Last night we dined at San Marco Restaurant, a one star Michelin restaurant. This restaurant has had its Michelin star for 20 years, and the chef Mariuccia Ferrero has represented Italian cuisine at numerous overseas events, including cooking at the United Nations in New York.
Once an old tavern with stabling, serving “minestrone” and hot soups at the beginning of the past century, the San Marco has become an elegant restaurant and a must for gourmets.Pleasant, intimate and elegantly informal, the San Marco Restaurant offers typical seasonal dishes, beautifully served on preciously laid tables: ovule mushroom salads, truffles, tajarin, agnolotti “al plin” (my favourite), fondue and finanziera served with home-made bread. Not only main dishes are excellent: desserts are
remarkable, too. Langa bunet, stewed fruits and pastry are incredible….. yes lots of extra exercise coming up !!!!
Inside San Marco RestaurantMariuccia and Piercarlo Ferrero from San Marco Restaurant
La Villa has beautiful gardensCharlie (Moxley), chef at La Villa teaching us how to make squid ink crosiniNicola getting carried away rolling her crosiniMario our truffle hunter and Rex his dog, who ate more than we got. He was quick.Our cooking group
I am spending a week here at La Villa Hotel ……A hidden gem set in a stunning location surrounded by vineyards,
rolling Piemontese countryside, and framed by the Alps beyond. Built in 1600, La Villa has been transformed into a stylish and
chic retreat with a unique atmosphere – more like staying with friends than in a boutique hotel.
Piedmont is the birthplace of the Slow Food Movement and is renowned throughout the world for the quality of its food, the huge range of cheeses and hams, the flavours of its chocolate and coffee and, above all, its wines and famous white truffle. PLUS SO MUCH MORE !!!!
I am having so much fun, cooking, exploring the local markets for food to cook, the back alleys for interesting shops and getting lost. The Italians are so helpful and friendly.
I will keep this post short as I am about to have a massage…… life’s tough.
Valli Little and I… she is a lovely person. Very gentle.Last night at a local restaurant…. from left,Michelle, Kerry, Glenda (these 3 New Zealanders picked me up from Milan airport and brought me down with them to La Villa), chef Martin Teplitzky (son of Gretta Anna Teplitzky) and Valli Little.Great massages !!!!The rooms are beautifulThere are fourteen rooms at La Villa and each one is unique. By changing as little of the old structure as possible, the rooms – six suites, seven doubles and one single – have retained their original features and sense of history whilst still offering all the modern comforts demanded by our sophisticated lifestyles. Some have claw foot baths, others walk-in showers. Some are with terraces or private balconies. Yet every one is light, spacious and with its own special charm.It is grape picking time right now.Sunset at La VillaThe entrance to La VillaMario our truffle hunter and Rex his dog, who ate more than we got. He was quick and naughty.One of the truffles we found…. a huge white truffle. In Tasmania we get black truffles.Phil, Valli’s husband. Valli would be lost without him. Just like I would be without Mal !!!
Nicola and Chris…. our hosts at La VillaValli and Martin making pasta
After a very long and tiring trip over ….Hobart to Melbourne to Singapore to Dubai to FINALLY Milan Italy I arrived. I have lost 8 hours somewhere but am catching up.
I have had an incredible experience since, thanks to the wonderful organization from Chris and Nicola from La Villa (my accommodation owners), Valli Little (well-known for association with Delicious Magazine and her cooking expertise, and absolutely beautiful person) and MartinTeplitzky (chef and son of well-respected Gretta Anna Teplitzky)…. what can I say.
We have been wined and dined in style with the occasional entertainment freely supplied by the group of approximately 20 of us……not always suitable to publicize on this blog.
I am only into day 2 of a 7 day experience. Last night we enjoyed a 5 course dinner prepared by chef Charlie Mozley with wine pairing by local wine maker (and female) Chiara Boschis. I really enjoyed talking to someone so passionate about something she believes in. She reminded me of Mal and his boats except in this case it was wine. Today we visited the town of Acqui Terme to explore the Fresh Produce Market buying supplies for the cooking today. We certainly are not hungry or thirsty !!!!!
Acqui TermeAlessandriaThis mornings view from my bed at La Villa with the early morning mistThe village of Acqui Terme…. Piedmont regionCheese salamis at the marketsMartin and Valli picking produce for tonight’s dinnerI am not sure what is going through Martin’s mind in this photo….. but he is a chef !!!I am so looking forward to Mal coming over next week and we spend the next 2 months buying produce like this to cook withSorry Mal, but I had to add the photo of the really cute fish monger. The fish was good too !!!!The fishNicola (LA Villa) and Martin (chef) at the marketsMartin with newly bought local olive oil for tonightIncredibly old olive trees in the piazza in Acqui Terme
Last week we spent a very enjoyable four days on Bruny Island camping with our caravan on the beach.
