[Apr. 2023] We searched for a restaurant where we could have lunch in Pre Saint Didier, a village in the Valle d’Aosta region in the north western corner of Italy.
We wandered around looking for the restaurant that my husband looked up online.
It’s a small village, but for some reason we could not find it right away.
Luckily, the weather was fine, the mountain scenery was beautiful, and the stream was flowing, so it was a nice walk.
What caught my attention was how they make their houses around here, especially the roof.
Thin stones are piled up and play the role of roof tiles.
Later I read that it is a schist that can be taken from the Northwest Alps, and it seems that these rocks can be sliced thinly.
The colour is grey, so it gives a dark impression.
Even on a sunny day like this, the cluster of houses looks dull and grey, so it must be even darker in bad weather.
I wish they could at least paint the walls like they did in Liguria, but the people here are simple and sturdy mountain people.
I’m sure they chose practicality over appearance..
We finally found the restaurant, but unlike the information on the internet, it was open only at night.
So we went to Hotel Bucaneve, the only restaurant (and hotel) in the village that was open.
The starter we chose was an assortment of ham as usual.
Unlike the familiar ones, there were wild boar meat, duck meat, and other hams, all of which were delicious with unique flavours.
My main dish was Fassona beef (low-cholesterol meat) tartare.
Actually, I thought it would be grilled, so I was surprised to see the raw meat.
But there was no smell at all, and it was nice and light.
My husband ordered Cotoletta alla Valdostana, a meat dish unique to this region.
I was looking forward to what would come, but it turned out that it was fried thin meat with ham and cheese.
In this case, Cotoletta alla Milanese would be better.
The best was the local red wine.
I thought it would be light because it’s a wine in the mountains, but it was not at all.
At 14% ABV, it was our favourite type of wine with a slightly sweet and robust taste.
Although it was not cheap at €22 for a house wine.
Then the thick grissini on the table was excellent.
So much so that my husband stole one from the empty table next door.
For dessert we shared the apple strudel and had a coffee each, all for €105.50.
Recently, we haven’t had a meal that cost more than €100, so it felt expensive, but even though it’s a village, it’s basically a health resort, so that’s what it’s like.
