Restaurant: Il Castello Certaldo

Location: Celtaldo, Italy

Date: June 24, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Nice view, ok food

Ah, the last meal in Tuscany! (except for breakfast) We took a couple hours to visit the cute little town of Certaldo. The old town is up on a hill and you ascend by funicular. The town was great, but there weren’t a lot of restaurant options. We chose the most likely looking.

At the end of the main drag.

And the dining terrace turned out to have this rather lovely view.

And pretty courtyard.

The menu.

Olive oil and vinegar.

House wine, white.

And red. Both decent, very cheap.

Local meats, including the big one which is a special local salami with saffron in it.

Bresaola with pecorino and arugula.

Marinated mushrooms and artichoke hearts.

The now familiar panzanella. Last time you’ll see it though as we’re leaving Tuscany.

A risotto with vegetables, peculiar in being slightly soupy, but supposedly decent.

A truffle risotto soup (haha, just a soupy risotto). Tasted good though.

Local pasta in pomodoro sauce.

Spaghetti alla carbonara. Not bad, although perhaps not as eggy cheesy as it could have been.

Ravioli with cheese, butter, and sage. Those that ate this felt the ravioli might have been packaged.

THe same ravioli, but with a truffle sauce. They were fine.

Roasted potatoes.

Pork fillet in balsamic sauce.

Saltimbocc alla romana. Veal with ham and sage. Pretty tasty actually, but salty.

And a bit of gelato to finish.

This was a decent meal. The patio location — which we had entirely to ourselves — was absolutely world class. The food was good. Not great by any meals, but decently executed. The company, though, was as good as the view, so all was good.

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