Art Supplies And Lunch, Cortona

  Not that we need an excuse to hop over the border into Tuscany and visit Cortona, but it is one of our first day trips after arriving in Panicale. There is a very sweet art supply/bookshop on the main corso that is a "go to" for Johnny to buy painting stuff. He really likes the shop owner, who has been there for decades, it seems.

  

  On our 2014 trip, we hit the road for the 40 minute drive, and were stopped in nearby Terontola by a roadblock. 

  What the? 

  A bicycling race! How fun! Johnny and I found a parking space, and settled in for the duration. There wasn't much of a choice, unless we turned around and headed back home…and besides, we love to watch the Tour de France every year, so we grabbed a prime spot and enjoyed the show.

Wheeeeeee!

Done. Now…. where's the car again?

  Back on the road, we continued on to Cortona, where our first stop was for art supplies.

If you are ever in Cortona, stop into this most charming shop.
About half way up the main drag, on the left.

  I always have a grand time looking at all the books and wonderful stationery in this shop. It's a very easy place for me to kill time while Mr. J  loads up on various art supplies. 

  These small shops are always a joy, and they are treasures, as well. It's always a shame to see any of them go away. We never know when this will happen, and have seen it happen too often. This place seems secure, it's in Cortona, a very busy town…so fingers crossed it will still be around for a long time.

  Next on the list: Mangiamo!

  Always a favorite for lunch, we had to stop into Trattoria Dardano. Especially after all the hard work of watching that bike race. My tummy was growling.

  Ok, my tummy is always growling…

   Trattoria Dardano is a perfect spot for us. It's causal, with simple and traditional Tuscan dishes. On weekends, the place is busy at lunchtime, so we try to grab a table soon after the doors open. We like to take our time here.

Lots of locals here, too.

For those of you who are fans,
this is Johnny channeling Wallace. …
"Cheeeese!"

Me? I'm just excited to be here.
Oh, Pasta, how I do Love Thee!

  After ordering some wine and water, we happily dive into our starters...

Mixed vegetarian bruschetta..

….and fried trumpet mushrooms.
This was a special on this day, and so good. Super crispy and just salty enough.

  You may notice that the above photo of the superb mushrooms is a little unfocused. Why? Well let me tell you. 

  As our pals all know, we go into a pretty extreme regiment of exercise and dieting for several weeks leading up to our trip. Drives family and friends nuts. We are no fun to be around, believe you me. 

  You can just imagine how very excited I might be, confronted with these much anticipated plates of goodness that come our way, soon after arriving.

  Hence the shaking hands, as I take the shots. Also, hence the astounding amount of food we order!

  Yes, all in the name of, ummm…..research? Yeah, yeah... that's it…Research.

This is some damn swell tasting research.

  We can only imagine how good the meat dishes are here. We see the plates go by, and the smells are fantastic. I bet they do amazing things with beef and pork.

  As vegetarians, it's usually a carb-filled wonderland. And we love it.

  For me, it's always the simple pasta dishes here. The sauces are just right, and I can easily eat the whole plate. No problem.

The real deal.
Pasta, sweet tomatoes, garlic, a touch of red pepper flakes. Good olive oil and parmesan….basta.

Johnny loves the gnocchi.
Yes.

Some of our very favorite grilled veggies are here.
The oil has a wonderful mix of herbs, garlic, and spice. Mmmm.

For some crazy reason, we also ordered stewed white beans.
We ate it all, too. So simple, so good…!

  So, after rolling ourselves out of Dardano, we needed a good walk, or nap? Walk, nap? Nap, walk…? We walked. Uphill. Always a good way to wake up after a large lunch.

A perfect antidote for a large, carb filled lunch.
Walk up, up, up!

The view is well worth the hike uphill.
Hi, Lago Trasimeno!

  Besides the walk, we also wanted to see if the tiny church of San Niccolo was open. There is artwork to be seen here, including a dual-sided piece by Luca Signorelli, which Johnny has wanted to see.

  We have tried to visit this place many, many times, and it's always been at times when it was closed. This year, we did it!

Finally, we made it through the front gates!
Woo-Hoo!

