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Addendum
2007-09-01 10:14:00
The day: 24th August 2007, Dinner.The place: 1 Seething Lane, London, EC3N 4AX (020-7977 9500)The venue: Addendum RestaurantThe food: Modern French/FusionThe drinks: Short but very interesting, a few samples from each of several main producing wine areas in the world. Some options by the glass. City prices.This time we decided to venture into the City of London, often land of soulless and forgettable corporate expense account dining venues. Why? Two reasons, really. First, we wished to take advantage of a tantalising offer of 50% discount on the food bill, found online (with the City half closed in August, they must be a little desperate... and so they get people like us instead of smartly dressed business people). But bad food is expensive even at 50% of the price. We were also intrigued by the statement on their webpage:'We've broken with tradition to create a destination restaurant and bar where the accent is on fresh ingredients, imaginative presentation, an intimate atmosph...

Osteria dell' Arancio
2007-08-25 10:59:00
The day: 19th August 2007, Lunchtime.The place: 383 King’s Road, London SW10 0LP (020-7349 8111)The venue: Osteria dell’ArancioThe food: Italian trattoriaThe drinks: Extensive and interesting list, Italian based, especially good on the Marche region but on others too. Mark-ups on the high side, and a lack of low priced options. Also some options by the glass, even more marked up. Osteria dell’Arancio is tucked in a bend just off the final gasps of Chelsea King’s Road, beyond the fashionable shopping area. We had passed it by the previous day: from a quick scan of the menu, a la carte would easily break our £100 rule (for food that does not look like haute cusine), but the lunch menu is definitely more affordable (two courses for £16 and 3 for £20), and on a dull, grey Sunday it seemed like a very good choice. We went with real anticipation, also having heard good things on the sister restaurant in Italy. The interior is very informal, basic set-up with lacqu...
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The cream of Italian cuisine
2007-08-19 10:35:00
‘Reveal the sin but not the sinner’ is an old Italian adage which comes handy on this occasion. We will fail to denounce a sinner (against Italian cuisine ). Why? Because the sinner is a chef whose restaurant was suggested to us by a common friend, a person in the trade for whom we have a lot of respect. He knows what he is talking about, so we must assume that the chef in question is indeed capable of fine cooking, but has taken a different commercial position, and pushes for precisely that kind of Italian cooking which takes us back to the olden days when, as kids on a Saturday night, all we could afford were those greasy, cheap and cheerful trattorias all cream, cream and more cream to try and stretch the flavour of more expensive ingredients that bit further, and which put us off Italian restaurants in London for more than ten years. Have you seen “Spaghetti house”? Anyhow, for this (and many other establishments which have taken the same stance) the formula ...
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Mata'm Abu Ali
2007-08-13 16:18:00
A lazy Summer Saturday, after an unsuccessful quest for a decent 'mandolina' in Oxford Street (yes we know, wrong place), it’s past 8.00 p.m and we are not in the mood (nor in the attire - not that we usually dress up, but there is a limit to everything) for a full dinner out, but we’d still like to relax over some light meal…and Edgware Road is just round the corner beaconing with its Lebanese offerings. Hop on the scooter (what else did you expect from Italians ;) ), we skip all the Maroush incarnations (below par for both service and food every time we’ve been there) and we go to Abu Ali, out favourite humble Lebanese joint, at 136-138 George Street, London, W1H 5LD (020 7724 6338). It’s a very simple and bare affair, but enlivened by the numerous 'shisha pipe' smokers outside. There’s plenty of equipment for the purpose: (the blurring of the photo is clearly an effect of the smoke rather than our photographic incompetence...). We don’t smoke, so w...

