Spello
La Cantina – In 2015 ate there twice. Very authentic food, great service and affordable wine list. We saw some of the best dressed people in Italy in the restaurant. We ventured back in 2017 and had another delicious meal. Joanne had Farro salad followed by Agnello Scottadito. I had Parmigianna di Melanzana and Tagliata di Manzo. 🙂 We ate there twice in 2018. The first time we shared the parmigiana flan and the piccione pate(excellent). I had the guanciale cheeks for dinner and Joanne had the lamb. Same waiter from last year. The second time we split three courses: -eggplant parmigiana, Ravioli with zucchini pesto, and the lamb dish Joanne had a few nights earlier, cubed lamb with tomatoes and olives. Very good. Think it is our 5th time there.
Ristorante Il Pinturicchio Had dinner and Sunday lunch in 2016. It was fun people watching on Sunday. Sunday lunch is a big thing in Spello. We returned with Judy in 2018. Joanne and I shared an eggplant flan, I had the sliced steak (a little tough), and Joanne had a huge lamb dish which she enjoyed..
Enoteca Properzio Roberto is the proprietor and he served a small multi course meal to be paired with his wines on our first visit in 2015. He is able to get unique wines and his shipping prices are reasonable. We returned in 2017 and were treated royally. We started with bruschetta with the olive oil pressing and then the wines poured freely. Roberto is the exclusive distributor for Tili and they make incredible wines. We tried at least six wines and were treated to pasta with black truffles. I was drunk enough to bring home 3 cases of wine! We returned in 2018 for 5 days and stayed at one of Roberto’s apartments. It was an incredible time. He was very generous with us. Dinner the first night was at Enoteca Properzi. Bruscheta, pasta with white truffles, eggplant parmigiana and manzo polpette. Yes way too much food. We tried the Pinot Nero fro Fendi and the Sleeping Beauty from Arnaldo Caprai. Roberto also set us up with a tour at Caprai, where we met Elinora who lived in Seattle for 10 years.
Ristorant Locanda del Postiglione – It was on Via Roma in the main piazza at the base of the town. We ate there in 2018 based on Roberto’s recommendation. Great service, we split a pasta with truffles and herbs, and we had a grilled rolled maiale. The food was good and we could not believe that it took us 3 years to eat there. Obviously a popular place with the locals.
Ristorante Porta Venere – Our first dinner in Spello in 2017. To be fair it was a light dinner we had eaten at Enoteca Properzio. Worth another visit from what we ate. Roberto does not like this place!!!!!
Ristorante il Molino – Grilled meats over charcoal. 2015 first night in Spello. The waiter was nice but needed a shower.
Gubbio – Ristorante Picchio Verde – after our tour of Gubbio with we had a lovely lunch here.
Spoleto – Trattoria Del Festival – Really nice lunch during our walking tour of Spoleto. The brought us a so-called “souvenir” after we had already ordered which was a complete pasta starter, then we had the pasta started we ordered to share and then a secondo. It was a lot of food but all good. We returned in 2018 with our guide Marco. We had an antipasto plate of local Umbrian goods. We ate gnocchi with local tomato sauce, it was full of herbs. They also brought us some delicious beans in chicken broth on the house. The portions are large and something always appears on the table out of the blue such as the beans and cookies for desert.
Assissi –Nuova Osteria La Piazzetta – Best lunch of 2015.Via S. Gabriele dell’Addolorata, 15, Assisi. Phone:+39 075 815352
Bevagna – Osteria Antiche Sere – We had a nice lunch here. Joanne had the rabbit. Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi, 10, Bevagna +39 0742 361938. In 2018 we had porchetta from the famous truck ousside the gates. Non vale la pena.
Todi – La Mulinella -In 2018 on our wat from Orvieto to Spello we stopped outside of Todi and ate at La Mulinella. Rustic, stone farm-house decor and incredible food. Homemade cheese bread to start and we shared the Umbreccilli di Casa which was a rich tomato sauce. We also shared the rolled cinghiali with porcini, it was ridiculously good. Great find!
Montefalco – Coccorone – Very enjoyable lunch in 2018. We share the eggplant with zucchini flowers, and then the lasagna with white sauce and more eggplant. We then went to tou the Arnaldo Caprai winery.
Orvieto
I Sette Consoli – Returned in 2018 for the deconstructed eggplant parmigiana, it was different but still good. We followed with another appetizer of ricotta and chicory balls in a tomato sauce. It worked. Joanne had a slow cooked veal dish that was very tasty, I had the deboned quail stuffed with fois gras. It was very good. The restaurant was not as vibrant as previous years.
Altarocca Wine Resort wine tour and lunch at Altarocca in 2018. Lunch was very good – multi-course meal that started with ravioli with rabbit, pasta with sugo di anatra, and rack of lamb. Light white was the best white, and the 100% Merlot the best red. Wine is still not top notch.
Trattoria La Palomba -This restaurant is the best of Orvieto lists. It is a small family operation, I had umbrecelli pasta with truffles, and the filetto with truffles. Joanne had the cinghiale stew, which seemed good. It is small, crowded and very local. I remember it being too hot to enjoy my meal (2018).
Il Cocco – Dinner started slow, but ended fine. I shared the Umbrecelli all’amatriciana with Joanne and had the Osso Bucco, which was tender and tasty. Joanne had the cinghiale with prunes. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano for the wine. Linda Owen recommendation. They treated us well, even though the service was slow.