It was our turn to invite Sergio and Lara to a restaurant ( after they grabbed the bill at The Butterfly” last month). I’ve been wanting to check out L’Olivo for a while, having heard a lot of good things about it, yesterday we finally got to go.

It was a delicious evening in a great company. First we had an aperitivo at Sergio and Lara’s beautiful house on the hills of Cappella. Lara made a few lovely snacks to go with it, including a simple and delicious salad with farro, tomatoes, onion and olive oil- olive oil of their own making and I have been given some! I have tasted farro before at Molly’s, but now it’s on my shopping list. I’ve just done some research and will be wanting to eat it a lot more often.

L’Olivo, when compared with poncy Butterfly, wins for me big time, hands down. I liked the ambience, the staff were excellent, but most importantly we ate really well. I’ve checked out the menu as early as with my morning coffee, so I knew what I wanted. The stuffed baby squid with a creamy white bean puree was an absolute delight. I’d go back just to have some more.

Izzie had some fresh pasta with seafood ragu, her choice and she did a good job dealing with the plate. Florek and Sergio ordered pasta too, Lara had a chick pea starter and then a platter of cheeses, but Ilan and I both went for duck breast, which was not on the menu, but we were advised there are 3 pieces available. Duck was beautifully pink and tender, roast potatoes nearly as good as at Nonna Clara’s, wonderful chickory, slices of apple and a side of spinach. Ilan destroyed his within minutes and soon asked if he could order another portion. That’s how good it was.

The weakest link was the dessert, semifreddo so bloody sweet, that my teeth hurt.

I feel like throwing a nice dinner party for these lovely people, such a pleasure dining with them every time.

A couple of weeks ago we made new friends. Lara and Sergio, parents of Izzie’s friend from school, Ilan, entered our orbit right before the school’s Christmas spectacle. After 5 minutes we have agreed to have pizza after the performance and chat some more. Lara, Sergio and Ilan, true Italians love their food and talk about it eagerly. Ilan is the only 9 year old I knew of, who orders a rare pidgeon in the restaurant and deals with it within minutes. I also loved when he referred to American food as “spazzatura”. 🙂

Last night, as per Sergio’s suggestion, we went to “Butterfly”, a posh little place outside of Lucca, boasting a star. We’ve never been there before, but happily obliged.

This was by far the poshest place we have dined in in Italy so far. The service was excellent. There were lots of small plates between courses, all beautifully presented and explained. Water was constantly topped up, as was wine. I must read up on Sauvignon; the chap brought us a bottle of local Sauvignon from 2013, which surprised me; I remember from wine training in Dinings, that Sauvignon Blanc should not be served older that 2 years old, is Sauvignon different? Homework to be done!

My favourite thing in Butterfly was bread. A good selection of it, different flavours and textures, aniseed grissini, but the sourdough rolls they brought were phenomenal. Wonderfully crusty and moreish. I wish I could eat more of that bread…

We had lots of seafood, I loved my prawns, cooked so delicately I couldn’t get enough. Lobster, which followed didn’t wow me, it was barely cooked. Florek had some wagyu, which I tried too. Very good, but light years away from anything Masaki cooks in Dinings.

The dessert, pannacotta, looked spectacular, but tasted disappointing and was barely set, very unconvincing.

Izzie and Ilan had a great time, playing Kluster on the table and making a bit too much noise for that kind of place, but nobody kicked us out onto the rain.

Lovely evening in a lovely company, in terms of food however that meal we had in Dinings in April 2022 remains on top spot for us and its top position is not in any danger.

Sergio was being naughty and annoyingly grabbed the entire bill on his way “to the bathroom”, so next time we will pick the place and make sure he leaves his wallet at home.

A handsome end to a delicious year.

Another one of of The Places I Really Wanted To See in Italy Soon, has been seen. Moka and Viktor were here last week. We were debating whether to spend Sunday in water park or go somewhere we have not been before. So we hopped across the fence to Emilia Romagna.

The biggest surprise was how quiet the city was. I expected a bit of a massacre, like Siena two years ago, but no; the students were away, there were some tourists (Americans, at the city tour bus booking place “you know, we’re from New York, sooooooooo…..”), but there were no mental crowds, we had a good time and a fantastic lunch in Taverna del Postiglione. It wasn’t cheap, but we tasted two things we wanted to taste in Bologna and some more. Service was fantastic. Wine list very impressive, but we wanted beer.

The board that was brought for us full of local meats( that mortadella!) and cheeses was nicely explained and very much enjoyed, especially the marmalade made of prunes, which tasted great with Grana Padano and Parma ham. I happened to find some in Conad this morning, we’ll see how it compares.

