La Locanda del Castello, San Giovanni d’Asso
I had decided to stop at the small town of San Giovanni d’Asso for lunch. This town is famous for its white truffles. There is a white truffle festival there in November. I had read that a very large percentage of this small town’s inhabitants were truffle hunters. The town is situated on a hill overlooking the Asso River Valley in the heart of Tuscany’s Crete Senesi. The town centers on the 16th Century Castle.
Entrance to La Locanda del Castello
I had read wonderful reviews about this restaurant on Trip Advisor, and so I decided it would be the perfect place to stop for lunch en route from Spoleto to Montalcino. I made reservations via email. It turned out that our dining experience would be even better than I had expected.
We sat at a table on an outside terrace. The dining area was surrounded by waist-high plants. All of the other outside tables were occupied. One long table was occupied by what appeared to be a group of diners from one of the Nordic countries. The weather was perfect.
The restaurant owner, Massimo, was very charming, articulate, and attentive to our needs. He mentioned that he had lived in Southeast Asia for a number of years. His suggestions as to what we should eat were right on the mark. Every bite of every dish was mouth watering. (Massimo indicated that he also owns a restaurant in Pienza.) Although Massimo spoke excellent English, I preferred to chat with him in Italian because that was a lot more fun.
Massimo
As an antipasto, Linda had a selection of four different pecorino cheeses from the Val D’Orcia with honey and fig jam, and about five slices of toast (Tagliere di Formaggi Pecorini della Val D’Orcia) for €12. The Val D’Orcia is a valley with low hills. It extends from south of Siena to Mount Amiata. It includes Montalcino, Pienza, and of course, San Giovanni d’Asso. It is famous for its pecorino cheeses.
Linda's Cheese Board
Donna and I each had small potato pie with grilled tomino goat cheese and white marzuolo truffles from the Crete Senesi (Tortino di Patate con Tomino alla griglia e Tartufo “Marzuolo delle Crete Senesi”) for €12.
As a main course, Linda and I had fresh tagliolini pasta with white marzuolo truffles (Tagliolini Freschi al Tartufo “Marzuolo delle Crete Senesi”) for €15.
Donna had wild boar stew (Cinghiale in Umido) for €12. Massimo said he himself had hunted the wild boar 2 days earlier.
Our wine was a very nice 2003 Duemilatre di Argiano Rosso di Toscana for €20.
We also had a large bottle of mineral water for €2.50, and the cover charge was €2.50 each.
Massimo also treated us each to a glass of 1997 Avignonesi Occhio di Pernice Vin Santo wine made from Prugnolo Gentile grapes. This was quite a treat - a half-bottle of this wine currently retails for about $150 in the U.S.
Additionally, he gave Linda and Donna each a gift of a small oak plate with a ceramic dish insert.
View from the Small Piazza Outside La Locanda del Castello
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