Semplice
2007-08-07 17:41:00
The day: 2nd August 2007, Dinner. The place: 9-10 Blenheim Street, London W1S 1LJ (020-7945 1509)The venue: Ristorante Semplice The food: Fine Italian Dining The drinks: Carefully chosen list, Italian based, wide range of prices starting from the teens, also by the glass.Ristorante Semplice opened just last March in Mayfair: Chef Marco Torri is in the kitchen, while Giovanni Baldino and his team man the front room. We had never been here before, but we knew we would feel comfortable, almost at home: manager Giovanni Baldino and his team were those who took care of us during their time at our fave Latium.We confess that we’ve always found Baldino’s charm irresistible. But before entering the restaurant Man and Woman looked into each other’s eyes and made a solemn pact that, despite the regrettable lack of the usual anonymity, they had to be brutally honest in this review as in all others – no matter how well they would treat us, we would just relay the facts as they were, and...

Theo Randall @The Intercontinental
2007-08-01 22:45:00
The day: 20th July 2007, Lunch.The place: 1 Hamilton Place, Park Lane, London W1J 7QY(020 7318 8747)The venue: Theo Randall at the IntercontinentalThe food: Fine Italian diningThe drinks: smallish but varied list, a selection by the glass, normal London prices and markups. Theo Randall used to be head chef at River Café, voted at some point, in some meaningless ranking or the other, as the best Italian restaurant in Europe (note: this not to slag off the chef but to slag off the rankings). His faux rustic Italian cuisine was also awarded a Michelin star. Since a few months ago, he has his own little rustic place, at..aehm…the Intercontinental Hotel at the corner of Piccadilly and Park Lane, just in front of Hyde Park. Italian cuisine…celebrated chef…a three-course advertised lunch menu at £23…sounds exactly like our sort of material. Let’s investigate! It was the day of the great Summer monsoon rain. The tube was barely running; people were stranded on motorways...
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A passion for Ravioli
2007-07-27 18:02:00
STOP PRESSLast time we were at our very fave fine Italian in London, recovering from a rather poor experience at another place (more on this story later - in a few days...) we got the guinea pig treatment with these:Where is the fuss you might say? Look again:They were exceptionally good: dessert ravioli, chocolate ones with a ricotta and candied peel filling, and white ones with a “deconstructed” apple strudel filling, and specks of chocolate. We won’t tell you about the accompanying sauces...They might feature on the dessert menu as early as August: you have been warned, miss them at your peril!Home
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Arbutus
2007-07-23 11:47:00
The day: 14th July 2007, Lunch. The place: 63-64 Frith Street W1S 2XS, London (020 7734 4545) The venue: Arbutus The food: modern French The drinks: mostly French, good range of prices, excellent the ‘carafe’ option, normal to low mark-ups. Back home in the UK after the long stay in Trento, we thought we’d take a little break from Italian, and try one place that had been taking the food-loving London quite by storm since its opening about a year ago: we are at Arbutus, in the heart of Soho. Here is where chef Anthony Demetre opened his ‘superior bistro’ after gaining a Michelin star at his previous upscale restaurant in Putney. From the outside it is (nicely) unassuming. Inside, it consists of a series of rooms in the curious shape of a horse shoe: the first room, which also has a bar section with a counter laid out for diners, suggests this place is generally heaving with customers - for why would you otherwise want to have lunch perched on a stool and ...

