| Tom Cannavan's wine-pages.com |
Italy |
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| Opulence and spectacle are both in abundance in the jaw-dropping Castel Brando hotel complex, a total restoration of a
6th Century fortification that towers above the pretty town of Follina on the Prosecco wine route. The formal, very elegant Sansovino restaurant is richly decorated with original frescoes and
Murano chandeliers, and the views from this hilltop setting really are breathtaking. My lunch started with a softly-yielding Carpaccio of turkey breast, smoked in-house and served with marinated summer |
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Follina: Al Milani, Enoteca con Cucini. Tel: 0438 971412
Not far from Castel Brando, this lovely old wine bar and simple restaurant sits on one corner of the main square of the charming medieval village of Follina at the foot of the 12th Century Abbey - a must see in the area. Inside the
dark wood panelled U-shaped bar has cosy booths, but the sunny terrace is perfect for a glass of wine and some snacks mid afternoon. This place takes its wines seriously, with a weekly by-the-glass selection of 25
wines, plus hundreds more inside, with the best of every Italian region represented. A lovely place to take the weight off your feet. Inexpensive. (2005)
Miane: Da Gigetto, Via A. de Gasperi. Tel: 0438 960020
The final recommendation on the Prosecco wine route, this is an absolute must. Gigetto, with his wife, son and daughter, run one of the best restaurants in the whole of the Veneto in this unremarkable little town a few miles
east of Valdobbiadene. Gigetto has spent 40 years indulging his passion for wines, and has realised his fantasy with a huge underground cellar, crammed with precious bottles (over 1300 different bins) and nooks
and crannies filled with maturing hams, little tasting areas, and an astonishing collection of rare single malt whiskies. A winner of Wine Spectator's award for excellence, the list here really is phenomenal. I have to say,
so is the food. There are various beautiful dining rooms spread throughout the old house, all extremely comfortable. We ate a tasting menu of 8 smaller courses, including a wonderful dish of courgette flowers from
Gigetto's garden, stuffed with foie-gras on a bed of silky polenta. Risotto con Finferli was an unctuous, creamy risotto liberally layered with local mushrooms. Carved at the table, a slow-roasted haunch of veal literally
melted in the mouth, and came with grilled zucchini and aubergine. With admirable fortitude, I finished with a very fine apple tart - really just layer upon layer of paper-thin apple slices - served with an intense green
apple sorbet. The local digestif sounds like a time-bomb, but in fact worked wonderfully well: a Scropino is a blended drink of lemon sorbet, vodka and Prosecco. It tastes like the best and most innocent of milk-shakes,
yet must pack a kick like a mule. Whatever magic it works, after one small glass I slept like log and woke without a hint of a hangover.
Around 40 Euros for four courses. Closed Monday dinner and Tuesday. (2005)
Venice: Hotel Europa & Regina. Tel: +39 041 240 0001
Of all the luxury Palazzo hotels that line the Grand Canal, the Danieli with it's 4th floor dining room overlooking the lagoon is perhaps the ultimate experience. But the Europa & Regina, just 150 yards along the canal,
has a broad waterside terrace with stunning views. I ate there at a special gala dinner to celebrate the feast of the Redentore, with prime position for the most spectacular firework extravaganza included in the hefty price.
Perhaps it is unfair to judge the kitchen on an occasion like this, but I found the cooking in an elaborate 10 course banquet to
have the hallmarks of smart but ultimately rather soulless cuisine that could have been anywhere in the world. A dish of fillets of sea bass stuffed with local peaches was one success, whilst a simple
lobster salad was plentiful and very good. Otherwise, a procession of dishes including slightly stodgy cannelloni and over-cooked duck breast in a too sweet fruit sauce, were far less satisfying. So the verdict? Well this is a
stunning location, and as the sun goes down and Venice takes on a magical stillness in the moonlight, perhaps ultimate quality and expense is not the most important factor. That's one for you to decide. (2005)
Venice: Vina di Gigio's, Fondamenta San Felice. Tel: +39 041 528 5140
On my first night in Venice I wandered round from my nearby hotel (The Abadessa - see below) to this restaurant which had been highly recommended. Unfortunately, being a Sunday it was closed, so I tried the Ristorante
Al Fontego dei Pescatore just across the canal. The seafood there was perfectly good, served in their pretty courtyard dining room, but I was absolutely delighted that I made the effort to return to Gigio's
the next evening. Gigio's immediately impresses as an honest place that takes its food, wine and satisfaction of its customers very seriously in a city full of tourist traps. The wine list is astonishing, and contains many
bargains. I chose Querciabella's 1998 "Batar" at 45 Euros a bottle (cheaper than retail back home). There is world-wide strength too, with a fine selection of Burgundies in particular. Onto the food: everything here was a
complete success. I started with a carpaccio of beef, which was plentifully layered over a pungent rocket salad and topped with lots of shaved parmesan. My dish of three large, stuffed raviolis was deliciously
rich and savoury. For a secundo platti, I choose Gnochi, simply dressed with a pesto sauce and liberally infiltrated by perfectly tender squat lobsters. After a truly excellent cheese course shared between two
and served with a dark bitter-orange chutney, we also shared a chocolate mousse cake infused with enough rum to send one toddling off very happily. Before that however, I thoroughly recommend Gigio's Scropino
- which translates as "untie the knot" - as a digestif. A wonderful place and moderately priced. (2005)
Venice: Osteria alla Zucca, Ponte del Megio, Santa Croce. Tel: +39 041 5241570
La Zucca isn't much of a well-kept secret any more (it was recommended to me by wine-pages columnist Stuart Walton, but in fact everyone in the know whom I spoke to in Italy nodded approvingly when I said I'd booked).