Bruny Island is a small island off the south-east coast of Tasmania. It comprises North Bruny and South Bruny which are connected by a narrow isthmus known as the neck where we set up camp. 100 kilometres in length, Bruny Island is deceptively large with the same land mass as Singapore yet with only around 620 inhabitants (as opposed to Singapore’s 5.2 million!)
Access to Bruny Island is by vehicular ferry departing from Kettering, around a half hour drive south of Hobart and only one hour from home.
We certainly did not starve on Bruny !!! The island has attracted quite a number of unique artisans. We visited the Bruny Island Cheese Company twice (Nick from Gourmet Farmer fame), Bruny Island Winery twice, Bruny Island Smokehouse, Bruny Fudge Company and also Just Shucked Oysters which we enjoyed by our campfire that night.
A highlight of our visit was a four hour boat trip along the coast of Bruny with Bruny Island Cruises. Their open design boats, and excellence in maneuverability, allowed us to get up as close as possible to sea and coastal wildlife, cliff faces, sea-caves, and feel the joy of passing between the narrow gap between the coast and The Monument, a tall and slender sea stack. It was amazing.
PS: only 8 days until I leave for Italy, but who’s counting????
The Cape Bruny Lighthouse is the third oldest Commonwealth lightstation in Australia. The lighthouse is also the oldest continuous lighthouse tower in Australia under Commonwealth control.Bruny IslandThe lookout at the neckA memorial to Truganini who was born in 1812 on Bruny Island. She was a daughter of Mangana, Chief of the Bruny Island people. Her name was the word her tribe used to describe the grey saltbush Atriplex cinerea. Before she was 18, her mother had been killed by whalers, her first fiance had died while saving her from abduction, and in 1828, her two sisters, Lowhenunhue and Maggerleede, had been abducted and taken to Kangaroo Island, off South Australia and sold as slaves.Staircase in Bruny Island LighthouseLooking over the “Neck” near where we campedBruny Island Cruises…. well worth doing !!! The other boat going through the “Monument”The coastline was amazing“The monument”It was stunningAn Australian Fur SealA New Zealand Fur Seal sleeping peacefullySome of the cheeses at Bruny Island Cheese CompanyGreat cheesesThis is not Bruny, but taken at home yesterday….cold, snowy and icy, although we were outside beside the new diesel heater…cosyLucky we love the cold. We have been in Tassie for nearly one and a half years and have no desire to move. We love it here !!!!
It has been a while since I have updated my blog, but things certainly have not been quiet on the home front !!
Since arriving home from our last caravan adventure around Tassie, we have been preparing for our upcoming 2 month trip to Italy and France. I leave on the 21st September, and Mal flies over to meet me on the 28th. We are certainly looking forward to the trip.
Recently I was diagnosed with Polymyalgia Rheumatica, but with medication, have got the severe pain under control, and now my main goal is to reduce the medication, which I am gradually succeeding in doing while controlling the pain. It was actually a relief to finally discover what the problem was !!!
Things are going well on our “bush block”, with much clearing being done prior to the summer months with the dangers of bushfires. Speaking of fires, we had a terrible experience 2 weeks ago when Kathy and Michael’s (son and daughter-in-law) home next door (about 1km away) burnt to the ground. I was in the garden at the time and could not believe the amount of black smoke coming from their direction. I have never run so fast in gum boots in my life!!! When I got there they had just escaped out of the home, Michael with burns and certainly less hair, and Kathy with major bruising and 3 fractures from jumping out of the upstairs window. The local police and fire brigades (all 7 fire trucks) were wonderful although there was little they could do to save the home. The main thing was that Michael and Kathy were safe, although we are all sad at losing one of the beloved cats, Mia, who was not so lucky. I think we are all cured from using electric blankets. It was an experience I hope we never have again !!
Last month I enjoyed a “one on one”, full day photography course with Andrew from Focus 10 Photography in Paddington Sydney. He flew down to Hobart and spent the day with me. My head was spinning by the end of the day. It was terrific and lots of fun. He gave me so much help. I just have to remember it all ??? At the end of the day, Andrew and I ended up at Maldini, one of my favourite spots down in Salamanca, where Mal met up with us.
Tomorrow, we are heading down to Bruny Island for 4 days camping with the caravan. Should be fun.
The home may be gone, but the view is still thereMoko survived the fire, but if you look closely, his whiskers did not !!!We enjoyed a visit from Melanie and Eric, Mal’s sister and husband.Eric and Mal installing the new TV and stereo system.! Very technical. !!! Salem in his favourite spot.Snow on the mountain….Mount Wellington HobartA storm coming in near home… Mount Wellington in the background.I took this photo during my photography course….tall ship on the harbour Salamanca HobartDrying out @ Constitution Dock Hobart“Birds in flight”…. art gallery in HobartReflections on the harbourWondering around Battery Point Hobart with the mountain in the background…. all the locals refer to Mount Wellington as “The Mountain”
