If you find yourself in Italy, consider going on a daytrip to Orvieto in Umbria. It can easily be done through Florence or Rome by train. Once there take the funiculare across the street from the train station, hop the shuttle bus to the duomo, take a few photos of its mosaic facade, and head across the piazza to Ristorante Giglio D'Oro, roughly translated to fleur de lys of gold, before all their tables are taken. To our delight, this was an outstanding choice. With a taverna, trattoria, and tavola caldo as the meager alternative choices on the piazza, we decided to go with the only ristorante in sight. The menu was filled with items we had not seen in Rome. That wasn't such a surprise since we were in Umbria and no longer in Lazio. Umbrian food is heavy on meat, so one can expect to find wild boar, rabbit, pork and lamb as well as beef.
Among the antipasti was as sformatino. I have tried this in enough Italian restaurants to know that I don't need to ponder, I now automatically order it. Without resorting to an Italian dictionary, it can be characterized as a vegetable and cheese infused flan. I've tried it made with onion, pumpkin purée, porcini mushroom and now eggplant. Giglio D'Oro's version was covered with a black truffle sauce and it was plated with a sweet, concentrated, red pepper sauce. It was as good in taste as it was attractive in composition. I could have stopped after this one dish and been perfectly satisfied, but I'm pleased that I didn't.
A liver pate is hard to resist for my dining companion and me, but in Italy they are generally made with chicken liver and very little butter or cream. Close, but no cigar.
We both ordered the pappardelle in a lamb sauce. Usually, for the sake of this blog, I prefer not to duplicate orders, but to sample a greater diversity of food. I was convinced that this was going to be an exceptional combination and I wanted more than a fork full. It was so good, I found myself taking smaller and smaller bites, so I could prolong the taste.
Because we were in Orvieto, we had to drink the local wine with this meal. Orvieto is famous for its white wine and although I strongly prefer red, the white was well worth a try with its fruit forward, crisp flavor. The red was also a decent wine that went very well with this meal.
Too full for a meat course, we decided to stay a bit longer for coffee and dessert. Not having seen Zabaione on an American menu in years, it was a shoe in. Drizzled with caramel and garnished with a biscotti, it appeared to be a thin puddle in the middle of the plate. In reality, it was served in a wide rimmed soup bowl and it was more substantial in viscosity.
Remember this word: zucotto. A more luscious ricotta based dessert has not been invented. Littered with chocolate shavings and candied orange peel, this concoction would have been very good just as a cannolo filling, however, the pastry chef had loftier plans. It was molded and set upon a thick layer of a pistachio sauce that had been decorated with a caramelized sugar syrup. Another daytrip to Orvieto is on the horizon.
Website is under construction, so here is the restaurant’s Facebook page if you want to see more photos of the food Il Giglio d'Oro
| Piazza del Duomo 8 | |
| Orvieto TR, Italy 05018 | |
| +39 0763 341903 |
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