We had a grand day in Deruta! We began with a tour behind the scenes of a wonderful ceramiche maker, Giulio Gialetti. The brothers, Antonio and Carlo showed us every step of the process. They actually supply my very own ceramic shop, Old World Pottery, in Palm Desert. They were currently reproducing gorgeous tiles for the Vatican. If they are good enough for the pope, they are good enough for us!
We spent the whole morning there, and Diane and Gary were the grand prize shoppers, with 12 place setting of beautiful dishes in three coordinating patterns, and a giant rooster. Jan bought a few pieces, and I was quite well behaved with just 6 ceramic handled serving utensils and two latte cups in a sunflower pattern.
We droved just down the road to our beautiful lunch spot, L'Antico Forziere. Mary recommended this as her favorite restaurant in the area, and it was a big hit with everyone, and our friends, Barbara and Art joined us for lunch.
Our lunch began with prosecco, rolls, and a delicious cream of carrot soup.
Our primi piatti were all fabulous. In order pictured, they are: pasta with arugula pesto, cannelloni, pasta with red turnips and leeks, asparagus fritatta ravioli, tagliatelle with tartufo, and red beet ravioli.
The entrees were equally wonderful. They were caponata, lamb, pork and veal.
We sampled two desserts, both of which were works of art. First is a meringue with strawberries and spun sugar. Next is an "upside down apple cake". Gorgeous!
After that grand lunch, we decided to hang out at home with some good wine and a picnic dinner. I got to use the picnic supplies I packed.
Comments (2)
You are right - those desserts are works of art! Such a shame to eat them . . . or maybe not! I bet they were delicious too!
Posted by nancyhol | July 10, 2009 4:24 PM
Posted on July 10, 2009 16:24
Ah, my favourite ceramics store. And that is a great restaurant, the desserts (in fact, the whole meal) really are works of art!
Posted by sandrac | July 13, 2009 6:57 AM
Posted on July 13, 2009 06:57