Alla Pergola Pizzeria

La Casina

➤ Localita La Casina N.1, 38074, Drena, Italy

Carte • Vino • Carne • Gelato • Italiano

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"Let me start by saying that La Casina may be the most beautiful country restaurant I even ever been in, and I have been in several in several countries. The enormous terrace shaded by a pergola of wisteria, allowed for tables (made of stone) to be widely spaced. It reminded me strongly of the French Laundry in the Napa Valley, but was if anything even more beautiful and gracefully proportioned. For some reason (though they knew I spoke English and barely a dozen words of Italian — they knew this because I had phoned ahead for a reservation), they assigned us one of the few waitresses who didn’t seem to know English at all. Fortunately, all the younger staff (the runners, etc), knew some English and a few of them knew English very well. Now may be as good a time as any to mention that the entire restaurant, from Executive Chef to Maitre d’, to all the floor staff, consisted of women. In America that would very likely be illegal in a restaurant not run entirely by one family. In Italy it was merely a curiosity. It didn’t make any difference that I noticed; I suspect that many people probably didn’t notice it. The food was imaginative — often an imaginative tweak of some northern Italian dish that didn’t really need any tweaking. In almost every instance it was somewhat more imaginative than it was good. For example, I began with risotto with fresh berries the most successful dish I ordered. The slight sourness of the fruits — raspberries, strawberries, blue berries, and a black berry or two — worked well with the rice and creamy cheese (fontina? clearly not parmigiana). The texture was both creamy and nutty, a state not easily achieved in a restaurant, where the slow cooking required of a traditional risotto is usually broken up into stages so that the final dish can be finished off in a matter of about 10 15 minutes instead of the usual 40. The result in many restaurants is often a dish devoid of the slight crunch of the best risottos. This one, however, was perfectly executed. The flavours, though unusual together, worked well together. My daughter began with a spaghetti flavoured with sardines and capers. She didn’t like it much, so we switched. I thought it was delicious if perhaps a little bland. Bland being the operative adjective for nearly all the food. As with the rice in the risotto, the spaghetti was cooked perfectly, properly al dente. With my first course I had an Italian Riesling, made by a winery called Kelner, which was complex, substantial, and very slightly peppery (a favour note I don’t generally associate with Riesling). It was “real wine,” as my close friend Paul (who knows more about wine than anyone else I know) might put it. I alone had a second course, which consisted of the smallest pork chops I have ever seen (about the size of normal lamb chops) that were grilled and served with the strangest polenta I have ever eaten, gelatinous and largely lacking in flavour, though to the extent I can remember any flavour it was thyme, a little too much thyme. This was accompanied by a so called ratatouille that bore almost no relation to the classic dish. It consisted of barely cooked and largely flavourless rondelles of tomato, daikon radish, and courgettes, with almost no seasoning at all, not even salt. Something is clearly wrong when a tomatoe in Italy in July is lacking flavour. The meat was over cooked and leathery it's always a risk with lean pork, but it can an should be avoided in a kitchen that clearly has ambitions. It was a nice idea, sounded very appetising on the menu, but it was not well achieved. The polenta was frankly abominable, resembling sea slug. Now, I happen to like sea slug, but not when it is called polenta. And I happen to like polenta when it tastes of maize and has a texture of, well, of polenta, not of sea slug. With my second course I drank an Italian Pinot Noir that was splendid — somewhere between a French Pinot Noir (more red Sancerre than Burgundy) and a Northern California Pinot Noir, with lots of zip to it. The wines, together with the setting, were the best part of the evening. We carried on to dessert, as one sometimes does even while knowing it’s going to be a risk. Meggie had a strawberry extravaganza (a sort of strawberries six ways), while I opted for the house version of tiramisu. Again, loads of imagination, lots of technique, beautiful presentation, but the flavours were, as with too much of the food we ate, simply under seasoned and unexciting (not subtle, but bland), as though the chef had been suffering a bad cold. There are lots of ways to tweak a classic tiramisu that can work — but making it too obviously an homage to something concocted at El Bulli was not, in my view the best way to go. It did not help, in my view, that it arrived as a pale pink globe on a bed of crumbled chocolate cookies. What, I wondered, is this? I continued to wonder it right through to the end. In sum, the setting was inspiring. The wines were eye opening. But the food was not as good as it should have been, bright ideas perhaps, but marred by a lack of flavour and a well judged sprinkling of salt and pepper. Lest some of you wonder if perhaps I might have been suffering from Covid, I can assure you that I was not. Proof was that I tasted the wines perfectly well."

Indiano La Fontana

➤ Via Della Filanda 9, DRO, Italy

Carte • Pizza • Europeo • Asiatico • Fast Food

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"curry rice too greedy and little spicy, idem meatballs with sauce. vegetarian appetizer on average. seems to have adapted the goits for an unusual user to spices and spicy. location in a shopping center, little characterized. clean room and staff solerte and very kind."

Alfio

➤ Strada Gardesana Occidentale 7/B, Dro I-38074, Italia, DRO, Italy

Carte • Caffè • Pizza • Pasta • Frutti Di Mare

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"Ristorante a Dro, sicuramente uno dei posti in cui mangiare é sempre un piacere, personale gentile, efficente danno valore al tuo tempo ed al loro, i piatti sono sempre soddisfacenti e devo dire mangiare bene ultimamente é sempre più difficile, qui ho assaggiato un piatto unico del menù pranzo, ma sicuramente se andate per mangiare dovete assaggiare l'antipasto mare e le Pennette all'Alfio L'antipasto mare Alfio con capasanta gratinata, insalata di polpo code di gambero in salsa cocktail affumicati di mare e cocotte di cozze alla tarantina Pennette con salsa a base di Pomodoro, Panna, Crudo di Parma, Speck Tirolese, funghi Porcini e sugo d'arrosto. Servite e flambate al tavolo in forma di Trentin Grana. Anche se per me sicuramente la combinazione imbattibile resta sempre: L'antipasto lago trentino con Trota salmonata in Saor con Polenta di Storo, Salmerino affumicato, Speck di Trota salmonata “Armanini”, Sarda salata su crostone di pane, Trota marinata e Coregone Marinato. Seguito da Strigoli ai Frutti di mare in Crosta che sono Pasta fresca di Grano duro con Cozze, Vongole, Scampi, Calamari e Gamberoni in salsa al Pomodoro leggermente piccante, cotta e servita in Crosta di pane Resta il mio abbinamento preferito"

Alfio

➤ Strada Gardesana Occidentale 7/B, I-38074, DRO, Italy

Carte • Pizza • Pasta • Europeo • Italiano

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"This restaurant came recommended by the owner of our hotel. It did not disappoint. They had large menu with something for every taste. Allergens were clearly marked and they had good choice of gluten free options, including pizza. There was a good choice of local wines. Our bill was just over €100 for four people including wine starter and dessert. Delicious food!"