One of the curious things about travel by train
and, choosing a hotel just out of town; up a steep hillside with an impressive view - of the beautiful bays of Cinque Terre. Is you do manage to meet and converse with your fellow guests; chatting away as you shuttle up and down the switchbacks of the hillside in the courtesy mini bus. The little van that takes you down to the beach or back up to that glorious view. It was on one of these return trips to the hotel that David and Margaret, who just so happened to be from Sydney too.. kindly recommended to us a seafood restaurant called Oscars, that they had tried the night before and thought was just fabulous! So Vivienne and I decided to give it a shot the very next evening. The mini bus drops us at the start of the beach on Via Fegina
opposite, Ristorante Miky, but that's another culinary story yet to be told. continues below..
Now as compact as Monterosso is, there is the new town (not
that new) and there is the medieval old town on the other side of the rocky promontory. A distance of perhaps a kilometre and half of pleasant beach front promenade.
Trattoria Da Oscar is in the old town, through the tunnel under the hill, of rock. Past the fishing boats, across the square skirting churches in bold marble stripes, watched over by a Madonna, by a peloton of bicycles and up a bendy narrow street. Yes there were some wrong turns and directions asked, but at last we found Oscars!
And we found it reassuringly busy, all the tables taken outside, though still with room for the two of us inside, away from the chatter of the American accents.. The next night we had a booking for a multi course extravaganza at Ristorante Miky. So for diner at Oscar's we decided on a simple menu. We would start with fried sardines followed by the dish of the day, scampi gnocchi. All accompanied by a bottle of Prosecco, why not!
How was it? We loved our sardines, fresh and tasty and they didn't last long. Next came our scampi gnocchi, which we had discovered was to be the last serving of the special that day. The sauce was a rich, intense tomato driven infusion with a hint of spice, a little chilli? Garlic and olive oil. And it was divine, easily coating the light fluffy gnocchi and the all important scampi! We polished it all off as you can see below, leaving just the pan, and the spoon. I not only relished our shared meal, I really enjoyed the laid back atmosphere. The immediacy of the experience and the quality of food and service. It was an authentic food and travel experience to remember. I hope you enjoy my black and white pictures of our meal. (I actually turned to camera to B&W to take them) Why black and white? because I feel it lends itself to the immediacy, the directness of flavors the meal, the clarity of it all which sometimes colour diffuses. More at the end - and
click on the pictures to view them large.
After that, it was another pleasurable stroll back along the waterfront to the new town and a short wait for the mini bus to deliver us back up the hill to our hotel. Diner at Trattoria Da Oscar; highly recommended.
Special thanks to White Caviar Life for making this story possible.
Telling Stories in Pictures all over..
Kent Johnson, Sydney, Australia.
0433 796 863
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