Lunch in Bevagna

Do visit this gem in a easily overlooked alley.

Bevagna, for those in the unknown, is a pretty little village on the flood plain of the Topino river. Originally an Etruscan settlement it later became a Roman outpost called Mevania. I won’t give a guided tour here, just go you’ll love it and if old Italian marvels are not your thing and you are not interested in historic workshops, antique stores, theatre and nice sidewalk bars and cafes, then go for the food.

We ate at La Trattoria di Oscar (piazza del Cirone 2 – tel 3343452526) domain of Chef Filippo. Filippo is a very good friend of our friends so as usual in Italy we made new friends. Our friends had been talking about Filippo for a while and last week they called out of the blue and summoned us to the restaurant on Sunday. Truth is we weren’t in tiptop form, influenza did some damage so we more or less limped to the restaurant.
As soon as we entered the chef came from the kitchen to welcome us and show the table. The other guests dripped in and we started off with a very nice Pignoleto wine with some great cheese and  homemade sausage.

One of our friends had brought some wines to the restaurant that made our eyes pop. Not only bore they names and numbers you won’t even find in the finest restaurants, they were also incredibly enjoyable. The food was fantastic, pasta with greens from the field, a luscious risotto, beef with fresh local truffles and perfectly roasted rabbit with artichokes and a sublime panna cotta. When done well nothing beats Sunday lunch in Italy. It was almost six o’clock when we headed for the door.

If you are in for lunches like this or dinners have a look at our special short breaks in Umbria page with excellent priced offers. The weather can be lovely from now onwards and with flights directly from London and Brussel to Perugia airport transport to Umbria is no problem. A presto!