Zola in Nashville, Tennessee
2007-07-18 19:15:00
The day: 7th July 2007, Dinner. The place: 3001 West End Avenue, Nashville , Tennesse e .The venue: Resataurant ZolaClosest airport: Nashville International Airport (or if you fancy a drive, Atlanta is five hours away, and you can get there directly from London with BA from Gatwick) The food: Modern fusion The drinks: American wines with some European.So we wanted to try fine cuisine in the US. Probably, having had the choice, for this experiment we wouldn’t have selected Nashville, a city famous for other offerings. But this is where work brought us to, and anyway we had heard nice things about Zola, where Chef Debra Paquette (co-owner with husband Ernie Paquette) produces dishes inspired by Mediterranean (notably Spanish/Moroccan) and French cuisine.Let us come clean at the outset: the experiment was not successful. We don’t want to play the part of the snotty Europeans (though what else are we?) so we would prefer to attribute the failure to a seemingly impassable gulf between o...
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Au Tilleul restaurant in Strasbourg
2007-07-12 18:44:00
The day: 2nd July, Dinner.The place: 5 Route de Strasbourg 67206 Mittelhausbergen (Strasburg, France)The venue: Restaurant Au TilleulClosest airports: Strasbourg (Air France from London Gatwick)The food: Fine modern FrenchThe drinks: Impressive list of French wines (around 400 labels) On our way back to London from Trento (and en route to...Nashville, Tennessee – more on this story later…) we took a break midway in Strasbourg. As usual we chose with our stomachs, but as bonus came the pretty little village in the outskirts, just 5 minutes drive form the main train station in Strasburg. The Lorentz family have run a simple hotel since the 19th century, but it is with young chef Jacques that they have been put on the gourmet map of Europe. There are in fact two restaurants in one, a more rustic Stube offering traditional Alsatian fare, and a more formal and gastronomic one, La Table de Jacques, where Chef Jaques gives free rain to his culinary imagination (careful: t...

The failings of restaurant guides
2007-07-04 18:52:00
One of the reasons for us starting this modest blog was the unreliability of the ‘official’ guides. If you think about it, it is just impossible (apart from any more sinister consideration ) that homogeneity and accuracy of judgement can be produced by a guide across the board when there are thousands of restaurants to inspect and classify. Mistakes, and some gross ones at that, are not only unavoidable but probable. So we find all guides mostly useless. Nonetheless, we confess: sometimes we succumb to laziness and instead of doing proper research we do rely on guides when deciding which restaurant to visit. The last time we did that, our moral frailty was met with a just punishment…but at least we found a confirmation of the absurdities present even in the most illustrious of publications. We picked a restaurant in Bologna (Italy) rewarded by the Michelin guide with the coveted Bib Gourmand title: it’s the Ristorante Posta, Via della Grada, 21/A 40122 Bolog...
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Trattoria La Cruna dell'Ago
2007-06-30 22:28:00
The day: 18th June, Dinner.The place: Via Garibaldi, 13 Villa Lagarina (TN), Italy (tel+39 0464 412245)The venue: Trattoria La Cruna dell’AgoClosest airports: Brescia (Ryanair), Verona (British Airways)The food: Traditional regional cuisine with a modern takeThe drinks: mainly local, some rare ones. What a lovely little place this is: tucked away in the courtyard of an old building in the centre of this little town just outside Rovereto, this restaurant welcomes you with a profusion of plants and flowers. In addition to a dining room inside the restaurant also offers an “al fresco” option, with a scatter of tables in the cosy courtyard:which we opted for. The list is short (four choices in each section of starters, primi and secondi), but quite inspiring, and reasonably priced, with starters between €7 and €9, primi below €10 and mains between €11.50 and €14. We decided to skip the primi and go for a starter-main combination instead. We began with Marinated ...

