We were given our choice of table just as the sun was setting at the casually elegant dining room at Villa Rolandi-Le Metissage. Our first decision was easy-it was a glorious evening so we requested to be sat outside. Our second decision perched us in the perfect spot to enjoy the setting sun.

Metissage is the biological and cultural encounter of different ethnic groups, in which these are mixed, giving birth to new ethnic groups.

I can’t take credit for writing this eloquent definition, it was written on the inside of the menu shared with us that evening. The format is a fixed price tasting menu with seven courses and is offered nightly (except Tuesday) for hotel guests and visitors. I understand that the offerings rotate daily so if you stayed a week you would not have the same menu twice.

We were welcomed with a sumptuous cocktail blended of Malibu rum, blue curacao, vodka and pineapple juice. I LOVED it and am determined to have them made at home for our next special occasion.

Before we settled in to have a preview of our dining adventure, we were introduced to Chef Itzell.

I was glad of this because whenever we looked for her during the course of the evening, she was hunched over her prep table, meticulously plating and garnishing her lovely creations. Chef Itzell had obvious pride and passion for her work, her staff and the guests.

Two gentlemen approached our table next. One asked us what kind of water we would prefer as the other swung this tray in front of us so that we could select a citrus enhancement for our water.

A large slate arrived at the table thereafter. Three different butters were displayed including my favourite of the three-a honey butter as well as a course sea salt. I am a bread lover to begin with; the butters made it very tempting not to gobble down the entire bread basket!

An amuse -bouche of peach soup spiced with cloves and garnished with a parmesan crisp was so delectable that I was sure that this evening would be a mountain-top dining experience.

Next up was a salmon marinated in ponzu (an Asian marinade delicious with fish). Chef had enhanced the appetizer with mandarin, peppermint, coriander and rouille sauce. Here is where Mexican and French cuisine fuse as the latter sauce is a Provençale staple. The mound of complex tastes came a top a toasted corn tostada. So, so good.

A meat course came next. Pork belly is one of my favourite meats although I usually don’t admit it. These were enhanced by mole and crème fresh and then crowned with arugula. The pork melted in your mouth with the peppery arugula and sauces complementing the flavour.

The evening light had changed by our next fish course and I didn’t switch cameras quickly enough. This dish was far more beautiful than depicted here. Cauliflower puree, tomato salad, spring onion and fresh coriander worked beautifully to showcase this fried fish filet.

Mango sherbet was served as a palatte cleanser and readied us for the piece de resistance. Coming from central Canada, we have an abundance of excellent beef choices but this Angus Top Sirloin was equal to any I have ever tasted. The medallions were perfectly cooked and could have been served unenhanced it was so good. The white bean puree, asparagus risotto and chili marinade knocked the dish right out of the park! Stellar!

An unusual take on another of my favourites (strawberry shortcake) arrived for the dessert first course. A strawberry cake and a honey cake were married together and then covered with strawberry Chantilly, goat cheese Crème Brule and ice cream. Simple yet decadent and sublime!

Mignardises is from an old French word meaning pretty or delicate. It is the perfect word to describe what I call a second dessert. It allowed us to extend the pleasure of the evening even longer.

We were absolutely god-smacked by how perfect the evening had been. One of those special times that we will remember always.

Kath’s quote: The discovery of a new dish does more the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star. -Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Love never fails.

We were so in love with the extensive patio at our villa outside of Sienna that as I have already said, it was very difficult to inspire us out for dinner. The other reason why it was difficult to move us was because we got pretty darned good and assembling our own charcuterie.

But after a whole lot of deliberation, we found ourselves at Ristorante Acqua Borra which through the help of Google, I understand was once a thermal park.

The magnificent walls of the building had been beautifully restored and we were comfortably set near a large window. If it had been day time, we were quite sure that we could have seen our villa from there.

D ordered a scrumptious Vino Nobile to acknowledge a birthday that we had missed marking together at home. We hoped it would celebrate how very special person was to us and our delightful time together.

D and J3 shared a Florentine Steak that we had heard so much about back home. It was 2 1/2 fingers deep and arrived already sliced.

