La Cantina

Tuesday night, my friend Martina invited me to dinner at her father's restaurant. I didn't even know her dad had a restaurant, but I thought it sounded fun, so we agreed for her to pick me up at 8 for dinner. The legal driving age in Italy isn't until 18, so Martina actually doesn't have her license yet, but her mom was kind enough to take us over to the restaurant. The restaurant is called La Cantina and is in the next town over, Spello, the beautiful hilltop town where I walked around to take pictures. I really had no idea what to expect for the restaurant, except that before I left, Aurelio told me that it is one of his favorite restaurants. And boy do I know why!

Before I even walked in, I knew it was going to be a fantastic restaurant. The atmosphere was quaint and romantic, as the cozy space was decorated with antique and eclectic decor. Martina and I sat down at a small table for two, dimly lit by hanging lanterns and a flickering candle. Several of the servers were noticed that Martina was dining in the restaurant, so they came by to say hello. I discovered that Martina actually worked at the restaurant for a couple months over the summer, so she is pretty close to the staff members there. Within a few minutes, Martina's dad, Efisio, came to our table to start going over the menu with us. There's nothing like having the restaurant owner sit down with you and describe the dishes on his menu in full detail! Efisio told me all about the different items on the menu and explained that La Cantina's specialty is truffles. Now, I have definitely heard of truffles before, and am even pretty sure I've eaten them, but I really didn't know what the difference between a truffle and a mushroom is. Efisio suggested several different dishes that feature truffles and told me that I definitely needed to try them and learn why truffles are so different from mushrooms. The whole menu was in Italian and I didn't understand much of it, so I basically just let Martina and her dad order for me. They went through the appetizers and main courses and kept discussing different items that they liked. We were offered the opportunity to try any of the appetizers we wanted, and even though we knew it would be way more food than we needed, Martina and I absolutely accepted.

    

The first dish to arrive was a truffle omelet with a side of two types of gourmet cheese with jam and a bread and tomato sauce. I think this was my favorite of the whole night. Maybe it's because I was the hungriest at this point :)

 

Next up was another truffle appetizer, cooked with mushrooms inside so that I would be able to experience the difference between truffles and mushrooms all at once. Even though I have no idea what is was or what it's called, you can just imagine how delicious it was. 

Following the second truffle appetizer was a vegetable dish - eggplant with pomodoro sauce. It tasted like vegetable lasagna and was to die for. Martina isn't the biggest fan of this dish, so I got two servings.

In between new dishes being brought to our table, we indulged in some bruschetta with olive oil and a special organic sea salt. Apparently this is the best salt in the whole word, and it's so fresh and natural that the only ingredients on the label are sun, wind, and sea. It is from a unique location in Sicily that has been used for centuries to collect the salt left from evaporated sea water. If you want to know a little more about this salt, check out this website, which sells a similar type of salt.

Finally, we had our main course. I ordered a truffle gnocchi and Martina ordered Tagliolini pasta with olive oil and truffles. We split our food, so I got to have a little of each. I think I am quickly realizing that gnocchi is one of my favorite types of pasta. It's so unique, and so tasty!

This is the gnocchi. Unfortunately I did not take a picture of the Tagliolini

Every bite of that pasta melted in my mouth. I savored every forkful and cannot possibly forget how deliciously it tasted. And of course, it was over all too quickly, so we looked ahead to the final part of our meal: dessert. It doesn't matter how full or completely stuffed you are. There is just no way you can pass up a chocolate souffle like this!

When all was said and done, Martina and I could barely move we were so full. We got up and walked around the streets of Spello for just a few minutes to try to ease our stomachs a little. When we finished our walk, we went back into the restaurant to find Martina's dad. Before leaving, Efisio pointed out to me the special balsamic vinegar that his restaurant has. There are actually vats in the restaurant where vinegar is being aged, and there are three types: ten year old, twenty year old, and twenty five year old. He let me try some of the vinegar that had been aged for twenty years and it was incredibly sweet, completely naturally with nothing added to it. It was probably the best balsamic vinegar I've ever tasted and ever will taste (it's not too often you find vinegar that's been sitting around for twenty years!). With the sweetness still on my lips, Efisio drove us home and before they dropped me off, I made sure to say a big, huge Grazie for a wonderful and delicious evening!!

the vats of vinegar