A Solo Visit To Rules
2007-06-21 12:06:00
The day: 15th June 2007, Lunch.The place: 35 Maiden Lane, Covent Garden, London WC2E 7LB (tel: +44 020 78365314)The venue: Rules restaurantThe food: Traditional British.The drinks: Nice and reasonably priced list, strong on French (Burgundy and Rhone Valley), available also by the (250ml) glass and the (50ml) jug. Question: What do you do if you are on your own in Central London, you are hungry and in the mood for a good meal, and it’s already 2.40 pm when most fine restaurants are closed? Answer: Rules, the oldest English restaurant (est. 1798!!) is open non-stop all day. Man was without Woman in London, however she has been to Rules several times. Moreover, this was the perfect chance to test our brand new teleflavourone (£19.99 at an electrician near you for the basic model): a device that allows you to beam flavours to a remote receiver while you are enjoying them. Seriously. Very handy. So this report is written together by Man and Woman, as always. Anoth...
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Ristorante Novecento in Rovereto
2007-06-14 15:32:00
The day: 9th June 2007, Lunch.The place: Corso Rosmini 82, Rovereto, Italy (tel +39 0464 439644)The venue: Ristorante Novecento (Hotel Rovereto)Closest airports: Brescia (Ryanair), Verona (British Airways)The food: Traditional regional cuisine with a modern takeThe drinks: Mainly local.Our last few weeks in Trentino...we venture South of Trento to try 'Novecento'. This is the restaurant of of the Hotel Rovereto, unsurprisingly to be found in Rovereto: a pleasant town near Trento, in the direction of Verona, along the Adige valley at the latitude where the Marzemino wine is produced. The family who runs it is from Mantua (Mantova), and the cuisine (Chef Andrea Iseppi) reflects both their origin and the local tradition.We eat in a nice veranda, in 'Liberty' style, overlooking a small patio (where other tables are located) and very bright and airy, perfect for the approaching Summer. There is a sense of relaxed and easygoing elegance:On the menu two four-course set menus, an Aspar...

Osteria Fior di Roccia
2007-06-08 08:51:00
The day: 15th May, Dinner.The place: Via Nazionale 2, Lon di Vezzano (TN), Italy (tel +39 0461 864029)The venue: Osteria Fior di RocciaClosest airports: Brescia (Ryanair), Verona (British Airways)The food: Traditional regional cuisine with a modern takeThe drinks: only local and short, but with evident care (all wines are described) Have you ever been back to a place where you have lived now occupied by somebody else? Scaled down, this is the feeling we got when coming to this now “Osteria” Fior di Roccia, living in the same premises as former Michelin starred “Restaurant” Fior di Roccia (Chef Walter Miori). Same room, much of the same décor, even the same glasses, but different tablecloths, different disposition of the tables, different decorations on them…weird feeling, but still a very pleasant room. The place is now run by the Menestrina family, with a young and enthusiastic brother and sister duo running the show: chef Michele king of the kitchen and his ...

Salt cod at Latium
2007-06-02 17:18:00
In our last short trip home to London last week we tried Trenta as you know: but could we fail to stop by at Latium? Of course not.Among the usual spectacular dishes, we liked an off-menu welcome by sous-chef Massimo (the boss Maurizio being off duty that night):Salt cod in a tomato broth, garnished with nuts and raisins.The chef can trust that the kitchen is in good hands when he is away...Home

Trenta
2007-05-29 16:46:00
The day: 25 May 2007, Dinner.The place: 30 Connaught Street, London W2 2AF (020 - 7262 9623)The venue: Trent aThe food: Fine Italian DiningThe drinks: Italian based list, quite short, many usual suspects, good range of (comfortably marked up) prices, starting below twenty.Back again in London for a couple of days, coming from Trento we thought Trenta might be at least nomenologically appropriate for our next restaurant experience. For, if ‘Trenta’ (meaning thirty) is meant to be an indication of the ideal customer age, we are afraid we both fail miserably. You’ll find this recent addition to the ever more buzzing Italian restaurant scene just off Edgware Road, westwards past the barrier of Lebanese restaurants where Maroush seem to keep cloning itself in an unstoppable way (nothing against the great Lebanese cuisine, by the way – so far we had always stopped at the barrier!). A bold colour statement on the outside: The interior is divided into two miniature roo...

