a gourmet meal in montalcino, italy
How about starting your 3+ hour lunch with this luscious dish? Seared foie gras with a strawberry reduction and aged balsamic vinegar. Wowza!
It was an incredible start to an AMAZING lunch. On June 30th, we headed to Montalcino to tour Poggio Antico winery and enjoy a leisurely lunch at their award-winning restaurant (I don’t know exactly what awards they may have won but I assume a Michelin star or something like that; it really was to-die-for).
We were a group of 14: eight adults and six under 18. The Bessers, Jevons’, Lodge-Gutierrez’ and GutierrezHouseholders bonded over our mutual love of Italian brunellos, fine food and conversation. We were also celebrating Mica’s birthday (29 again… lucky girl with those youthful Gutierrez’ genes!). Unbeknownst to us, Francesca (Mica’s sister) and Bill (Mica’s husband) had arranged a surprise cake for the birthday girl. The bigger surprise came later when we discovered they had quietly taken care of the bill, which I’m sure was substantial given all we ate and drank.
Thanks, Francesca, Mathew and Bill for treating us to such an incredible lunch; it was truly unforgettable! Here’s just a peek (I was only photographing dishes at our end of the table):
Mathew’s egg appetizer. Some how it was soft or medium boiled, removed from its shell, then dipped in bread crumbs and deep fried. Those potato chip looking things are made from black truffles, I think.
Tate’s beef carpaccio appetizer; lucky for us, he shared with Mom and Dad!
Dane’s tagliatelle al ragu (his main course).
Tate’s agnolotti pasta (his main course); he traded most of it for the lamb chops Paul and I had (as did Dane).
These were cooked to perfection. Our boys each ate two.
Tate’s salad course. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a salad presented more beautifully in all our trips to Italy. The corner drops were aged balsamic vinegar. I got to eat quite a bit of this when Tate became interested in my lamb chops.
Mica’s surprise cake: a heavenly combination of berries and chocolate.
I don’t think we left a morsel of anything, except for the remainder of Mathew and Francesca’s GIANT bistecca alla Fiorentina. They finished it one night for dinner.
Comments, anyone?