For the mains Moka and Viktor went for some ravioli, I had gnocchi with prawns- who would have thought! Izzie really broadened her horizons and opted for pizza margherita. The winner however was Florek, who had tortelloni in brodo, we all had a little taste and it was the best plate on the table. Clear, meaty broth and homemade, tiny tortelloni, simple, yet mind blowing.

We had no desserts, as were too stuffed and after coffee headed back towards the car, well fed and happy. I’d love a plate of that brodo for myself anytime.

Also, I really liked the parmigiano container that stood of the table, I liked it so much that I sought it out online and I now have one in the fridge, thanks to Florek. 🙂

The Blackhams are in Italy for the whole of last week. They stay in a cute little place just off the beach in Viareggio, today they came to Lucca, before heading back home to London tomorrow. I booked us lunch in Trattoria Nonna Clara’s, thinking- they need to remember Lucca for fantastic food, so this is the place.

We had a long, 2,5 hour long lunch. We started off with stuffed courgette flowers and a plate of cured meats and cheeses. Proceeded to some lasagne, some stuffed pasta, Alyssa had a mountain of roasted lamb, Louise and I went for today’s special, ossobuco with puree al tartufo.

We all tasted that puree and it was the best thing I tasted in a while, absolutely sensational. Then 3 tiramisu arrived for us to share, followed by a freebie of a wonderful sorbetto al limone, but liquid, in a glass, refreshing and wonderful. And coffee.

An absolutely delicious meal in a lovely company.

I have wanted to eat there for a long time, but somehow we never did. But today, on a beautiful day, with bright blue sky it seemed like an obvious choice and there was a table outside that was available.

Service- excellent. We were offered water on arrival, not a common thing in Italy, even in the middle of summer. Before we came I thought I really fancied some vongole, for science- in a different place than Grumpy’s which in winter simply lost all its appeal. But today there was no vongole, so I settled for a plate of roasted mountain lamb with roast potatoes. House chianti was recommended to go with it, nice not to feel ripped off. Florek went for caccio e pepe, which he liked so much, that he said it might even replace carbonara on the top spot on the list of his favourite pastas. Nonna Clara’s is famous for its fresh pasta, in fact there is a woman in the window making fresh pasta during the service, which stops traffic sometimes!

Papardelle with ragu for Izzie and we were munching. I enjoyed my lamb so much, I nearly forgot about the wine, a first! And finally, finally somebody served me with absolutely perfect roast potatoes, perfect, ever so slightly perfumed with rosemary.

Encouraged by all this we went for a tiramisu to share, by far the lightest one I had so far in Italy. Izzie had pannacotta, which she licked off the plate until there was nothing left. After coffee and 70 euro lighter we went home, fed, happy and excited about next time at Nonna Clara’s. 10 out of 10. Basta cosi. 🙂

We’re on our way to Poland, via Firenze and Roma. We arrived in our overnight accommodation in Ciampino at 5pm, dumped the luggage and went back to see if we could see at least a tiny bit of Rome this evening. We did! We went towards Fontana di Trevi, very much enjoyed what we saw and then, when ready to eat, we sat in one of the touristy places and had- what else- cacio e pepe. With a good bottle of wine, which was needed after Elisabetta wrote that the offer we made on The House has been accepted (!!!).

Huge portions of pasta, I had not managed all of mine, but I was also helping Izzie with her very, very tasty margherita. Somehow after nearly 5 months in Italy this was my first ever plate of cacio e pepe. Very good indeed, almost too intense with pecorino romano and lots of freshly ground pepper, but it was very much enjoyed and the moods were excellent throughout the evening. Now off to Bozenka’s for 5 days of wonderful food!

We have done it. We have sold the house, packed what was left into Tesla ( a painful experience) and drove to Italy. We’ve spent 4 days without the fridge, while waiting for our stuff to be delivered. But now it all resembles home. We’re rediscovering our favourite food places, so had to start at Piazza Anfiteatro and I must say that Grumpy now treats us like regulars and even addresses me as “cara” (!!). Grumpy’s real name is Marco, he seems to work in that restaurant 24/7 and when he happens to have a day off, this really is an event. And it turns out he does smile sometimes, he is grateful when complimented on their fantastic focaccia and has a nice, sharp sense of humour ( flipping a middle finger at one of the piazza’s regulars while taking order from customers :-).

Spaghetti alle vongole at Grumpy’s for me is one of the All Time Favourites. It is simple. They don’t bother with tomatoes or other seafood. Plus they fry the garlic to the point when it’s nearly burnt, but it’s not. The sauce is seafoody, with lots of parsley, simple and wonderful. A plate of vongole and a small cold beer is 10 out of 10. And the best thing is, we can now have it anytime, 10 minute walk from via di Poggio, where we now reside, until Casa Banks is found and purchased, hopefully sometime next year.

