From Florence to Umbria

Packed up, ready to go

We took a walk around Florence early Saturday morning, visited our favorite pasticeria, Nencione, on Via Pietrapiena for a farewell cappuccino and pastry, and returned to our Ghibellina apartment for the final packing. We filled the taxi with our suitcases and other items and were driven across town to the area where all the rental agencies have their businesses.

We picked up our rental car, a little smaller than a Honda Civic, easily and quickly, loaded it up, practiced with the six-speed transmission and the reverse gear that a contortionist would find intuitive, and dove into traffic. The drive out of Florence was the most difficult part, difficult because we had second thoughts about leaving the city and, of course, difficult because of all the crazy drivers who surrounded us.

The rental car was a great car for the drive. A rental agent was recommended to us, Serge at Sixt rental on Borgo Ognisanti. He was personable, efficient, and generous. Though we reserved a small Fiat, Renault, or a Peugeot, we received a small, white Alfa Romeo Giulietta, four cylinder turbo diesel, that has great acceleration in every gear. Lots of fun to drive.

We left Florence at 11pm and our check in time at the apartment we had rented in Umbria was 3pm, and the total drive was about 1 hour 45 minutes. This left just enough time (2 hours 15 minutes!) to squeeze in lunch. We consulted our trusty guide to places to eat in Italy, Osteria d’Italia, published by the Slow Food people here. The 800+ page book lists and describes the restaurants (and trattorias and osterias) in Italy devoted to traditional foods cooked in traditional ways. Price is not a consideration; some of the recommended spots are expensive; some are not. All are terrific.

Osteria d’Italia is updated every year but is published only in Italian. The layout is simple, however, and it is pretty easy to make sense of their recommendations.

Almost all the restaurants in Italy are good. Anyone can make a list of restaurants using a map and darts and the results will be impressive ... to a non-Italian. Italians, however, are demanding when it comes to food and food preparation. For example, when we order in a restaurant, it takes us no more than 30 seconds. When Italians order, it is a complex negotiation, many questions are raised and answered, the kitchen staff may be consulted, the menu may be ignored, and considerable time is taken. Count yourself lucky if the server comes to your table first instead of the other table with the party of eight Italians.

I Birbi, near Perugia

Osteria d’Italia suggested a restaurant in Torgiano, Umbria, called I Birbi. Since that was most of the way to our apartment, we thought that it would be a good place to stop. Traveling along a narrow, two-lane local road, we saw a sign for the restaurant and we turned in the direction suggested, and drove on a road barely wide enough for two small cars to pass with ditches on either side. The road twisted and turned as it climbed a hill and the ditches on either side became deeper. At the top of the hill then road became a one-lane gravel driveway with a smallish house at the end. A little confused, we parked and noticed that the house (unmarked in any other way) had a small sign that said that credit cards were accepted. That was a good sign. We’d found I Birbi.

Perugia from the dining room

The dining room had a number of windows looking out over the countryside. The view from the dining room was across a wide valley to Perugia, the largest city in Umbria, on the opposite hill top.

Looking down the driveway
from i Birbi

We considered the menu for soups of pastas but the server told us that he had picked asparagi di bosco, wild asparagus, during the morning and that we might want to try the wild asparagus over pasta. We’ve seen this unusual vegetable in the Florence market, very expensive, recognizably asparagus but in a very thin, very tender form. The stalks are a little thicker than chives and turned out to have a flavor that was mild yet assertive. The dish was served with freshly-made tagliarinni, fruity olive oil, shavings of parmigiano, and the thin, thin stalks of asparagus cut into 3/4 inch lengths and cooked only with the heat of the pasta. 

We went on to have some grilled steak, cut in slices, one flavored with oil and rosemary, the other with a piquant red sauce. The meat was accompanied by some wild greens, raw, done in fruity olive oil flavored with a touch of anchovy. We’ve seen Italians along the roads picking greens in the spring; at this meal we enjoyed some of those greens.

The house red wine turned out to be Lungarotti Rubesco, an outstanding sangiovese wine we’d had occasionally at home when we could find it. Lungarotti’s base of operations is in Torgiano.

The meal at I Birbi was memorable.

Assisi across the Umbrian valley
from Nonna Rana

We drove on and arrived at the Nonna Rana Country House near the small town of Cannara, Umbria, at about 3:30pm. The husband and wife team met us, helped us unload the car, and offered us coffee which we gladly accepted. We told them about an interesting article on Umbrian wine and food that we had read and which mentioned their place. They remembered the author well and had some thoughts of their own on the wine and food of Umbria.

We settled in and took in the views across the valley to Assisi and the other small towns on the valley floor and up the sides of the mountains. Tomorrow we’ll begin exploring.