By Paola Butera
From the counter to the table to feel at home.
On the old Via Eugubina that leads from Branca to Fossato di Vico, in the 60s the social dairy CAMAU (Cooperativa Agricola Montana Alta Umbria) was born, which for over forty years served the area with its local dairy products. With the advent of the 2000s, Silvia and Marcello, two brothers born and raised in the area, took over the company maintaining the company shop which, after three years, increased the offer with the sale of fruit and vegetables, fine meats, a selection of truffle sauces and Christmas gifts. All products that come from small local producers. Passion and attachment to the origins are the basis of the evolution of Golosità Umbre, a shop with an authentic flavour where you can stop and stock up on the best local specialties.
Three years ago Silvia and Marcello, strengthened by the demand for ready meals, cultivated the desire to expand the spaces and create an adjacent room to give greater service to customers. The restaurant business kicks off after a careful renovation and today, during the weekdays, those who are passing through or go to the shop to do some shopping, can stop for lunch in this beautiful bright and tastefully furnished room.
“It is a genuine restaurant” Silvia is keen to point out “created with the same products inside the store. In the morning we start by composing the menu in front of a good coffee, we check the arrivals of the day trying each time to create dishes that bring back the peasant tradition of our families. As it used to be, that we cooked with what the land offered us”.
The blackboard placed at the entrance anticipates the menu of the day, always different. For example, among the first courses there are always two or three types of artisanal pasta, selected from the best suppliers in the area, with the condiments that can be exchanged. And then there is the meat, to be chosen directly at the counter: tagliata, fiorentina, lombata, all of the highest quality and with the names of the unmistakable breeds, Limousine and Charolais. Everything is cooked espresso and Silvia explains, with her grace, the difference between one cut and another, advising on the choice.
In the kitchen, Marcello prepares the grill, the chef Marco directs and prepares traditional first courses and desserts, while Sara takes care of the vegetables that she finds available at the counter, strictly in season. There is a nice variety to choose from and he cooks them in a variety of ways: au gratin, roasted, grilled. Simple cooking that enhances the taste of genuine products, just like at home. In the room, arranged in view, a careful selection of wines (127 labels) to choose from, many local wines and some producers from outside the area.
Then, there are the rituals that keep the tradition alive such as ‘Gnocchi Thursday’ – a dedicated day par excellence, which is celebrated every week. The nonplus ultra are, in fact, gnocchi with lamb ragout in white or, in the summer season, with wild boar ragout with scorzone truffle.
Golosità Umbre has become a meeting place: you eat the dish of the day, exchange a few words with friends, do the shopping and you are enriched by the stories of those who have experienced change and have made it a resource, collecting the request and making it an opportunity.
Info: Golosità Umbre, Via Eugubina 45, Fossato di Vico (Pg) / Tel 339 2346870 (Reservation is recommended)