Ristorante Cesarina in historical Bologna
2007-05-23 17:16:00
The day: 15 April 2007, Lunch.The place: Bologna Italy, via Santo Stefano 19/B (tel +39 051 232032 - 235543)The venue: Ristorante CesarinaNearest Airports: Bologna (British Airways, EasyJet), further away Forli’ (Ryanair)The food: Traditional Italian/BologneseThe drinks: We were not given a list, just Maitre d’ recommendation (read on...) Today we are in the historical city of Bologna, and we meet again with MegaMan and MegaWoman of San Domenico fame, but in a much more modestly priced venue…mmmmh, maybe it would be a cheap opportunity to return the invitation . Cesarina is a bit of an institution in Bologna, bang in the centre of town, near one of its most beautiful and interesting churches (Santo Stefano). In the kitchen, chefs Peter Rambaldi and Cristiano Carboni.You can sit inside or outside, in a sort of conservatory: from which you can admire the beautiful buildings in Santo Stefano square: From the moment we approach, it is clear that MegaMan and...
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Ristorante Zur Rose
2007-04-24 09:25:00
The day: 21st April 2007, Dinner.The place: Via J. Innerhofer 2, 30057, Appiano/Eppan (Bolzano), tel: +39 0471 662249The venue: Ristorante Zur Rose The food: Fine Italian diningThe drinks: Good list, strong on regional offerings This is our first ‘post-blog’ venture in ‘foreign’ territory here in Italy. The province of Bolzano is in Alto Adige/Sud Tirol. This part of the world is formally Italian territory, but with a difference, and everyone is (or supposed to be) bilingual (German as well as Italian), with the cuisine hopefully getting the best influences from both cultures. Let’s see what chef Herbert Hintner, blessed with a Michelin star, can do for us… The restaurant sits just off the Town Hall square of this pristine village along the winding WeinStrasse/Strada del Vino (Wine Road), which connects many wine producing villages in the Adige valley. The interior is a coolly elegant version of several wood-panelled dining rooms that we have seen in the region ...
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Ristorante Enoteca Il Libertino
2007-04-19 10:32:00
The day: 29 March 2007, Dinner.The place: Piazza Piedicastello 4-6 Trento, Italy (tel +39 0461 260085)The venue: Ristorante Enoteca Il Libertino The food: Superior trattoriaThe drinks: Good list, strong on regional wines, several national ones, excellent choice by the glass. We walked across the bridge on the Adige river to reach its right bank. This is the Piedicastello suburb of Trento, and in the first square sits Libertino, a trattoria and wine bar with some ambition to be a little more…do they succeed? Inside, one sees the inviting display area with all sorts of hams, salamis and cheese. It develops along three rooms, one of them particularly cosy and intimate, just a pity it is in front of the toilets. The menu is short but inspiring. Starters and primi come all at €8-8.50, mains at €12-13, and desserts at €5-7. The true bargain is the four course set tasting menu at €30, with an extra €10 for matching wines (four different glasses). We went for two of...
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Ristorante Castel Toblino
2007-04-12 11:14:00
The day: 25th March 2007, Lunch.The place: Via Caffaro 1, Sarche, Trento (IT) (tel +39 0461 864036)The venue: Ristorante Cast el ToblinoThe food: Fine Italian Dining, with strong regional influenceThe drinks: Reasonable list, regional and other choices, also several half-bottles. This restaurant is in the ‘Lake valley’ (Valle dei Laghi), occupying a splendid 13th century castle on lake Toblino, and in front of beautiful vineyards where the wine of the same name (of which we had tried excellent samples previously) is made. An enviable setting, raising the usual question for this type of establishment: are we paying for the location or for the cuisine? We had passed in front of it too many times, driving along the winding road in the pleasant valley, or contemplating the lakes from high above, not to try and answer this question... As we said, it’s impressive on arrival: The dining room is off an imposing internal court, with the open kitchen on the other side. The ...
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'Rufioi' (and more) by Franca & Lucia Merz
2007-04-06 17:18:00
Here in Trentino, 'Rufioi' stand for a traditional type of ravioli filled with Savoy cabbage and laced with cinnamon. They are typical of a valley called 'Valle dei Mocheni', but we normally have them at one of our favourite 'trattorias' in the region, in a beautiful high valley (Altopiano di Pine') situated at about 1000m altitude. The trattoria is called I Due Camini (Localita' Vigo, via Pontara, 352, 38042 BASELGA DI PINE', Tel: 0461 557200). It is run by Signora Franc a Merz (with her mother Luci a ) who is also a wine (and cheese) expert.Entering this place is like entering somebody's living room (note the 'camino' - fireplace - on the right): There is also a larger room upstairs. And if you look carefully you can take a glimpse in the kitchen of an authentic Italian 'nonna' (Granny), i.e. Franca's mother Lucia, 85 years old and still going strong, toiling at work with undiminished passion:And here are the rufioi, garnished with sage and Trentingrana cheese:There...
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Ristorante Orso Grigio
2007-04-02 09:59:00
The day: 18th March 2007, Lunch.The place: Via Regole 10, 38010, Ronzone, Trento (tel: +39 0463 880625)The venue: Ristorante Orso GrigioThe food: Fine Italian dining, regionally basedThe drinks: Good list of regional wines, more limited on national ones, a few internationals. Some choices by the glass. Ronzone is in Trento province though geographically closer to Bolzano. A very pleasant drive from Trento through the Val di Non about which you know already. We looked forward to sampling the cuisine of young chef Cristian Bertol, who was recently awarded a Michelin star, in this family run restaurant (the brother Renzo is in charge of the front room). The exterior is rustic and welcoming: The interior is also welcoming and warm, with some hint of relaxed elegance. Large mirrors enhance the space and brighten up the dark wood panelling décor. The tables and seats are really really comfortable. We were given the choice between a standard table with chairs an...
More About: Stor

