Restaurants in Umbria & Le Marche
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Enopolis
A visit to this restaurant and international wine establishment is worth it simply for the tour of the labyrinthine cellars of the 18th-century Palazzo Jona, as the cellars descend a full three levels under the streets above. With fresh fish as the main event (besides, of course, the wine), you can sit amongst contemporary art or next to an ancient well as you sample the fixed-price menus (€36 to €45) along with recommended wines for each course.
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Osteria dell'Enoteca
Extremely fit waiters carry dishes up and down a curving iron staircase into this 12th-century tavern. Diners sit on dark wood benches under a high stone ceiling surrounded by rows and rows of local wines from which to choose. Dishes are typical of the area - strangozzi alla spoletina ('shoelace' pasta in a tomato, garlic and chilli sauce, truffle omelette - and priced to allow at least one or two meals while in town.
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Il Gufo
The owner/chef gathers ingredients from local markets and cooks up whatever is fresh and in season. Try dishes such as cinghiale (wild boar) with fennel (€12.50) or riso nero (black rice) with grilled vegetables and brie (€12.50). There is always a good selection of salads for €5. Note: no credit cards.
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Sandri
When you enter into your third century of business, something must be right. Known for delectable chocolate cakes, candied fruit, espresso and pastries. Staff wrap all take-home purchases (picked up at the counter but paid for at the till), no matter how small, in beautiful red paper with a ribbon bow.
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La Cantineta
Off Piazza del Plebiscito, the upstairs restaurant offers checked tablecloths, a constantly going TV and cheap and filling meals. It specialises in seafood, including local salted fish, which is best sampled over pasta as tagliatelle allo stoccafisso.
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Caffè di Perugia
The fanciest sit-down cafe in town, its desserts are worth the high prices. It also serves a fine choice of basic pasta and meat dishes and offers outdoor seating in summer.
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Trattoria Il Cortile
Home-cooked meals are lovingly prepared by the nonna of a boisterous family. Top off a healthy meal of bitter greens with homemade gelato or delectable cakes.
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Ristorante La Fornace di Mastro Giorgio
Named after Gubbio’s most famous medieval ceramicist (whose oven still graces one of the restaurant’s ancient walls), Mastro Giorgio is our favourite place for a special occasion (not just for the 500-item wine list, either). The seasonal menu includes modern takes on traditional dishes: venison carpaccio wrapped with salt, olive oil and asparagus, and the signature dish is a stinco (veal shank) stewed to falling-off-the-bone perfection.
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Sot’Ajarchi
This small restaurant under the portici (arcade) in front of the port specialises in fish. For your primo piatto (first course) try the pasta con frutti di mare or the minestra di seppie (cuttlefish soup) and finish off with a simple homemade dessert such as zuppa inglese (liquor-soaked sponge with custard) and some biscottini dipped into vin santo (little biscuits in wine).
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Ristorante Siro
The old-school eatery Ristorante Siro is one of those spots where waiters and customers all know each other by name. The antipastone al tagliere (large plate of mixed antipasti €15 for two) starter would feed a hungry family and gnochetti al rubesco e radicchio (small gnocchi with red wine and radicchio) takes advantage of the local wine. The homemade tiramisu is to die for.
reviewed
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Taverna del Lupo
Il Lupo was the wolf that St Francis domesticated, a wolf that supposedly came back to this restaurant to dine. He made an excellent choice. The atmosphere is sophisticated, if a bit stiff, and diners will feel more comfortable smartly dressed. Most ingredients are locally produced in the surrounding Apennines, including cheese, truffles and olive oil. Set aside at least two hours for a meal.
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Il Coppiere
Follow the unmistakeable scent of black truffle up the stairs to this unassumingly simple restaurant with even better prices (and a good view of the town below). The speciality is cappelletti with mushrooms, cream, tomatoes and truffle (€9), but the caciotta with truffles and fall-off-the-bone stinco di maiale (pork shoulder) are equally delicious local treats.
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Osteria L’Angolo Divino
This subterranean enoteca just oozes atmosphere. Arched brick alcoves overflow with wine bottles, available for tastings. Even teetotallers will enjoy this place, as the menu boasts simple but perfectly flavoured pasta specialities, including the much better tasting than it sounds pasta nel sacco (pasta in a sack), which is fresh pasta coated with eggs and breadcrumbs.
