Palmabella's Passions

Brad made another RT to the Rome airport, and picked up our other two couples, who had been visiting Prague for 5 days. Michael got them settled in their rooms, and soon we were gathered for a welcome wine gathering on the terrace. The Genius Loci wines are delicious. Their "Palmabella Italy" tote bags were filled with binders of info we prepared on our itinerary, maps and brochures on each town, Italian travel journals, pens, small gifts and chocolate from Perugia.

We arrived in Bevagna for our special "Welcome Dinner" at Redibis Restaurant.
The restaurant is built in part of what was once a Roman amphitheater. It's stone walls and elegant furnishings are quite charming.

The eight of us were seated in a very special private dining room, where a window was built into one wall where we could see into the kitchen. I was fascinated by watching the four chefs prep, cook, and plate the wonderful food.

Here are our starters and primi piatti: Spelt tagliatelle with ricotta and sausage, Chianina beef carpaccio, Stuffed tomato in a herbed yogurt sauce, zucchini and chick pea puree salad, eggplant ravioli, prosciutto and mostarda with warm bread, and ravioli in a lamb ragu.

Our entrees were also wonderful. Here were our grilled Chianina filets with thinly sliced zucchini in olive oil and mint; veal cheeks in a Sagrantino wine reduction with barley risotto, and a round "zucchini" basket filled with meatballs:

Only two desserts were sampled, as we were pretty full by then, but here is a beautiful fruit plate and some cinnamon gelato:

You can see our happy group with our window toward the chefs! It was a delightful evening.