  The church was beautiful, and we enjoyed the young man who was the docent for the day. He let us linger for as long as we wanted, and was there to answer any questions we had. We had the place to ourselves, which was so cool.

  Afterwards, Johnny had himself a little "set down", which soon became a full blown nap. Me? I took a stroll for more photo ops.

PS…Note the incline (in the photo below) of that there path? 

  

I didn't have the heart (read: guts) to take a shot of him actually asleep…
Bless his lil' heart…..he would've killed me.

While my beloved takes a snooze, I take photographs….

  Later, as we left town for the day, we strolled through the Giardino Pubblico, the public gardens, which were on the way back down to the car.

A favorite fountain.

Another bench for another nap, on another visit….

  See you next time, Cortona.

Lunch At Trattoria Dardano

   Our first Saturday in Umbria, we took the short drive across the valley to Cortona, just across the Tuscan boarder. (an aside here-this was a day or three before the flu hit me...)

  Johnny needed paint supplies, and there is a super sweet little art supply/bookshop in town that we both enjoy visiting. Also, Saturday is market day in the "centro storico", and I always have fun browsing whatever is on offer. I ended up bringing home some nice pots of herbs that I will use in my cooking all the time we are here.

  We decided to stop for lunch before heading back home, and instead of going to a place we'd been in the past, I wanted to try somewhere new. I had read about Trattoria Dardano and liked that it was a local spot, as well as a visitor favorite. 

  Located up the hill away from the main piazza, on Via Dardano, the place is small and quaint. I believe it is family owned, and it certainly had that feel upon entering. The front and back rooms are decorated simply, with what appears to be family heirlooms and also an odd mix of artwork. I got the feeling that many an artist has traded a painting for a meal or two while staying in the area. 

  The menu is basic Tuscan fare, seasonal and like every Tuscan menu we've seen....the usual starters, primi and secondi offerings. This is just fine with us, as there is always something we will no doubt enjoy. We kept things super simple and stayed with a combination that has proven tried and true for us:

 Start with a mixed(veggie) bruschetta plate, followed by pastas and grilled veggies. End with a mixed green salad. Done

The verdure alla griglia. In this case, so perfect, we were both blown away.
 Simply dee-vine.

  The grilled veggies were so damn good... the best we've had, and I'm just not sure why. Sweet, creamy, just enough caramelization....and a touch of garlic, but only just a touch. Really, they were perfect.

A wonderful lunch for two.

  I had the regionally special pasta, "pici"(pee-chee) with a super simple garlic and tomato sauce. Again, perfect. The texture of the obviously in house, hand made pasta was just what I wanted...a little tough to the tooth, but in a good way, with a sauce that bordered on sweet, but also, just to the right point. 

My awesome pici. I love my pici!

  Johnny, a man who loves his pesto, had to give the spaghetti with house made pesto a go, and it was also a winner. We switched plates a couple of times, and each agreed that both the pasta dishes were really good. The pesto was different than the typical Genovese style. This one had far less cheese and pine nuts, it was more about the oil, basil and garlic. And I would say that the basil may even have been a mix of dry and fresh. This may sound unappealing, but it wasn't. It was a very interesting combo, and it totally worked. The flavor was very basil forward, if that makes sense, without much, if any, parmesan in the sauce.

Johnny's pasta with pesto.

  We shared the very typical "insalata mista"...nothing earth shaking here, just a good, clean, very fresh mix. As always, oil and vinegar are served separately for you to add yourself.

  We shared a litre of the house red, which seemed to be what everyone else was ordering. It was just fine. The place was full of locals, or so it seemed. Many were greeted like old friends, and we were the only English speakers in our dining room area.
 

One happy dude.

One happy dudette.

 We both agreed that we would be happy to try Trattoria Dardano again...it was a fine meal, and at a very reasonable price, too. I can see why it was filled with locals on a Saturday afternoon. It's a little off the main drag, but well worth the few extra steps up hill to find it.

  I look forward to returning, maybe even for dinner.

What can I say...it's classic!

Trattoria Dardano in Cortona, just up the hill on Via Dardano.