Orvieto Restaurant Report
Aug 23rd, 2002, 12:29 PM
#1
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Orvieto Restaurant Report
It is amazing how such a small town has so many wonderful restaurants. I have spent a week there each July for the past 2 years and hope the tradition will continue. Here were my top picks:<BR><BR>1. Zeppelin<BR>Via Garibaldi 28<BR>Tel 0763.341447<BR>Email [email protected]<BR>Cooking classes also available.<BR><BR>We were part of a group of 20 and chef Lorenzo Polegri prepared a fixed meal for us for $20/person that was divine. The highlights were a pasta with mussels in a slightly spicey red sauce, a fresh local fish in a fig sauce, and a ricotta mousse with chocolate sauce for dessert. Each table of 4 had a bottle of wine as well. <BR><BR>2. Trattoria Etrusca<BR>Via L. Maitani, 10<BR>Tel 0763.344016<BR>My favorite dish is the Umbriechielli (the local Umbrian pasta, a thick spaghetti) with white truffle sauce. It's heaven! Everything else is delicious as well.<BR><BR>3. Fox and Grapes (Volpe y Uva?)<BR>Sorry I don't have a card from this restaurant, but it is well known and you should have no trouble finding it. The BEST sausage I've ever tasted, with grapes (!), and an appetizer of chopped smoked fish, apples, and tiny red peppercorns that you must taste to believe.<BR><BR>4. Outside Orvieto: If you have a car and go to Bagnoregio, make a reservation for lunch or dinner at the Hostaria del Ponte. Tel 0761 793 565. www.hotariadelponte.it<BR>The food is wonderful--my favorite is the fagoletti (pasta pouches) stuffed with soft white cheese and pears. The view is magnificent -- looking out at the tiny Civita perched on an isolated crag. You can walk over after lunch and burn a few of the calories you just ingested.
Aug 31st, 2002, 03:27 AM
#11
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Paris does wonders for jet lag...so much going on I feel like I am missing something and can't sleep even when I feel like it...<BR><BR>I'm off to Italy again, hopefully in October, and Orvieto is a must... I wondered if you met the owner of the restaurant? She took me shopping at one of the last local produce markets, (dying out due to the rise in popularity of organic products and health regulations) and then back to<BR>the kitchen to cook, she was amazing.<BR><BR>There was another great resto in Orvieto, off the Cathedral square, to the left on a tiny cobblestoned street, tiny dining room, very pretty with a garden terrace out back...the food was fantastic as well, any chance you remember the name?<BR><BR>Bueno Appetito,<BR>Wen
Aug 31st, 2002, 10:59 AM
#12
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Wendy: Yes, the owner actually waited our table and "suggested" (hard to refuse) our menu. I was so taken with the tiny red peppercorns I asked her where I could buy them. She told me they were imported from Peru!!<BR><BR>I think I ate the year before in the restaurant you describe, but I can't remember the name either. I have an unusual situation in that my cousin teaches a theater workshop each July in Orvieto. He has gotten to know people at our favorite restaurants so we always are greeted as old friends.<BR><BR>If you have not met Lorenzo at Zeppelin, you must make his acquaintance. His English is perfect and he is an incredible chef.<BR><BR>Finally, have you eaten at the Hosteria del Ponte in Bagnoregio? If not, you MUST try it. The manager of our hotel (Piccolomini) recommended it as one of his favorite restaurants and we certainly agreed.<BR><BR>You are very lucky to have Italy so accessible! We will be in Paris and Besancon next May, not sure where else yet -- perhaps you can recommend some restaurants?
Sep 1st, 2002, 08:21 AM
#16
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Bonjour Marilyn!<BR><BR>Thank you for the 'chef' information...as you know I work in food and wine, I'm off to Italy to revisit my favorites and meet some more... I will be certain to make his acquaintance.<BR><BR>I'd be more than happy to make restaurant suggestions in Paris...just let me know what you are looking for...since it is obvious you are a foodie... please feel to e-mail me directly and I'll share some of my rolodex with you.<BR><BR>Best!<BR>Wendy <BR><BR>
Sep 1st, 2002, 11:26 AM
#17
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Wendy: no, I didn't know you worked in food and wine. (I would be in big trouble weight-wise if that were my situation.) I'm afraid I am indeed what this forum calls a "foodie" and what we call at our house a "good eater". What I really love about eating in Italy is the availability of such delicious food with such little fuss. This in contrast to my area (SF) where eating at The French Laundry requires making a reservation months in advance. <BR><BR>Thanks for your offer and I will email you directly closer to our trip when I know our actual itinerary.<BR><BR>JW: Can't recall having bresaola at any of these particular meals, but it seems to me that it is as ubiquitous on Umbrian menus as insalata caprese is on Tuscan menus. Usually served with arugola and shaved ?parmesan (yum!).