A town fair
2007-03-29 10:42:00
March 19th is dedicated to St. Joseph, and in Italy this day is celebrated as father’s day. A day for celebrations, and a good excuse to eat something good. In Trento the Agricultural fair doubles up as the Fiera di San Giuseppe (St. Joseph's Fair ), an extra street market day, where no nooks or crannies capable of hosting a stall are left empty. You can find all sorts of goods, but here we want to give you just a little sample of, well you guessed it, the wide array of foods on offer. To begin with, the weary shopper can try and regain some energy with some carne salada (a local type of cured meat). But if it is boar salamis you are after, it is worth stopping here. And how about cheese? A nice stall with an impressive array of dried fruit of all sorts: And after fruit, pudding, of course! Torrone: More torrone: though it is not Christmas, it looks like it is always a good time And how about finishing it all off with a sample of Sicilian desserts? Stroll...
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Ristorante Malga Panna
2007-03-24 17:02:00
The day: 11th March 2007, Lunchtime.The place: Via Costalunga, 56, Moena (TN), Italy (tel +39 0462 573489)The venue: Ristorante Malga PannaThe food: Fine Italian DiningThe drinks: Very extensive regional list, good separate list for others. We went to this restaurant the day after our climb to Monte Stivo . It can hardly be beaten on the setting. Moena is a popular tourist spot in the Fassa Valley, sitting as it is surrounded by the grandiose Dolomites. Malga Panna is higher than Moena along the slopes, offering a fantastic view on the town down below and the surrounding mountains. Will the food match all this beauty? Let’s check it out.We were welcome with efficiency and cordiality. The interior is a warm triumph of wood panelling, and comprises several different rooms of varying size. The tables are well spaced and spacious (especially compared to London standards!). Our own table was circular, like the wood bench that we found very comfortable, though we can see...
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Apples in the Val di Non
2007-03-22 09:21:00
Val di Non: a beautiful valley winding uphills towards the North, along the Noce river, struggling against the majestic Brenta Dolomites, making its way up from the Piana Rotaliana (home of Teroldego: more on this story later...) to the Passo Mendola. A beauty spot. For us, the way towards a restaurant (more on this story, too, later...). But above all, the kingdom of the apple.Here apples are D.O.P. (Denominazione di origine protetta, protected area of denomination). They are and have been very serious business: wherever you look, if it is not a vineyeard, there is an orchard after another. And beautiful trees these are, contorted, suffering, powerfully beautiful: But these shapes are not by chance: As you see, these trees are just now beginning to spring back to life: so, should you not start wondering about where the apples you buy now in the supermarket come from Home
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San Domenico
2007-03-17 17:58:00
The day: 24th February 2007, Dinner.The place: Via Gaspare Sacchi, 1, Imola, Italy (tel +39 0542 29000)The venue: Ristorante San Dome nicoThe food: Fine Italian DiningThe drinks: Very extensive list, mostly Italian and European, starting from around €40. No list by the glass It was with some trepidation that we approached this historical temple of Italian cuisine, still the holder of two Michelin stars. Some say that the temple is ancient: but we are not put off by this, we don't care about fashions and we like classical cusine. So we went with great expectations, though also in the knowledge that we could never meet our £100 (for two) rule. But luckily we were in tow of two benefactors, Megaman and Megawoman. The interior is lush and elegant, subdivided in several rooms decorated in warm colours, creating an intimate atmosphere. The tables are well spaced and vast, in fact almost too vast, forcing Man to raise the tone of his voice to make it reach the mega-ears of Megaman, ...
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Rifugio Marchetti, Monte Stivo (Rovereto, IT)
2007-03-13 09:22:00
We discovered some really good, basic food. It's a bit away from the maddening crowd, though...Quite a struggle up the mountain in the snow and the wind, but finally, after the ascent from 1200m to over 2000m altitude, we get in sight of our target, nicely protected from the elements just down on the Lake Garda side of Monte Stivo:the interior could not be more welcoming:on the menu... polenta with 'Mexican' (i.e. spicy) beans and cheese, or polenta with krauts (which in fact includes three types of pork). Well, let's go for polenta with spicy beans and cheese, and polenta with krauts (and three types of pork).While waiting for them to arrive, we have time to appreciate the 'mise en place':Then our meals arrive:the cheese comes from a 'malga' down the hill, two generous slabs of hard "grana" like cheese, and comforting beans. The three types of pork were sausage, soft salami, and shank.All quite delicious, the flavours really intense and pure . Great raw materials (what a...
More About: Tivo , Over , March , Marche , Marc