D2 was still on her quest for the perfect Carbonara,

As unusual as this dish looks, it was pretty good-marinated pork filet with caramelized onions and pear soaked in wine. It could have received higher marks in my book if the sauce had not been quite so salty (and I typically love salt)!

Deciding against dessert we made the short way home where rumours were floating around about a hot tub being fired up.

Kath’s quote: “You and me, we are more than friends. We are like a small travel gang!”-Unknown

Love never fails.

 

 

 

 

When D and I were in Tuscany in 2015, I missed what I had dreamed most about. Staying in Montecatini and really being uncertain of the geography of the region, we missed out on the Val D’orcia, which I now know is my favourite part (I might say the heart) of Tuscany. This piece of advice had been given to my by my friend Linda-The Tuscan Muse but of course you never know until you experience something for yourself.

D was kind enough to suggest Pienza for our first day of touring. The breathtaking drive was over hilly and windy roads with breathtaking  scenery.

When we arrived, the parking spot for our car was just a few steps from the edge of the town.

The vantage point of the valley from the wall was my re-occurring dream of Tuscany. I was finally there!

The day was a hot one: 25 degrees (October 20th) and as lovely as standing in the sun overlooking the valley was, we needed shade and a cold one!

Someone spotted Ristorante el Prato (Garden Restaurant) and it looked like the perfect place to stop.

The beer was frosty cold and the food fabulous.

We knew that “pici” was the designated pasta of the region. The mouth feel was somewhere in between spaghetti and macaroni. I personally prefer spaghetti or even spaghettini, but when in Rome… This Pici was Ragu Toscano.

and this pici “All Aglione” with tomatoes and garlic.

This must have been the special that day as I couldn’t find it on the menu that photographed that day. It too was glorious.

I was in the mood for veggies and ordered two starters as my lunch.

This Veddue di Stagione (Seasonal Vegetables) and

Zucchinotte a Carpaccio crude con Agreste Ricotta (Zucchini Carpaccio with Rustic Ricotta). I scooped up little potions of both with their delectable bread and was in heaven!

I spied the inside of the bar on my way to the WC,

and these interiors of the restaurant used when the weather wasn’t quite so fair.

After being refreshed in all ways, we took a stroll around town. Stay Tuned.

Kath’s quote: “I’m in love with places I’ve never been to.” -Authour Unknown

Love never fails.

 

 

 

We had a single hour to decide who would have which bedroom and bathroom, lug in and unpack our luggage and freshen up. Marco had kindly made a reservation that evening at a restaurant of his recommendation. D chose it from a short list for me because Marco called it The Truffle House and I am crazy about the earthy, pungent smell and taste of truffles!

We were back in the car and found ourselves on very dark, windy, and steep, rural roads. When we found our destination we realized why there were no light along the way. We had been driving through Chianti vineyards so of course there was no need to light the fields!

We had no way of knowing if this was the “Truffle House” until we saw the menu below:

Everything on the menu was fashioned around “tartufo”-truffles!

The “menu a prezzo fisso” (fixed price menu) offered up four courses and unlimited house wine. This was my idea of heaven!

The aromas emanating from the kitchen were divine.

I could have happily stopped after this delectable anitpasto, each combining truffles with different textures and tastes. As I savoured each one in turn, I could not decide which version was my favourite. I loved them all.

The pasta course was this lasagna-like dish. Layers of silky broad noodles were separated by a light cream and then topped with…truffles! I lingered a long time over this, taking wee bites and making the tastes last a very long time.

To be frank, I do not recall if this entree had a name. Salad was served family style along with these terrific roasted potatoes. The meat, whether chicken or pork, didn’t really matter as it was simply a cradle for….truffles.

I am sure that D1, D2 and J3 were all relieved that there was no essence of truffle in the desserts- a panna cotta and light chocolate cake.

With the exception of one table, the entire restaurant was full of travelers like us, and once they started chatting between tables the noise level immediately increased. I thought that the local table might be a family celebration of some kind. They too were jubilant but not to the extent of our fellow travelers.