It is slightly tucked away and hard to find without a map, but easy if you take the Vaporetto to San Stae, walk straight down the passage in front of you towards the San Giacomo square, and keep your eyes peeled.
La Zucca is run by four enthusiastic and talented women who have taken a traditional Venetian Osteria formula and turned it on its head quite brilliantly. With an emphasis on vegetarian food, some oriental influences, and
a formula of a cheap, flexible menu and wine list that emphasises freshness and simplicity, it is like a breath of fresh air. I had a bountiful bowl of a thick-textured, beautifully fiery gazpacho, served with some crisp peppers as
garnish and a bowl of good breads. To follow, a plate of chicken and pork with marinated peppers and rice pilaf was basically a Chinese-style stir-fry, with plenty of sliced ginger and soy sauce. My partner's braised rabbit in a
mustard and olive sauce was very tasty, if a bit fiddly as the rabbit had been jointed and served on the bone. For dessert, a fine looking ricotta cheesecake had just run out, so I opted for a vanilla semi-freddo with a streusel
topping, that was creamy and tasty. With water, a bottle of Planteta's La Segreta at 18 Euros, and coffee, the bill for two was very modest, and many people were knocking back carafes of the house red or white quite
contentedly. The youthful staff were utterly charming and helpful, if a bit disorganised at times. (2005)
Venice: alla Vedova, Ramo Ca' d'Oro. Tel: +39 041 5285324
This is a terrific little traditional bar that would be so easy to miss. Tucked at the end of the ally immediately opposite the passageway to the Ca' d'Oro vaporetto stop, this is a fine, fine example of Venice's traditional osteria,
where cheap drinks and little tapas-like servings of good food are served at the bar, or cheap and cheerful meals served in the informal restaurant. At the bar order an Ombra - a small glass of Prosecco - and a selection of
Cichichi - meatballs in breadcrumbs, sautéed peppers, olive-oil roast potatoes, deep-fried whitebait, squid in olive oil. Great food, atmosphere and the chance to make like a local for a while at the cost of just a few euros.
Highly recommended. (2005)
Venice: Palazzo Abadessa, 30131 Cannaregio, Calle Priuli 4011. Tel: +39 041 5212236.
Typing this review has taken a bit of moral fortitude: the Abadessa is a little slice of Heaven that any self-respecting traveller wants both to share with the world, and keep as a personal secret. With only 12 stunning rooms and
suites, this painstakingly conserved and restored Palace is on a quiet canal in an excellent strategic position. It has a secret garden courtyard where breakfast is served, and charming staff. Expensive at 200Euros per night and
up in high season. (2005)
| Trento: Scrigno del Duomo, 29 Piazza Duomo Telephone +39 461 22 00 30. Right in the heart of the bustling main square, this is Trento's best restaurant, housed in a beautiful, historic old building. You pass first through a lovely enclosed courtyard for summer dining, with one section of the floor paved with glass to look down onto the Roman foundations. Inside there is a more casual winebar area on the ground floor, where meals can be taken, and downstairs the formal (though not too formal) restaurant, which is where I ate on this ocassion. It is a wonderfully atmospheric dining room, with a glass-walled wine cellar within the Roman part of the building. After |
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Faedo: Agriturismo Faedo, about 20 kilometres north of Trento
Tel: +39 461 23 53 23.
