Reviews: "Al Fogher", a fine lunch (or dinner) in the heart of Sicily

Some weeks ago I had lunch in a gorgeous restaurant near the small town of Piazza Armerina (in the province of Enna), a place in the heart of Sicily famous for its Roman villa, recently restored. The place is also near the famous archaeological site of Morgantina.

The restaurant I went to, has a very curious name, to start with. 'Al fogher' infact is an expression in a northern Italian dialect, probably from the region of Veneto and means 'focolare', fireplace. The Sicilian chef and owner Angelo Treno, after having worked many years up in the north decided to come back to Sicily and brough the name with him.

The restaurant, who used to be an old train station is now an elegant place amazingly decorated and furnished like a real rustic dining room: comfy chairs, soft lights, colorful bucolic paintings on the walls and ancient pieces of furniture make the atmosphere particularly cosy and familiar. But this is just the beginning. The food experience is something you won't forget because of the peculiar matches of the ingredients.

A sensational starter with buffalo mozzarella and sauteèd chards served on a yellow mellon puree and accompanied by a lovely mix of homemade bread of different flavors as you can see in the pic on the left (tomato flavour, pistaches and even ink black from cuttlefish). Absolutely incredible!!

As a first dish I tried a biological spelt-flour pasta (the bavette type) with a unique ragout made of kid meat and cooked with wild fennel and cherry tomatoes, served with flakes of Sicilian primo sale cheese on top. A second dish with a fresh grilled snapper served  with vegetable cous cous and some mussels aside.

Let's not forget the delicious plate of Sicilian cheese between the main dishes and the sweets, served with a bit of eucalyptus honey and sweet onion marmalade. Something that you definetely don't have every day!

Finally an amazing dessert called "Childhood memories" made of three different samples of what the chef used to eat when he was a child: a panna cotta with strawberries on top, a biancomangiare pudding (in the middle) and a condensed milk chocolate in little squares.

So... whenever you find yourself in that part of the Sicilian region and would like to mix a cultural trip to a Roman villa with a great food experience that's exactly the place where I suggest you to go. 

Here you can find the restaurant's website in Italian language. Have fun and enjoy!!! :-)