[Nov. 2024] On the day we went to Castell’Arquato, a historic and beautiful town in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, we made a reservation at a restaurant called Ristorante del Voltone.
If you want to have lunch on the weekend in a small town, you’re likely to get lost because everywhere is full, so it’s important to make a reservation.
This restaurant was located on a corner of a street with many vacant houses at the foot of the hill in the old town.
The interior was more modern and posh than I had imagined, but the waiters were friendly and the food was excellent.
For starters, I shared some ham from the region, Culatello, and candied pears with my husband.
The combination was exquisite and very delicious.
My husband’s main dish was the special pasta of the day.
Spaghetti as thick as thin udon noodles was boiled al dente and the sauce was meat-based.
I tasted a little and it had a mild, somehow nostalgic taste.
I had veal for the main course.
It was extremely tender, a bit like beef tongue.
It looked like a small portion on the plate, but it was rich in flavour, so it was enough.
There was red cabbage underneath.
For dessert, my husband ordered semifreddo and I ordered creme caramel, but I got something like chocolate mousse.
I don’t know if it was a mistake on their part or if I misread the menu, but I didn’t want to bother, so we just ate what came.
It was covered in nut cream, which was fragrant when eaten with the mousse, but the mousse itself had almost no flavour.
We each had a glass of local red wine.
These days, they’ve been cracking down on drunk driving a lot more.
This wine was a big hit, so we asked the waiter to write down its name.
It was Gutturnio Riserva 2020 from a winery called Casa Benna.
We had thought about buying it if we saw it, but fortunately, we happened to pass by the winery on our way home.
The sun was already setting, but a group of individual customers were in before us and another group came after us, so it must be a popular winery.
We bought six bottles of our favorite wine drunk at the restaurant.
Also we tasted the one made from a grape variety developed by the winery, and bought six bottles of this to take home.
