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Todi: Ristorante Antica Hosteria de la Valle

Via Ciuffelli 19 , Phone: 075.894.48.48

Reviewed by: BermudaBye from Bermuda, review #2909

When: 2008

Authentic Umbrian food prepared by Scottish Chef, with style and simplicity

We originally stopped here at the recommendation of a local art gallery owner as his preferred lunch stop in Todi. It is small and decorated with local art (I think for sale) that is quite modern in style. The restaurant itself is on the road with a little outside seating, though I'd suggest being inside for a little more peace and quiet.

We were astonished at the quality of the traditional Umbrian food, especially when we met the owner and chef, John, who turned out to be from Scotland. He and his wife are committed to producing good local food in a traditional manner. Based on our first experience we took our hosts with whom we were staying here to say our thanks - any they too were impressed.

The food is simply prepared, accompanied by a wine list which is very reasonably priced - though I would recommend the house wine (7 euro) as John has put much effort into ensuring they are worthy.

On our first visit we started with a shared antipasti (8 Euro) - thank goodness we hadn't ordered two - we'd never have eaten our pima piatti!. This was pretty normal with excellent salami, olives, and parma ham, but with the addition of a mixture of cheeses served melting hot and covered in truffles - very special. We then followed with traditional tagliatelle with truffles and a ravioli stuffed with ricotta and spinach in a walnut cream sauce (10-12 euro).

For the evening meal we had the same antipasti, but ordered two to share between the four of us. Main courses included a mouthwatering veal steak with juniper berries, a seafood pasta using obviously very fresh shrimp and squid, and a ragout of rabbit. Wine by the bottle was hard to exceed 15 euro, though you could have a Tignanello for 60 euro (which is actually pretty reasonable for restaurant pricing!).

John says he is trying to develop a restaurant (he's only owned it for about a year) that appeals to both locals to carry him through the winter, and to tourists in the summer who don't want to do the quick eat and run - he's succeeding.

This review is the opinion of a Slow Travel member and not of slowtrav.com.

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Todi: Ristorante Antica Hosteria de la Valle

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