An Umbrian Lunch 3

  Well, I'm getting down to the last meals we had "out" on our trip to Umbria this past March. That means one thing, and one thing only. Time to book another trip and get back there, PRONTO! Why, I do believe I hear Panicale calling right now. 

  One thing I have learned whilst fooling around with this little bloggy, is to get better at the picture taking- especially with food. Admittedly, many of the photos are pretty dang good, but the food shots are all about the lighting. There are a few meals that sadly won't ever make it to the blog simply because the food looks so icky. It wasn't, but without proper lighting, even the best Trattoria meal looks awful. The camera I use is just a regular little digital thing, nothing fancy.... and I don't want to get all fancy. What I have realized is that it's always good to sit near a window to get that natural light. Since we like to go out to lunch, this works well.

 This was the case with the restaurant I'm writing about today. This place was a trip - no lights on at all in the dining room. So Italian, to be saving on the electric bill. I love this. But the restaurant had big windows along the back wall, so it was bright back there. Perfecto for photos.

  We were told about Locanda di Sanfatucchio by Aldo, the ever informative owner of Bar Gallo, in Panicale. He explained to us that they were known for great pizzas, and he would get one "to go" every week to eat at home while he and his wife watched a favorite weekly TV show. I was craving pizza ever since we had eaten at Pizzaria Remo ( see the post "Pizza in Rome", April ). Weeks in Umbria, and we'd only had pizza once. So we decided to give it a try. First time was a bust, closed! We persevered, and a few days later, on an overcast day, we score.

  As we entered, we thought it was closed again, but it was just dark, because of the "no lights on" situation. Also, we were the only customers. There was an elegantly dressed man that came forward to greet us, and lead us to a table near the back windows, fortunately. He was also the waiter, of course. We looked over the menu, feeling a little odd...it was dark, no one around, just a big old flat screen TV with soccer playing...kind of spooky. No English spoken here, that was for sure. And the main guy was a little intimidating, too.

  But wait.... no pizza until after 17:00! Man, I was bummed! Ah, well, several options for vegetarians that looked good, so we decide to stay. Besides, that waiter was freaking me out. Best thing to do at a time like this? Order a bottle of the local white Grechetto, certamente! We ordered an appetizer plate of mixed veggie bruschetta, as always, a mixed salad and a platter of grilled veg, and just one plate of the awesome sounding risotto with asparagus and spring peas to share. The waiter wasn't too happy about the idea of us sharing a plate, but we knew it would be enough.

  What happened next was classic. Instead of turning the order into the kitchen, he went straight to the phone and made a quick call. Don't ask me how or why I noticed this, but I did. We were served our wine, and a little basket of bread... we were most content, watching the big TV, and the trains passing by in the distance. Nice. After about 10 minutes, a car zooms into the parking lot and in rushes an older woman, waving "buongiorno!" to us as she drops her purse behind the counter and ties on an apron! The phone call was obviously to the chef, sitting at home "on call" during this off season day. Looked like she could have been the waiter's mamma, for sure. The food was so good, we went back a few days later and ordered twice as much! As for pizza, well, next year we will have to go back after 5 to check out that scene.

  Ristorante Pizzeria Locanda di Sanfatucchio, located on Viale Lombardia 3, Sanfatucchio, Umbria close to Castiglione del Lago. Yeah, no website.

  

  

Mixed plate of bruscetta- tomato; olive oil and garlic; soft cheese with truffle;
porcini puree; strange, delightful creamy one with carrots and peas

Porcini puree and the creamy one. This was the only time we had this creamy variety... carrots, peas and potato.
I enjoy the simple, unsalted bread of this area... perfect for the salty, savory toppings.

Now I am hungry. Asparagus risotto served in a parmesan bowl. Perfectly beautiful grilled veg, salad.
Basta.

Mmmmm...gots to have a close up of this... So pretty.

And a close up of this, too... Love the glistening olive oil. Oh, yum.

 As I mentioned, we went back a second time, and each ordered the risotto, plus the beautiful green beans, so simple with olive oil and lemon. And Grechetto. This made our now friendly waiter very happy, indeed! We will absolutely return for lunch, and can not wait to see what they do with pizza.

Mangia, Mangia!