For our second mid week trip in search of great food with the Svedesi, we invited Molly and Enrico along. Enrico crashed out last minute, but Molly came and having dropped off the kids at school at 8.30, we boarded tesla and headed to Bolgheri. For us it was the second time. Beautiful, warm day in excellent company.
Having had a coffee and a walk around town, having purchased some vino, we started paying attention to the menus displayed outside of the restaurants and ended up in La Cantinetta di Bolgheri.
An absoluetly superb service. The owner, a chunky lady with a good sense of humour looked after us really well, made sure Molly was taken care of with her dietary requirements, served us 2 bottles of great Bolgheri with lunch- it was the third choice of wine, as the other two, we were told were out of stock.
We started with a tagliere of meats and cheese and some bruschetta. Beautifully presented, delicious, especially the artichokes.
Daniel had a plate of pasta, Molly some eggs, then baked aubergine, I have fallen into a trap of tagliata di “wagyu”. I should have known better that at 25 euro it ain’t no wagyu, but I still did. The meat was chewy, had zero marbling, a bit of disappointment. Courtney and Daniel chose a beef cheek in a sensational wine reduction, of which I had tasted a bit and I wished I had chosen it. It wasn’t as soft and gelatinous as the cheeks I used to cook in England, but it was delicious and I’m thinking maybe a visit to macelleria will be in order soon.
Florek had gone for a beef tartare with truffles in a freeky charred bun, that was a very pretty plate.
Excellent meal with lovely people, Daniel did Sergio’s trick and paid the bill on the way to the loo. Grrr!!!
After the coffee we were so stuffed that in the evening we skipped dinner altogether (apart from Izzie) and had only some green tea. Oh, and towards the end the owner brought us a bottle of wine we ordered as a first choice, turned out there was one last bottle and it was given to us free of charge. Will be enjoyed next Saturday while we celebrate Izzie’s birthday.