Epic.

I could stop here, add the photos and be done, but I can’t, as last weekend we have had the best meal of our lives. Hands down. Steve and Christina, our foodie, well travelled friends were also blown away and agreed that we will be talking about this meal for years to come.

It was Florek’s 42nd birthday on Saturday. About 3 months ago I decided that I’ll burn some of my savings and we’ll go to Dinings for a birthday treat. What I didn’t anticipate was Masaki, my former boss, would treat us like royalty, give a table for as long as we wanted and serve his most amazing food to us. We were all lost for words, it was that good.

Everything that arrived at the table was looking stunning and was served in generous amount for 4 people, we didn’t have to be slicing things and sharing pieces of sashimi and such. We started with Dinings legendary tartar chips, some with wagyu, some with tuna, some with scallops. Some wonderful sashimi, where scallop stood out for me, might have been the best scallop ever( hand dived, Cornish). Then dover sole sashimi with sooooo much truffles we started to chuckle. Amazing.

Then the mini burger buns, I don’t think they lasted on the table beyond 3 minutes, ours were extra special with grilled wagyu and foie gras mousse, but the lobster and caviar ones were not too shabby either. Outstanding.

There was grilled aubergine, there was dover sole with morelle mushrooms, my first ever taste of those, I am now a fan!

There was a beautifully presented crab dish, where Cornish crab was mixed with freshly made noodles, none of us ever had anything like that before.

Then, as I was approaching the limit of comfortable food amount, grilled wagyu with pepper sauce came to the table, followed by sushi and sushi rolls. I switched from sake to green tea at that point, it helped with digestion. 🙂

Finally, desserts arrived. A lovely, light chocolate mousse cake for Florek, a yuzu cheesecake shaped like yuzu, light and wonderful, some petit fours. An icing on the cake.

We finished with some negroni at the bar with The Chief, for which I was not allowed to pay. Speechless, 12 out 10, that’s how good it was.

Liz and Ian recommended this place to us a while ago. We finally went last Thursday, escaping the first batch of viewings in our house, today we went there again, this time for lunch, with the said Liz and Ian and the girls.

What an excellent find this place is! It sits in Gloucester docks, overlooking the water. The service is excellent, a few older Greek chaps, who know what they talk about, but also don’t take any crap from anyone. Lovely, exciting menu. Lots of seafood, lots of meat, lots of veggies. Great desserts. Even music on Thursday was pleasant, none of this awful loud shite like in Jamie Oliver’s places.

So on Thursday we went with the chap’s recommendations; Izzie had a lovely kofta with fries and salad, chargrilled, which she scoffed down in minutes. Paul went for souvlaki made with pork tenderloin- and he is not big on pork! I had lamb chops with roasted potatoes, potatoes being the only thing I did not enjoy- they were roasted with lots of lemon.

Lovely pita bread on the side too.

We had to have the baklava, which we did, very good too, not drowned in rose water, which normally puts me off.

Today for lunch we didn’t exactly hold back. We had starters, while the girls munched on their koftas and fries. Liz had calamari, Paul grilled haloumi, scallops for me and grilled octopus for Ian- I’ll be having that next time, it was fantastic, sitting on some chickpea puree thing.

Liz’s Greek salad looked the part and tasted the part, it came with our mains of lamb chops again, souvlaki again, grilled prawns/swordfish.

And then some desserts. There was semifreddo with almonds and pistachios, we all enjoyed it, some mousse thing, a touch too sweet which we have not finished and a baklava again.

We ate really well. Will certainly be going back for more.

Steve and Christina were here this weekend, after last night filled with pizza (5 pizzas, to be specific) and wine, today we drove to Marlborough, back to Rick Stein’s. What a treat that was, again. I was actually ready to order early last week, when Steve booked us a table, a sole meuniere on the main menu stood out for me and that’s what I had, but started with some lovely fresh crab. It’s been a long time since I had it that good (Dinings, perhaps?). I even enjoyed the seaweed!

Then the sole, might have been the most expensive item on the menu at £40, sole meuniere, which was taken off the bone for me, yum. Really enjoyed it, it could have done with a touch more salt I thought, as well as maybe more inspired sides- the buttered potatoes were ok, the cabbage they shouldn’t have bothered with.

But the pud was a dream. Sticky toffee pudding with vanilla ice cream, which we shared was probably the best I’ve ever had. Trying to find that very recipe online and not having much luck for the moment. Might be the next thing I bake, one way or another. Yum.

This place is a 10 out 10 for me, I have to say. It is expensive, but the service is brilliant, the food inspiring and the ambience just perfect, not overcrowded, beautifully decorated and comfortable. A real treat! 🙂