When you visit Montefalco, a medieval stunner, smack in the middle of landlocked Umbria, it wont take you long to see which is the star restaurant. About 5 minutes in fact after you enter the main gate. 30 minutes if you get distracted by more truffle sauces and hanging grandpa’s balls (Palle di Nonno). Its the one in the main square with all the happy people occupying every inch of the space. Some of the happiest ones are munching on pigeon done five different ways. And while the star restaurant does not always deliver the results you’d expect, this one shines.
At the helm is Patrizia Moretti, the alchemist, the magician, and local legend, who runs a tight ship along with daughter and daughter’s partner. L’Alchimista doesnt have the look and feel of a small mom/pop Trattoria but of a sprawling, busy, well run establishment with a traditional yet refined menu. Delicate flavors so on point, you hear angels sing with every morsel (We did eventually asked them to lower the volume when it got annoying). Facing one of the most atmospheric squares in Umbria doesnt hurt.
The only thing better than a restaurant with a signature dish is one with two. Onion Parmigiana may not sound too enticing but here you get sweet protected onion from nearby Cannara that sings with that cheese. Burrata with 24 month Norcia Prosciutto we couldnt get enough in Umbria was spot on, and so was the delectable ravioli with goat cheese. Tenderloin, marinated with the local Sagrantino red, so tender you can cut with car keys. The remote square ones, not the one you ignite with.
But the undisputed shining star, and a dish of the trip nominee is the pigeon. Just like Onion Parmigiana, pigeon just never jumps out at you when you read a menu as such. But then we recall the tasty pigeons of nearby Tuscany, especially the one made by another female magician 100 km away. This bird comes in a variety of ways – pigeon breast, pigeon sausage, pigeon liver, and pigeon stuffed with more pigeon. Its outstanding. The only thing left to do is finish with a proper Tiramisu, and its indeed fantastic here.
Although I’ve had Enoteca L’Alchimista on my radar, I was not expecting this level of cooking, and an impeccable attention to detail. Neither should you. It helps when you go anywhere with low expectations. Or lower than the enthusiasm you get from such blogs. Different tastes, off nights, and just picking the wrong items to match your palate means way too many variables involved to guarantee anything. But for us, on this particular night, it was flawless.
Instead of boring you with the usual Best of Umbria this or that, or random tips on Umbria, I will bore you with an award ceremony.
The Milton Snavely Hershey Award. Given to the best Chocolate – Urbani truffled truffles in the Urbani museum
This was supposed to be a post about Osteria Baciafemmine, one of Umbria’s most hidden (quite literally here) gems. But something happened during this visit. A twist. The kind I only see in South Korean movies. As good as this meal was, the little village of Scheggino, with a population of 463 (we counted) upstaged the meal. To the point that we changed plans on the last day to visit the village again.
Cutting through at the foot of Scheggino is the Nera River producing one of the only seafood items found in Umbria, trout. You can have it at Osteria Baciafemmine as is, or crusted with crunchy breadcrumbs and parsley. Osteria Baciafemmine is a local legend, Slow Food fixture, and the reason we came to this village in the first place. Rustic, all in the family Osteria, dishing out local specialties and meat raised in their own farm. Mother, father, daughter, cat, all hard at work at a space decorated head to toe with food and drink stuff, almost museum like. Toto, we are not in Staten Island anymore.
If you walk around the village of Bevagna in Umbria looking for a place to eat, Antiche Sere might be the last place you’ll pick. Sort of like picking Thai food in Hell’s Kitchen, NYC. I think my group was hoping I made a mistake when we finally reached it. “Are you positive this is it? From the parking lot we passed more inviting places. Like, all of them. And there are about 10 spots higher on Trip Advisor in a town with 11 restaurants”. They said none of this out loud of course. They trust me and learned to follow me like the sheep in the anarchist logo surrounding the “A” in Antiche.
This being my first Umbria post means the end result was quite positive. One of the most complete meals of a two week trip in fact. As soon as you walk in, you feel more at ease once you see the funky space. You walk by a small kitchen where you see the proud anarchist owner washing dishes, so at least you know the dishes will be clean. And while the anarchist doesnt speak much English it seams, there’s a young friendly Indian waiter that does.
Started with a delicious Chickpeas and clams soup. Clams from Ancora and local chickpeas much sturdier and more flavorful than what we are used to (Goya). This is one of the lone places we encountered in Umbria that gets fresh seafood on occasion. Panzanella salad with soaked bread, tomato, celery and some very good vinegar was refreshing on a hot day. Simply grilled beefy local mushrooms. Eggplant parmigiana was another winner. And an exceptional oversized cappelletti pasta with cheese and tomato sauce.
Eating With Ziggy 