Living in San Giorgio di Pesaro and Kingston

Recently went to an Agriturismo called Costa della Figura which had been recommended by a friend. They open their restaurant to the public but you have to book beforehand.

It is about 20 minutes drive from San Giorgio and in the summer you sit outside on benches at large wooden tables. There is no menu but the meal begins with various antipasti  – various home cured salami, prosciutti, lonzo etc; home grown vegetables such as french beans, cooked greens and deep fried zucchini flowers. After the antipasti we ate some grilled beef and then passed on the dessert and coffee. The meal came to 25 euros a head and covered food, wine and water.

The quality of the cured meats was exceptional and made the journe worth while. Its a place to go to once in a while but not highly recommended for vegetarians.

As Heinz baked beans are placed under “Ethnic Foods” in the Auchan supermarket I feel English marmalade may fall into the same category. A few days ago when wandering round Fano I saw a small cafe selling “Wilkin and Sons Marmalade”. The marmalade in made in Tiptree, Essex. Tiptree is not only famous for jams but it is also where Bill’s Aunt Elsie was born. 

There on the shelf was non only marmalade (unfortunately only medium cut) but also some of their jams I never tried  – green gooseberry, green fig, ginger etc. They cost 5 euros a jar compared to about £1.55 in the UK but if an ex-pat gets a craving for Rhubarb and Ginger jam then it’s available in Fano.

At the 11th “Selezione nazionale vini da pesce” (national selection of wine and fish) the Moncaro group from the Marche won top prize. 589 wines provided by 257 producters were in competition and they came from all regions of Italy.

They won with an entry of 3 wines: Offida Doc Pecorino “Ofithe” 2009; “Le Vele” 2009; “Verde Ca’ Ruptae” 2009 Classico Superiore Doc.

Nearer to home our local vineyard “Guerrieri” also won some prizes.

They got a Diploma of Merit for its Bianchello del Metauro – Celso, 2009.
In the category for spumante it won a bronze for its white 2009 and a Diploma of Merit for its Rose’ 2009.

Cafe Centrale in Senigallia has closed. When we first came to this area it was the most popular cafe in Senigallia. In the middle of the main street it was the ideal place to people watch.

However, over the last few years the competetion has increased. Most other bars have had makeovers, have improved the quality of their nibbles etc. On a Friday and Saturday evening Senigallia is packed with young people and they took their custom to the new bars. Cafe Centrale got emptier and emptier, shabbier and shabbier, locked in a 60s time warp, However, even at the end its gin and tonics were better than the newer bars.

So what will happen to the site. Rumour has it that it will reopen under new management as a bar/bookshop. There is a bookshop almost opposite the cafe at the moment again rumour is that the new owner of Cafe Centrale has a grudge against the owner of the bookshop and wants to put him out of business. Could it be “Bookshop Wars in Senigallia”?

A few months ago a new eatery opened in Poggio a hamlet near San Giorgio. Called Country Burger it provides, as its name implies, fast food such as burgers, chicken nuggets, chips etc. It is a a couple of kilometres from the main road and so I didn’t give it much chance of surviving. However, it is still open. So far I haven’t met any adults who have eaten in it but it  appears to be popular with the young people of San Giorgio who, if the students who come to me for english lessons are a fair sample, rate the food as good to average.

The Espresso magazine publishes an annual guide to the best restaurants in Italy. There are 10 restaurants listed for the Marche. 5 of the 10 are in the north of the Marche and so within our “eating range”.

Uliassi     (Senigallia)  Average price: 110 euros. 

Madonnina del Pescatore     (Marzocco near Senigallia).  Averageprice: 130 euros.

Symposium Quattro Stagioni   (Serrungarina) . Average Price: 100 euros.

Hotel Giardino   (San Lorenzo in Campo).   Average price: 48 euros.

Antico Furlo    (Acqualagna).  Average price: 58 euros.

We have eaten at the Uliassi which, at 100 euros per head, is a “very special occasion” restaurant. However, it is great, particularly the fish antipasti. Service is very attentive and the only embarassing moment is when the chef suddenly appears at the table to introduce himself and once he has said “buona sera” there are some moments of embarassing silence as no one knows what to say next.

Hotel Giardino always has good food, beautifully presented and at a reasonable price.  

We haven’t tried the other three restaurants but are happy to be taken to them by anyone visiting. The Antico Furlo overlooks the river in the Furlo Gorge. We often go to the gorge which was one of Mussolini’s favourite stopping of points on his way from Rome to Rimini. There is a bar beside the restaurant and it has a dining room devoted to his memory complete with the dining service he used. The “Antico Furlo” is a hotel as well as a restaurant and some of the furniture in the rooms were brought by Mussolini from the Palazzo Venezia in Rome so that he would feel more at home when spending the night at Furlo.

The Associazione Italiana Sommelier publishes an annual guide to Italian wines. It tastes about 20.000 wines and this year only 298 wines were considered worthy of the “5 grappoli (bunches)” award. 16 out of the 298 are from the Marche and 1 is from the winemaker Fiorini. This vineyard is at Barchi a few kilometres from San Giorgio. It scored its success with its “Colli Pesaresi Sangiovese Luigi Fiorini 2004″ wine at 20 euros a bottle.

Verdicchio is one of our local white wines. According to a television programme is it also the white wine with the highest level of antioxidants.

Checking on the internet I also came across an article which said that Verdicchio wine is a remarkable source (about seven-fold the bioactive concentration) of CfE (concentration of ethyl caffeote), an interesting drug to be tested as an antifibrotic agent.So, its obviously good for one.

The Auchan supermarket in Fano has an “ethnic foods” section. This section includes, among other things, baked beans. It also has some chinese and mexican foods reflecting the fact that the ethnic population of the area is changing. Even in San Giorgio I can buy basmatic rice as well as risotto rice.

A wider selection of ethnic food is available in some shops in at area. In Senigallia, which has an “Indian” quarter there is an Asian supermarket. In Pesaro, where there are about 250 Sri Lankan families, there is a shop selling everything you need for Asian cooking. At Fano, near the railway station, there is an African shop catering to the immigrant population.  So now, when I need coconut milk for my curries I am spoilt for choice. I will be making an economic decision and going to the African shop in Fano where it costs 1.50 instead of 2.00 a tin.

The “ethnic shops” all reflect some link with the British empire. Apart from selling baked beans, they all sell Birds custard powder, porridge, condensed milk etc. Unfortunately Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut chocolate isn’t available.