A bigger contrast would be hard to imagine than this wonderful, newly-restored farmhouse 500 metres up into the mountains, offering sweeping views of the valley. The airy dining room,
or terrace (too hot on our visit) are comfortable and simple, with plain wooden tables and tiled floors. The food here is a celebration of local ingredients and wines,
with really high quality home cooking. An antipasti of Grana Trentino cheese and Salt beef stuffed with smoked ricotta cheese was absolutely brilliant, with decisive tangy flavours.
A fine second dish featured local ham (Speck) with little Farina dumplings in a rocket and olive oil dressing. Next came a dish of Strangolapreti, which translates
literally as "priest stranglers", but is in fact a typical regional dish of delicious spinach gnocchi served with a sage butter. The main course was a toothsome mixed grill featuring
dense, grainy sausage, lamb cutlets, pork loin and fried potatoes. Exceptional food in a glorious setting. (2003). The agritourismo is inexpensive, and is open Wednesday to Sunday only, for lunch and
dinner (between 18:30 and 21:30).
Bergamo: Colleoni dell' Angelo, Piazza Vecchia. Tel +39 35 232 596Piedmont & Lombardy
Bergamo is served by budget airline Ryan Air from all over the UK, and is seen by most who fly the route as a gateway to Milan, about an hour's drive west. But they are missing out on a jewel of the Italian Alps, the beautiful
city of Bergamo itslef, ringed by the Alps and full of interest. The newer, cosmopolitain (though by no means modern) coty with its palatial boulevards, galleries and shops, and high above, the Citta Alta, Bergamo's ancient walled city, a fascinating maze of cobbled streets filled with bijou shops, restaurants and
fasicinating galleries and museums. This up-market and quite expensive restaurant sits proudly in the Citta Alta's main square, and was really good, especially since my November visit caught the last week of their very seasonal white truffle menu.
The dining room is spacious and elegant, with a beautiful ceiling of stone arches and vaults, and a marble floor. A great deal of truffle was shaved ceremoniously over a variety of excellent dishes in a special six-course menu for
130 Euros, highlights probably being a foie-gras escalope served with fig marmalade and a coffee sauce, and simple gnocchi served with poached egg, each with lots of truffle. The wine list is as expensive as you wish it to be, but we drank Valpolicella 1993 from Quintarelli for around 50 Euros.
A special occasion sort of place, with menus from around 55 Euros per person. (2006)
Bergamo: L'Osteria di via Solata, 8 via Solata. Tel: +39 35 271993
Tucked away up an alleyway close to the Funicular station, it's best to ask directions for this tiny street where the one Michelin star Osteria plies its trade from a semi-basement dining room. I was not altogether convinced by my
meal here I must say, finding the service a little chaotic, some irritating small faults with the cuisine, and an overall feeling that I either caught the chef on a bad night, or his night off. All the right ingredients were there - the truffles
and the fresh pasta, good quality lamb and foie gras, but a lot of the cooking seemed indecisive and rather passed by without much notice. (2006)
Bergamo: Da Vittorio, 17 Via Cantalupa, Brusaporto. Tel: +39 35 681024
The great name of Bergamo, Da Vittorio is no longer in the city centre, but moved in 2005 to a brand new, super-luxurious Relais & Chateaux hotel and restaurant complex a couple of miles from town. Da Vittorio has two Michelin
stars, and its busy, somewhat frenetic restaurant serves a variety of set menus and a la carte. We opted for the all fish and seafood menu, which is something of a speciality, and comprises around six main dishes with several little
amuses on top. A Frito Misto dish was fabulously fresh and flavourful, and 'risotto avec coquilles en carpaccio de scampi' was my personal highlight in a meal that wasn't without fault (including some over-enthusiastic attempts at up-selling by
our sommelier) but was still a great experience. We drank a couple of bottles of Gravner's Ribolla at around 60 Euros, and the meal for four came in at just under £500. (2006)
Bergamo: Baretto di San Viglio, 1 Via Castello. Tel +39 35 253191
This is a must if you visit Bergamo. Walk (if you feel very fit) to the highest station of the funicular system, way above the Citta Alta, or take the cable car and you will find the Baretto immediately opposite. Casual, bustling, yet very
comfortable, this crowded restaurant has terrific views from its terrace (dining there is confined to summer) and serves really good homemade Bergamesque cooking using fine local ingredients, with little fuss but lots of style and
quality. There's a serious wine list too, and one of the best humidors in northern Italy if you like that sort of thing (the owner's passion). I ate a really beautiful slow-braised beef stew, rich with herbs and braised
vegetables and lots of crusty bread for mopping up sauce, followed by a big dish of marron
glacés with a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream. This is not haute cuisine by any means, but is delightful and authentic, and a hike up the hill followed by a long lunch here is one of the nicest days out in the city. (2006)