Sardo
2007-03-09 17:40:00
The day: 6th March 2007, Dinner.The place: 45 Grafton Way, London W1T 5DQThe venue: Sard oThe food: Regional Italian The drinks: Reasonably wide selection, many Sardininan and several Italian choices, starting from the low teens. A few choices by the glass We were back home in London for just a few days and we decided to focus on Sardo. We knew it was popular and we read mixed reviews about it: so we had to investigate. To be honest, by looking at the simple trattoria style dishes at fine dining prices we suspected something was deeply wrong. But let’s say we did it for you, dear readers Still, as we got in the place was buzzing and the rustic decor was warm and enticing. So we had some hopes after all. We were seated at a table which was comfortably away from the others. In other sectors of the elongated room, however, the situation looked a bit more crammed. Most tables are quite tiny. The menu offers traditional Sardinian dishes, especially as far as first courses are co...

Rifugio San Pietro (Trento, IT)
2007-03-06 15:22:00
The circumstances in which you eat matter a lot.There are some wonderful hikes around Trent o, at the end of which sometimes is a 'rifugio' that offers shelter for the night and/or pure and simple comfort food. We began the walking season with a beautiful and easy mid-altitude walk to Rifugio San Piet ro, on Monte Calino in the Ledro Alps. High above the Garda lake, it is at about 1000 meters altitude, reached starting from about 500m, first through the impressive medieval village of Calvolathen through forest and countryside (notable is a chestnut tree area).Huff...puff...huff...puff...finally here is the rifugio:As you can see, it is near a church (a pretty old church in fact, the original structure possibly dating back to the Middle Ages). The walk was easy, as we said, but still it was 500m ascent and we took it briskily to the top (and then around the area), the weather was still fresh, and so we were starving by 12.00 a.m.We are greeted by the concierge manager:The interior ...
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