Painter, architect and art historian, Giorgio Vasari was born in Arezzo in the early 16th-century. His name lives on – and nowadays, in good eating, too, at Ristorante Logge Vasari. Tucked under the porticoes of Arezzo’s imposing Piazza Grande, you might have to wait for a table if you’re there on the first Sunday of the month when Arezzo’s antique fair, the Fiera Antiquariata, entices many to this Tuscan gem. When there recently, we booked a and then wandered the Fiera Antiquariata booths in the piazza during our waiting time.
[lcaption]Visitors brows the booths encircling the Piazza Grande on the first Sunday of the month, la Fiera Antiquariata[/lcaption]
On a past foray to Arezzo’s Fiera, we’d purchased an embroidered table cloth (to be turned into a curtain for one of our apartments). This time, the booth of Ali from Iran caught our eye: we bought handmade tiles from Iran for the kitchen of the farmhouse near Orvieto of our son, Keegan and his wife, Francesca – now under restoration by Pino. A perfect Christmas gift.
[lcaption]Pino chooses Iranian tiles for the restored kitchen of Keegan’s farmhouse[/lcaption]
Tiles purchased, it was lunchtime at Ristorante Logge Vasari – and right from the antipasti, we knew we’d found a winner of Tuscan goodness.
Pino chose a plate of artichokes served in three ways while I ordered the pecorino cheese flan topping pureed leeks.
[lcaption]Pino’s antipasti of artichokes[/lcaption]
Pino followed with a secondo: osso buco with spinach flan on the side – and chickpeas in rosemary.. I was intrigued by a primo our server recommended: chestnut flour ravioli stuffed with speck (smoked ham) and walnuts, topped with tiny tangerine slivers: poetry for the eye and palate.
[lcaption]Pino’s osso buco flanked by a light spinach flan[/lcaption]
[lcaption]Pino enjoys vino rosso with his osso buco[/lcaption]
[lcaption]My enticing primo: chestnut flour ravioli with speck, walnuts, tangerine silvers[/lcaption]
Espressi ended our meal – and though we hadn’t planned on dessert, our server slipped us some sweets with a smile.
Other diners were finishing their meals as we left; over their heads, a long poster of the Giostra del Saraceno, Arezzo’s famous early September Saracen Joust festival. Maybe our next jaunt to Arezzo will have to be in early September…?
Read about where we stay when in Arezzo
Read about a past stay in Arezzo
Click here to read about the treasure we found at the Arezzo antiques fair on a past visit
Delicious blog! I’d love to browse the antique fair!
Looks amazing, the fair and the food!