Special Delivery! Olive oil from Umbria This Friday Feb 22 3 courses $28

Last night we had dinner with Jessica, our wonderful host when we're in Italy, while she was visiting her family in Maine. Her sister, Kristin, is responsible for our amazing gardens! We had a beautiful dinner, which included cheese from The Cheese Shop of Portland (check it out on Washington Ave.), a simple Umbrian Lentil soup with drizzles of herbaceous Umbrian olive oil and freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese, plus a salad! I am always amazed how simple ingredients are transformed into a perfect meal when the ingredients themselves are perfection. Trusting your ingredients, in so many ways, is the bravest cooking of all because there is no trickery involved, just honest food! Join us this Friday while we explore this simple but perfect cuisine of Umbria, Italy! And we'll share with you the olive oil Jess brought us!

MENU FEBRUARY 22

start and share

a winter inspired antipasto plate

whipped house ricotta with carrot jam + date & olive tapenade with whipped gorgonzola + tomato chutney with house mozzarella whole wheat grissini + crostini

**at the Agribistro Lorenzo speaks to local cuisine and honored traditions. I dream about his cheeses with house jams.

choose

gnocchi ripieni di spinaci con salsa di pomodoro fresco

spinach stuffed gnocchi with fresh tomato sauce + umbrian spice + drizzles of olive oil + freshly grated parmesan cheese

Jess's nanny taught me this dish 10 years ago on a rainy november afternoon, she speaking no english and me no italian......it worked!

zuppa di lenticchie con salsiccia

Umbrian lentil soup with sausage, sauteed escarole with garlic, drizzles of olive oil and parmesan cheese

lots stories of here - the amazing lentil soup on the way home from the spa, the sausage in the purse story (don't ask!), lentils growing in fields of rocks, and what happens when you drizzle really great olive oil on something so simple

cacciatori di pasta con pomodori fresch

hunter's pappardelle bolognese (slow cooked rabbit + duck) tomato + herb & parmesan +$5

can we just talk about fall and hunters and cooking on the side of the road, and gun shots seemingly flying over your head

strozzapreti con funghi

hand rolled pasta, assorted wild and locally cultivated mushrooms + pancetta, cream & pamesan

in a tiny walled town, you are lucky if you find this 3 table restaurant open, with it's hand written menu and a Frida art theme...but if it's open you won't regret stopping; the past 6 times you tried and found it closed! Then there is the time Filippo (Jess' husband) told us not to eat the mushrooms we foraged, we did -he was right! we're smarter now....sigh

dessert

cake + olive oil lemon curd

caramel budino with chocolate hazelnut cookie