We were ready to cry “uncle” and call it a night when the owner of the restaurant brought out a family pet for all to see. He/she were very well behaved but I must admit I had never seen an owl in a restaurant before, in fact the only bird I had ever seen was a parrot in an Isla Mujeres restaurant. It occurred to me that back home, health regulations would never permit such an occurrence. But, while in Rome….

Our first dinner out was a success. Little did we know at that time that it would be one of only a couple of times we dined outside of our Air BnB home. The kitchen was so well appointed, the grocery store so convenient and the house wine so drinkable that we rarely ventured out. But I will leave that tale for another day.

Kath’s quote: “Life was meant for good friends and great adventures.” – Author Unknown

Love never fails.

 

The four of us met up at the airport in plenty of time for a flight to Toronto. The four being D and I and our good friends D2 and J3. We enjoyed a leisurely wait for our flight.

That evening we took pleasure in having dinner together at the Ipad Cafe in Toronto. Egads the prices were stupid for beer and wine! Our wait in TO was quite lengthy but we weren’t taking any chances on anyone missing a flight as had occurred the prior year when we had hoped to travel to Portugal together.

I must have slept on the way over because I put my ear plugs in, covered my face with a mask and took a sleeping pill. I willed myself to sleep and I was conscious of being in a dream-like space but not sure how long it lasted. I was woken rather abruptly to the flight crew delivering our “breakfast”- a piece of spice cake in a cello wrapper.

The wait for our luggage, car, etc. was not bad at all especially when compared to the hours we spent on our first sojourn to Tuscany. We stopped for the drivers to pick up espressos to make the 3 1/2 hour drive ahead. Unfortunately, we did have some trouble fitting all our luggage into an upgraded rent-a-car. As a result D2 and I drove the miles to Sienna from Milan with a piece of luggage between us in the back seat.

In truth it wasn’t so bad. I was able to make a safe cradle for the little bottle of airplane wine that we shared en route.

About halfway there we stopped to pick up some lunch. The place right on an overpass of the highway was called Eataly Bologna Ambasciatori! I had no idea that it was the same concept as Chicago, New York and most recently Toronto.

D and I shared a couple of delicious flat-breads the one above exploding with prosciutto.

As we drove closer to Sienna the landscape became more beautiful. There came a time as the sun started its descent that I spied “God” clouds out the window and then when I caught sight of

this heart lying on its side in the sky I knew our trip would be blessed. And is was.

By the time we arrived at our Air BnB it was dark out. We met our host in one of the little towns close to his home. Marco was so gracious that we immediately felt that it was our home, if only for a week. He told us the tale of the house as he showed us around.

The house was built in 1769 making it the 3rd oldest private home in Sienna.

Our modern kitchen was built where the pigs were kept, actually we think what Marco was trying to tell us was that white bearded boars lived there. Marco explained that the ancient house which is now attached to the barn underground was the home of the “watchman” who tipped off the Ghibelline troupes in the story below.

Perhaps he was pulling my leg but he said that the watchman’s bed was still in the house today!

The name Costaberci, in Sienese, is composed of two very distinct words, “costa”, meaning costa, collina and “berci”, or screams.

 This singular name derives from the historic battle of Montaperti in 1260 which saw the Ghibelline troops clashing, led by Siena, against the Guelph troops, headed by Florence. During the Battle of Montaperti, from that “coast”, the peasants “traded” to the inhabitants of Montaperti announcing to them the arrival of the Guelph troops; and it is precisely at that historical event that the name “Costaberci”, hill of screams, is due.

The Costaberci farm, built in 1902, stands near the Napoleonic column at the intersection of the roads that unite Siena, Asciano and Montaperti, or the three routes that lead to the Crete Senesi, the Chianti and the city of the Palio, Siena, which is only 5 Km.

The farm is surrounded by nature, surrounded by a fertile countryside that faces south on the Crete Senesi cultivated with fields of cereals, sunflowers and wheat;  to the north-east we can see instead the green color of the vineyards and the olive trees, then there is also a luxuriant fauna as a completion of a typically Tuscan frame.To the west, on beautiful sunny and clear days, the marvelous and historic Torre del Mangia can be admired in the hills.