while it seems strange to say, were overcooked, but so good.  So fresh and full of flavor.  We just had some house wine to go along with it.  

After a late lunch, we continued on our way.  We ended our day with some of the best gelato that Italy has to offer.  Vivoli.  It was amazing.  Amazing I tell you!  

Just as a quick word of warning, places that put themselves right on the square of major cities often times have high prices and so-so food.  Now, I know this might not be the case for every restaurant out there, but just be aware.  Places in Europe are good at putting their menus out front with the prices posted so you can gauge what it will cost to eat.

After gelato, we were soaked through, so we headed back.  On our last day in Florence, we headed out for a bit more sightseeing and then ate lunch at the smallest place I have ever been in.  Trattoria le Mossacce.  The place only seats 43 people and if you are a party of two, you can expect to have other people sat at your table.  You can see the kitchen and watch them work.  I opted for some cannelloni and then roasted chicken.  We had glasses of Chianti wine- you know the kind that come in bottles that have wicker on the bottom that poor college students use as candle holders.  It was actually really good wine.  I might not suggest running down to Spec's and getting a bottle of it though.  The cannelloni was good.  It needed more meat sauce on top to make it really tasty.  I had maybe a quarter cup.  The chicken was so good.  It can be difficult to get a moist breast and fully cooked thigh and leg.  However, they managed to do it.  I had half of a small chicken.  The half of chicken that I had could have been used as one breast in the U.S. Yes, I'm looking at you, giant, steroid breast of chicken that is never moist.

Like I said, it is a small restaurant but it is so full of life.  People coming and going.  The chefs and waiters knew some of the people there and knew exactly what they wanted.  It was fantastic!

Sadly, after lunch, it was time to head on to Lucca and San Gimignano.  I can tell you that it took us several days to pronounce that one (San Gimignano, not Lucca).  More later.  

Gubbio

On yet another day trip from Preci, we headed two hours away to Gubbio, a fantastic medieval town that is actually the best preserved one in Italy.  We arrived just in time for lunch and to find out that there was a festival going on.  We eventually found a place to park and headed into the town center.  After walking for a bit, we headed for the nearest restaurant.  That happened to be Taverna del Lupo.

The wine was fantastic.  I opted for the four cheese ravioli as my starter.  It was good.  It wasn't the best, but it was good and filling.  For my main, I had the beef with balsamic vinegar.  It was good as well.  This time the beef was served warm.  It was a little chewy, but otherwise good.

I think what made it a nice meal was the atmosphere.  We were able to sit outside in the shade.  There were large groups of friends and family that were out having lunch and enjoying the festival.  They were laughing, talking, singing and just in general enjoying life.    

The festival is called the Corso dei Ceri.  Three different groups get together and, for all intents and purposes, run around the town with statues of Saints.  It starts at 6 am and ends with a huge feast in the early evening.  Thankfully we missed the 6 am start up and were going to miss the large feast at the end.  However, every group has their different colors and everyone in town was wearing one of the three variations- yellow and red, blue and red and black and red.  Everyone wears white pants or skirts with it.  I could have blended in had I known.  I was wearing a blue dress and my legs are white enough to look like white pants.  All I needed was a red bandanna.  

After lunch, we took the cable car up to the top of the hill and had a fantastic view and then made our way back down.  We walked through the city, ate some gelato and decided it was time to head.  We made this decision since it seemed that they were gearing back up to start the festival again after taking a break for lunch.

All in all, I really enjoyed the day in Gubbio.  The sun was out and people were out just enjoying life.  I like that about a town.

  

Spoleto- Ristorante Apollinare

On a day trip from Preci, we headed out to Spoleto.  Spoleto was a 45 minute drive and worth it.  It's a beautiful town.  We decided to eat at Ristorante Apollinare which is right across the street from the archaeology museum in town.  At the restaurant, we started with a bottle of wine and a salad with fresh strawberries and a fondue.  The fondue was really a piece of cheese that was wrapped in phyllo dough and fried.

The salad was fantastic- hazelnuts, an apple vinaigrette and fresh fruit- strawberries and peaches.  So fresh and tasty.  The wine of course was local and very good.  The cheese was very tasty (of course), but I forgot the get a picture of it.  For our main courses, I got pork with wine poached pears and Lynn had lamb.

The pork had crispy little bits from the fat.  It was moist and so good.  The pear and it's sauce were a great pairing with the pork.  Lynn's lamb was very good as well, although I never tried it (I was informed that it was very good).

It was a good restaurant, but it was expensive.  There weren't that many people there (we were one of two tables).  Our waiter reminded me of Gary Oldman.  I wish I had gotten a picture of him.    

  

What I've Been Drinking Wednesday

So, I know that I may have been remiss in posting about the wines that we have been drinking here.  The following photos were not taken in one night and instead show several nights worth.  All the wines have been local wines and very tasty.

In case you can't tell...this is the aftermath.

Preci- Hotel Agli Scacchi

Our closest restaurant in Preci was the Agli Scacchi located at the Hotel Agli Scacchi.  It's a nice little place with space outside and inside as well.  However, if the weather is nice, most people are going to sit outside.  We have eaten there three times, which is the most we have eaten at one place since being in Italy.  Maybe it's out of convenience or maybe it's because it's home cooking at it's simplest.

The first meal we ate there was lunch on a beautiful Sunday.  The outdoor seating has views of the surrounding hills and the hotel, which is from the 1500s.  The hotel was the villa for the famous surgeons of Preci.  The surgeons were well known for their removal of cataracts and gall stones.  They traveled all over the world and worked on Queen Elizabeth I, among others.

Anyway, they have a large selection of dishes that have truffles.  Like I have stated before, there are truffles everywhere in Umbria.  You can't go somewhere without having options with truffles.  They also have an interesting fish here, salmon trout.  Salmon trout is pink in color (like salmon), but does taste like trout.  Lynn really enjoys the salmon trout.  When Bill and Jan were in town, after a day of sightseeing, we headed there for dinner.  We had an extra dinning companion that evening as we sat out on the terrace.

He is only four months old.  And as you can see, adorable.  But I digress, back to the food and wine.

We started off with a bottle of rose wine.

For starters, I got the orichette with a four cheese sauce and truffles.  So very tasty.  The truffles didn't overpower the dish.  They did add a nice earthy flavor to it.  Jan got the artichoke lasagna.  It had a good flavor, but it wasn't as good as the asparagus lasagna that I had earlier in Orvieto.  They served local Preci cheese to top off the pasta dish as needed.  The cheese, while strong in scent, adds a great flavor to the pasta.

For the main courses, Bill and Lynn got the salmon trout (of course).  I think Lynn was going to get something different, but then at the last minute changed her mind and stuck with her usual.  Jan opted for the veal with a truffle sauce since Lynn and Bill got the last of the salmon trout.  I decided for the vegetarian platter.  Sometimes, you just have to eat your veggies.

All of the food was very well prepared and very tasty.  Well seasoned and the setting is what adds to it.  The owner/operator knew us by the end of our stay and I think that says something.