TTITIM #3: Ristorante Calagrana

Recently, Umbertide has started hosting a Saturday Farmer’s (and More) Market. Not to be confused with the larger Wednesday market (which is a more regular Italian town market), the Saturday markets are really food and artisan-y focused. And, Calagrana has a truck there, at which they sell bread, pastries, and other delights (yesterday, we picked up: three-grain bread, cheese sticks, hot cross buns, two kinds of cookies, and jam. Oh, and some scones, too). This means that now yet one more delicious notecan be added to the Calagrana legend, to go along with: fantastic restaurant, extraordinary cooking classes, and wonderful people. I know I’ve done a host of Calagrana blogs on the Six Months blog, covering our meals there, the Calagrana cooking class we took, and even some pics of the family that makes the place special: Albie, Ely, Sophia (well, I don’t know that I’ve had a pic of her, but I should have), and Oli. So, I probably don’t need to go over every dish again. Instead, here are a couple delish items I think I’ve missed posting about in the past, starting with the diamond (I think) in the Calagrana veggie crown, their risotto (here, it’s artichoke risotto):

Sometimes, it’s a lovely simplicity, like crostini with peppers, tomatoes, garlic, and love:

And sometimes more adventuresome fare, like tagliatelle with porcini, cream, and curry:

Finally, for the brunch inclined, Calagrana recently started up a Sunday brunching, so I was able to get perfect scrambled eggs, onion seed pancakes with spicy pepper jam, and patate frittes:

One final Calagrana word: if you’re in this area and don’t stop at least for one meal, well, you’ve missed out, and your taste buds will curse you the rest of your life (and you’ll have lost out on a pleasurable evening). While I don’t want Calagrana to leave this area (it’d be a huge loss), I certainly wouldn’t cry at all if all-of-a-sudden there was a new spot in Seattle with the same name, same food, and same family running things. The rest of our Northwest American home would be pretty happy, too, I’ll bet.


*All TTITIM