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La Badia Ristorante
The restaurant at La Badia is as refined as its hotel. The chef's speciality is suckling pig and tagliolini pasta with truffles. If you enjoy the Orvieto Classico here, tell the owner, Count Fiumi, as it's from his vineyards. Even if you don't stay or eat here, you can still see it; when you're in the Orvieto Underground, look for the 8th-century abbey in the fields below.
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Antica Hosteria de la Valle
Art vies with food for top billing at this most creative of restaurants. Every three to four months, new artists not only display their work, but their illustrations adorn the new seasonal menus. Although the zuppa di farro (€7, best in cold months) in a mainstay, the chef suggests the spinach ravioli in walnut cream sauce or tagliatelle with truffles.
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Da Secondo
The place in Macerata to try the local cuisine. Follow the town’s history through photos covering the walls as well as in the regional ingredients: pecorino (sheep’s-milk cheese), tartufo (truffles) and osso buco with porcini mushrooms. In summer, dine on the romantic outdoor terrace. Its famed warm chocolate torte caps off a perfect meal.
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Apollinaire
California cuisine meets Umbrian tradition: somehow this restaurant manages to figure out that squid-ink pasta does go with pesto and crayfish, and rabbit feels quite at home in a black olive sauce. No matter what, save room for dessert. The menu changes seasonally but you are constantly enveloped in low wood-beamed ceilings and candlelight flickering against brick.
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Pizzeria Mediterranea
Perugini (Perugians) know to come here for the best pizza in town. A spaceship-sized wood-fired brick oven heats up pizzas from the simplest margherita to the 12-topping ‘his and hers’. Add delectable mozzarella di bufala (buffalo mozzarella) to any pizza for an additional €1.60. It gets busy enough to queue, especially Thursday and Saturday nights.
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Enone
The trendy hot spot on the Perugian dining and drinking scene, Enone is a mix between a wine bar, restaurant and club. The vaulted brick walls hide all sorts of goings-on, such as live music (usually Monday) and sushi made by a Japanese chef (usually Thursday). The regular menu features funky dishes like carrot and black truffle gnocchi in a Parmesan basket.
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Da Settimio
If you stay on Isola Polvese, you’ll most likely pass by this restaurant near the ferry terminal in San Feliciano. It doesn’t look like much, but locals know it as the best fish restaurant in the area, handed down from father to son for four generations. Try the risotto alla pescatora (fisherman’s risotto) or the appetiser of ‘fried little fishies’.
reviewed
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Pane e Vino
Now you're definitely in Italy. Dine on dishes such as risotto with yellow pumpkin (€8) or just nibble on the antipasto plate (€11) while tasting from the extensive wine list that includes wines from all over Italy. Relax on the outdoor patio or at candlelit tables under the curved brick ceiling in this narrow, atmospheric enoteca.
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Ristorante dal Mi’Cocco
Don’t ask for a menu because there isn’t one at this most traditional Perugian restaurant. Diners receive a set menu of a starter, main course, side dish and dessert. You may receive asparagus risotto in May, or tagliatelle (long, ribbon-shaped pasta) with peas and ham in November. Extremely popular with students, it’s best to call ahead.
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Ristorante Nanà
It’s a good sign when approximately 47 members of the same family run a 15-table restaurant. Simply furnished with a small menu, the food is ‘ nuovo italiano ’: pâté with Sardinian flatbread (€7) or gnochetti (little gnocchi) in a pepper and radicchio cream sauce (€6.50). The wine list is equally impressive and affordable.
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Felici e Contenti
When a restaurant names itself ‘Happily Ever After’, you can bet you’ll retire for the evening both happy and content. Its speciality is fish, but pasta also makes a memorable entrance on the menu. The atmosphere is more sophisticatedly urban than many other Pesaro restaurants and it’s located on a quiet side street in the medieval centre.
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Il Lido Solitario
It isn’t often we recommend the heavily trafficked waterfront restaurant with the bright plastic signs, but it isn’t often you get to try a delicate fish cake topped with sweet Castelluccian lentils or a tender Chianina beef infused with Sagrantino wine. Grab a front porch table overlooking the nearby lake for a true summer experience.
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