The daily diary of a wandering restaurateur
December 6 - Dining in Montalcino
Our hotel has a pleasant restaurant that serves breakfast and dinner ... but not on Tuesday evening. For lunch we walked across the street to the Ristorante San Giorgio. They had pizza on the menu. Tempting, but opted for more hearty Tuscan fare. We can check the pizza out tomorrow.
Interestingly, many places in Italy only served pizza in the evenings because it was too hot during the day to stand in front of the ovens. That won't be a problem at this time of year, but habit is habit and I wouldn't be surprised if the dinner-only rule was still in effect. Margene had the riboletta, a hearty soup with beans, vegetables and leftover bread. I went for the bruschetta (properly pronounced broos-ketta) and a pasta stuffed with cheese and spinach. Just right. Then back to the room for a siesta and a chance for me to get caught up on my diary.
Dinner was a treat, despite the fact that Margene was not feeling well and decided to stay in bed. Half a block down the street was the restaurant Re de Macchia, a personal statement by Roberta and Antonio. She cooks, he runs the front. I think it was a slow night, although perhaps it is always like this in early December.
I arrived at 7pm when they opened and by the time I left at 9, he had served a total of five dinners. Because I knew that he was going to have a slow night, I felt the need to order as much as I could to help out the cash flow. Good choice.
I am a sucker for bruschetta so that was once again my Antipasti (appetizer course) and I was delighted that Roberta's tomatoes were much riper than we had at lunch. Then came the Primi (pasta course) of Pinchi al ragu di Cinghale, thick, hand-rolled spaghetti with a sauce of wild boar, all washed down with Rosso Toscano, young local wine made from Sangiovese grapes. The Secondi (meat course) was Manzo Brasato al brunello con Spinaci, a tender beefsteak with a Brunello wine sauce, roasted potatoes and sauteed spinach. By now I was drinking the good stuff -- Brunello di Montalcino. Luscious!
But dinner does not end with the meat course. For Dolci (sweet course) I tried the Crema Cotta con Zuccharo caramellato, basically a creme brulee with caramelized sugar on top. As you can see from the photo, the presentation on this item was definitely a WOW. The proper wine for this was a Moscatello di Montalcino Florus from Castello Banfi. A cup of espresso and I was out the door with a smile on my face for about forty bucks. I love Italy!
© 2005 Restaurant Doctor
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