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Eating Assisi – Buca di S. Francesco

Jul26

Location: Via Eugenio Brizi, 1, Assisi PG, Italy. +39 075 812204

Date: June 17, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fun meal, good food

Night three in Assisi and we search out a third place.

We actually found this one just walking on the way to the square.

The menu looked pretty good.

It had both a large outside patio.

And a vaulted interior.

All those plates are from sister restaurants in some kind of hand painted “signature dish” club.

1970 Fattoria dei Barbi (Colombini) Brunello di Montalcino Riserva. 92 points. These grapes of this beautifull wine were on the vines when I was born! Amazing that this wine is still so full of character. This bottle has once and for all confirmed for me that Brunello di Montalcino can be a real classic. It tasted much like an older Burgundy but was full of character and depth.

The waiter decanted it of course.

The usual insalte mista.

Salmone affumicato. Smoked salmon.

Penne pomodoro (of course).

Spaghetti with mushrooms.

Tagliatelle alla norcina. The sausage and cream sauce!

Tortellini with cheese and cream sauce.

Piccione all’assisana. Pigeon with liver again, this was fine, and the bird very rich and meaty, but it wasn’t nearly as good as the awesome version we had in Orvieto.

Onions with balsamic. Delicious sweet onions.

Torta con pere e ciocolato. Tort with pear and chocolate!

Tortino di ciocolato. Like a chocolate cupcape.

Torta di ricotta alle nocciole. Ricotta tort.

Semifreddo al Bacio. A semifreddo with bacio (chocolate and hazelnut flavor). Given that Perugina (the chocolate company that makes Bacci) is just 40 minutes from Assisi, it seemed apropos.

Biscotti. Some strange cornflake covered cookies!

Overall, this was a fun meal even if only because the setting was great and the service and waiter were absolutely delightful. The food was good too, not mind blowing or anything, but that kind of solid that you find in kitchens all over Italy.

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They had cool ancient caves carved in the limestone below too

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Assisi, Brunello, Buca di S. Francesco, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, pigeon, Wine

Eating Assisi – Osteria dei Priori

Jul22

Restaurant: Osteria dei Priori

Location: Via Giotto, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy. +39 075 812149

Date: June 20, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Can’t go too wrong in Umbria

Another night in Assisi, another dinner.

We found Osteria dei Priori reading the internet restaurant reviews. It’s located fairly close to the main square.

The menu.

The vaulted interior definitely has old bones.

2007 Terre di Capitano Sagrantino di Montefalco. Sagrantino is the most traditional local Umbrian red grape..

Flan di melanzone e scamorza con crema di basillico. Eggplant flan with scamorza cheese and basil sauce.

Good stuff with a nice fluffy “flan” and a great creamy basil sauce.

Umbricelli al ragu di cinghiale profumato al ginepro. Long pasta in a boar and juniper sauce!

Maccheronini alla Norcina con salsiccia, funghi e tartufo. Short pasta in a sausage, mushroom, and truffle cream sauce.

Baccala dei sacrestano. Cold codfish with mixed salad, olives, anchovies, tomatoes and oranges

Tagliata di manzo irlandese con rosti di patate. Beef grilled with aromatic potatoes.

Insalte Mista.

Not bad at all, although probably not as good a kitchen as the previous night’s.

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By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Assisi, eating-italy, Osteria dei Priori, Umbria

Eating Assisi – Locanda del Podesta

Jul20

Restaurant: Locanda del Podesta

Location: Via S. Giacomo, 6, 06081 Assisi PG, Italy. +39 075 802455

Date: June 15, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: More hearty Umbrian goodness

After finishing with Lazio with continue inland into Umbra, Italy’s rural Etruscan heart.

Our first dinner in the hillside pilgrimage city of Assisi. We had to walk UP quiet some way to get to this restaurant. Work off 10% of the cream.

Like most of Assisi the buildings are all old medieval stone structures, heavily restored and in great shape. Apparently JC watches over modern Italian dining. The city is older than him though, as it has a Roman forum under the main square — and they weren’t the first either. There was a town here when the Etruscans took over before that.

2012 Goretti Grechetto Colli Perugini. Some local Grechetto.

Antipasto of meats. It seemed appropriate to sample the local pigs.

Raddicio, pecorino, and walnut salad.

Cacio pasta. Simple pasta for the kid.

Cacio e pepe. The peppered version.

2008 Scacciadiavoli Sagrantino di Montefalco. AG 91. Smoke, tar, licorice and a host of dark aromas and flavors develop as the 2008 Montefalco Sagrantino opens up over time. This remains an essentially fruit-driven style of Sagrantino, but at the same time the wine’s balance and sense of harmony are both impeccable. The 2008 Sagrantino is another harmonious, beautifully balanced wine from Scacciadiavoli.

Penne Norcina. An Umbrian speciality. Pasta with pork sausage in a light cream sauce with truffles! Yum yum. Really great stuff.

Chicken breast with rosemary.

Lamb chops. My dad loves lamb chops.

Scrambled egg and truffle. This is some serious Italian comfort food!

Insalate Mixte.

Fava beans with truffle. The fagioli felt left out when the eggs got truffled, so they had to join the party.