Senses in the kitchen: Where to eat? "Lolli", Piglio

Wednesday, 7 September 2011

Where to eat? "Lolli", Piglio

There are some places that you will not find in the holiday guides, luckily somebody you know have been there already and recommended it to you. There is one very good and unbeatable reason to go to Piglio (except from a fact that this is very nice town, with streets 1.5m wide in the old town overlooking the valley) – it is great place for wine shopping. You have to go to one of cantina sociale and get some Cesanese del Piglio that perhaps is not as famous as Tuscan Chianti but definitely worth trying. It is tasty and if you think about price- taste relation, I would say it is very tasty. None of those we bought for 3.5 – 8.5 euros would put me in a shame when served to my guests with some good food. Even I am not a big fan of white wines I found Passerina del Frusinate very tasty.

If you like simple, homemade dishes served in not particularly smart or posh surroundings you have another reason to go to Piglio. There is one place just off the road, that looks like it was built just temporarily, it is called “Lolli” and it should be your destination if you like good quality food with no fuss. If you do not mind sitting at the table with plastic, colorful covering, drink wine from a decanter under a watchful eyes of the Holy Family from a picture this is right place for you. All you need is time, plenty of time – at least 2 hours.

This is how much time out feast took. We had the following:

- 1l white wine

- 1.5l water

- two plates full of antipasti – various hams, salami, something made from offal and pig’s head – very similar to brawn (we call it salceson in Poland), cold roast pork, artichokes, olives, cheese and some sausage, also some pickles.

- two generous slices of bread, grilled over the open fire, generously drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with salt

- a basket full of lovely bread

- two large portions of tagliatelle alla ragu – and some cheese to finish off, of our choice: pecorino or parmesan

- one huge beef steak, grilled over the real fire, served with lemon

- cicoria fried in olive oil

- some biscuits

- two lemon sorbets

- two coffees

- three shots (each one of us) of different liqueurs (good for the digestion)

Are you still surprised that you need at leas two hours? I have to admit that my partner and I can eat a lot, and this time we were completely full. (Remember restaurant scene from “The Meaning of Life”? This is how we probably felt). Obviously everything was extremely tasty. For this feast, service of very pleasant waiter and fire keeper and lovely view from a window we paid 69 euros.

I recommend this place!