Italy!

After a hot week, Chloe and I had a brief flash of inspiration and decided to drive to Italy for the day (I won't get tired of writing THAT anytime soon!). The plan was to use the Osterie d'Italia to find a good restaurant along the road to Turin, and then visit the Sacre di San Michele. The Osterie is like a Guide Michelin, but specializes in slow, regional food. In a way, it is like an entire guide devoted to Bib Gourmand restaurants. I found a restaurant called "Etable" in Bardonecchia, and made a reservation for lunch the night before, just to be sure we could get in. Knowing that we would be loading up on calories, chloe went for a run in the morning, and I went for a ride up Mt. San Martin. We left late in the morning, passing through the Maurienne valley and its legendary cols on both sides. After many tunnels, not the least of which was the fabulously long and expensive (45 euros round trip -- 65 dollars! Do you still think those bridge tolls are excessive?) Frejus tunnel. The first town outside the tunnel is Bardonecchia, and we arrived in plenty of time for lunch. The town was unremarkable, but reminded us a bit of Monetier. We went to a local patisserie, where they made absolutely wonderful fruit tarts

We bought several, and not only were the crusts perfect, but the fruit preserves that they used were excellent. Most of the time, fruit tarts are too sweet and lack any kind of texture that would remind you that what you were eating was once a fruit. The preserves that they used, however (probably home made) were just sweet enough, and retained some of the textures of the sour cherries and blackberries.

After wandering around for a while, it was time for lunch, which was fabulous. For appetizers, I ordered the thinly sliced veal and chloe ordered a vegetable flan ( sformati di verdure con formaggio fuso). Both were excellent, but chloe's was exceptional. They brought out perfectly al dente ravioli bolognese for the kids shortly afterwards, which were summarily devoured



I should also mention that this was a very kid friendly restaurant, which can be a bit hard to find around where we live. When they were taking our orders, they offered to take the kids orders first, and bring them to the kitchen immediately, so the kids could get started. Later on, they brought out a big box of toys for the kids, and would coo appropriately and say "Belissima!" or "Belissimo!".
Anyway, back to the food. I ordered a wild boar stew with polenta Concia, which were very good, but not my favorite.


Chloe ordered the pesto, which was excellent, but stolen by Alex

Finally, it was time for dessert. Chloe and I both ordered one of the specialities: "torta di nocciole e cioccolato tiepido con panna liquida e cacao". Desserts are rarely bad in my experience (except at the work cafeteria). This dessert, however, was transcendent, and very likely the best chocolate cake I have ever tasted at any restaurant (including Auberge de l'Eridan). It was a perfect balance between the hazelnuts and chocolate, and somehow magically light at the same time. I don't know how they achieved it, but it was sheer cooking magic.

The coffee was also great, as were the little cookies that came with it


After thanking our hosts and paying the bill (eighty something for everything, including wine), we loaded up the grommets and headed for the Sacre di San Michele. The road winds past two laked and some huge country estates before you find yourself in a mayhem of tiny road, crazy driving hell. Eventually, if you are lucky, you find a parking space though. From there, it is a short walk under the trees to the Abbey.








After a look around, we packed the by now very tired kids back into the car to complete our six hours (!) of driving.