Italy 2012 – Dinner at Ristorante Ambrosia in Cortona

Yes, an entire blog post about one dinner…

Today we had coffee at our favorite place, Tuscher Caffe, which is on Via Nazionale. While there I asked the owner for a restaurant recommendation for dinner and he described a place called Ambrosia. It’s owned by a young chef, originally from Cortona, who has travelled and cooked in Japan, London, France, and Italy, finally opening his restaurant back in Cortona about 8 months ago. He said it was more traditional, small, just a few tables, and not designed for tourists like other trattoria’s. Sounded like a good place to try.

So after our cappuccino, we walked over to Ambrosia and made 7pm reservations, then we headed out for a hike to a Santuario on the hill behind the town. The hike was described as difficult, up a steep hill, and about an hour long. The rain came in about that time as well which was concerning, but Devon was determined to deal with it. So we hoofed it up the hill, getting wetter as we went, with thunder clapping above. It was actually pretty cool.

When we reached the top, we discovered it was the same S. Margherita Basilica that we saw on Sunday with our guide in the car. It took about 30 minutes to hike there, and the rain was getting harder, but we decided to follow an unmarked path down a different part of the hill, weaving through private residences, city walls, and their structures until we found ourselves on the opposite side of the town. A good hike.

Later, after our nightly video chat with Morgan from the wine bar that has wifi (wifi that incidentally sucks), we changed clothes in our apartment, and headed to Ambrosia for dinner.

Upon arrival, we were greeted by the owner, chef, and essentially only person there. The restaurant is partially buried in the hill and in the back there is an old stone arch. It turns out that the arch is original Etruscan architecture (from before Christ, thats over 2000 years ago) and was part of a healing bath. Rain water still seeps through the wall, (and was wet tonight since it had rained earlier) and is collected in a pool which is under the floor. The pool is visible through a glass section in the floor illuminated in blue light (because anything halfway cool is obligated to have a blue light). The rest of the room had more Etruscan stone walls and a brick/stone archway which was built during medieval times. The chef later described that there were 4 total eras, depending on which part of the restaurant you were in. All original except for some paint and a wall added around the kitchen. Amazing!

We ordered our Wine (fabulous local Cortona Syrah) after the complimentary starter of sparkling wine. The we received a small plate with anchovies on buttered crostini. Very good despite my loath of anchovies.

The antipasti was Veal Tripe which sounds strange, but was very tasty, followed by a first course of ravioli with shrimp, extremely tasty. Devon and I both ordered the thinly sliced steak filet as our main course. For the first time on this trip the chef (who was also acting as our waiter) asked us how we would like it cooked. I asked what he considered normal and he replied “rare!”, “we don’t understand medium and well done in Italy”. I told him to cook it the way he way he believes it should be and he was happy!

The steak was somewhere between what we Americans consider rare and medium-rare. It was fabulous!

I asked the chef if he owned the space or rented, and he explained that his great-grandfather purchased it in 1910 and ran a butcher shop. He had enclosed all of the stone walls and wood beams in plaster to keep the humidity out. In 2008, when he (Mattio) decided to open the restaurant they began renovations and found the walls and pools hidden behind false walls. They rightfully decided to make them a key feature of the restaurant atmosphere. So neat!

After the main course we ordered desserts. I had a special Creme Brûlée and Devon had some sort of fruit bread cake thing that was like an extraordinarily good pop-tart. My Creme Brûlée was not as solidified as I’m used to, was topped with hardened chocolate sauce, and further topped with shaved ice of coffee. SO GOOD!

After dessert the other waiter brought some biscotti and gingersnap-like cookies along-side two shots of “Ambrosia” which was a cold, super-sweet, ginger flavored tea. Great finish to an exceptional meal.

Aside from the ambience and food, what I really liked was chatting with the chef about his food, his restaurant, and his life. It’s obvious in his demeanor that he loves making exceptional food and wants everyone to enjoy the experience. He even found us on our way out and asked us about our stay in Cortona and how we found the food. Truly exceptional experience!

If we do not find a better restaurant Wednesday or Thursday, we will likely go back to Ambrosia for our last night in Cortona on Friday.

Tomorrow we head to Assisi and Perugia for our next guided tour.