After having trawled trip advisor for a good restaurant in Loreto, my husband and I decided to opt for a place that served meat instead of fish as it was thursday and we eat just fish on fridays so as not to eat fish twice...we decided to take a chance and go for the best meat restaurant in the area- al the locals advised us to go there too, so we knew we were in for a great experience.
we arrived at this little restaurant which has obviously been open for years and were welcomed by the owner called Andrea..........there was just one other table of guests upon our arrival but undeterred by the seemingly emptiness of the restaurant and spurred on by the excellent reviews we took out seats and immediately were bought a basket of homemade foccaia and assorted breads - we ordered the house wine and Andrea also bought a bottle of chilled still water - the place also started to fill with local guests who knew their meat and their wine......
we had no idea what to order as we wanted something local, something special and so asked his advice..he suggested we started with his infamous anti pasto - a board of cold cuts locally sourced - fabulous parma ham, two or three different types of salami sausage including a taster of liver salami which was absolutely delicious, there were other local cold cuts that were both pork and beef based, a slider (mini hamburger), potatoe crisps, three different types of cheese with local sweet marmelade and then two mini bowls of lentils with curry and chick peas in a light sauce -
the wine was so good that we ordered another half a litre and infact ended up buying 25 litres the next day from the deposit nearby - this advised upon by the everlasting courtesy of Andrea the boss of this meat heaven.
I am celiac so i asked Andrea what sides he had to offer - he bought me a plate of tossed cabbage in pepper and then also a plate of baked raddicchio - red cabbage, my husband had a beautiful plate of home made meat suffted ravioli dressed with porcini sauce with just the right touch of creamy wine sauce - it was beautiful to see and a delight for him to eat............a table close to ours had delivered to them and served by the expert hands of Andrea a server of tagliatelle, with bacon and creamed local cheese which is so melted by the time it hits the table that it spins just like the strands of pasta as he spoons it expertly onto the plate - he then grates black truffle over the pasta until you say stop!!
we followed our entrees with two tagliate of meat - we chose veal cooked to our pleasure, then sliced and covered with the toppings we liked - i had baby tomatoes and rocket with parmesan shavings, my husband green peppercorn sauce - we drank wine, ate the meat which was so good - veal done the right way and obviously freshly butchered, my husband had a great desert, zuppa inglese, i had coffee, he liquor - really, this place is well worth every morsel you eat and every drop that you drink and i can assure you this is also the opinion of the locals and whoever else visists - the bill came to 66 euros, a perfect price for a perfect meal.............
what can i say, Andrea was surprised to hear that trip advisor has so many reviews, he is modest to alsmost being bashful, his kitchen staff are simple good cooks who know how to turn even cabbage into a delight on the plate - good food, good wine and a great way to start a culinery Marchigian experience - thank you Andrea for a great night....we will return when we can.
Rita and Gennaro, AvellinoMore
