Tour Introduction
AUTUMN
BREAKS AT CASA FONTANA
- Escape November
in England for autumn sunshine in Umbria. Get plenty of fresh air
and some gentle exercise.
- Enjoy convivial
company and gourmet meals.
- Take a break
that is also a learning experience.
- Have fun -
pick olives at Casa Fontana!
- Find out how
top quality oil is produced. Explore the countryside that has grown
olive trees since antiquity. Discover the cultural and culinary
landscape of the region.
- Enjoy al fresco
lunches and leisurely fireside evening meals, made all the more
delicious for appetite sharpened by exercise.
Select one of
these 3 options for Autumn Breaks at Casa Fontana:
1. Perugia Airport Chauffeured Package
Five days at Casa Fontana; half board; driver service; olive picking;
sight-seeing; gift of freshly pressed olive oil
DAY 1:
Car meets you at Perugia Airport (Ryanair from Stanstead) –
guided sightseeing at the beautiful hilltop town of Panicale –
visit nearby Lake Trasimeno with lunch* en route – to Casa for
relaxation and orientation – welcome dinner with wines (sample
menu, see below)
DAY 2:
Briefing in olive picking techniques – Gentle exercise picking
olives on the terraces above the Casa – leisurely al fresco
lunch with wine - more olive picking or relaxation or both –
dinner* out: lift to / and collection from a restaurant of your choice
(description of some of the excellent and very reasonably priced restaurants
below) or an opportunity for a cosy self-catered evening
DAY 3:
A trip to Orvieto, a treasure trove of late gothic and renaissance
art – lunch* en route - visit panoramic medieval towns of Monteleone
and Citta delle Pieve – dinner at Casa Fontana with wines
DAY 4:
Olive picking – relaxed buffet lunch with wine – visit
to oil press to see olives transformed to oil – dinner* out:
lift to / collection from a restaurant of your choice
DAY 5:
Prosecco brunch – lift to Perugia airport
Price per person: £367, based on two persons
sharing a guest apartment
Price includes:
- half board
- transfer to and from airport
- all transport
- gift of 1 litre fresh cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
Not included:
- flights
- meals outside Casa Fontana, marked with *
2. Self-Drive Package
Five days at Casa Fontana; half board, olive picking; gift of freshly
pressed olive oil; own car rental arrangements
- DAY 1:
You arrive at an airport of your choice and pick up your rented car.
We provide sightseeing recommendations en route to Casa. Relaxation
and orientation – welcome dinner with wines (sample menu, see
below)
- DAY 2:
Briefing in olive picking techniques – Gentle exercise picking
olives on the terraces
above the Casa – leisurely al fresco lunch with wine - more
olive picking or relaxation
or both – dinner* out at a restaurant of your choice (description
of some of the
excellent and very reasonably priced restaurants below). NB. Restaurant
delivery and
pick up service can be arranged for a modest extra charge. Alternatively,
an
opportunity for a cosy self-catered evening
- DAY 3:
Suggestions for a day trip to one of the many panoramic medieval towns
and art museums – dinner at Casa Fontana with wines
- DAY 4:
Olive picking – relaxed buffet lunch with wine – visit
to oil press to see olives transformed to oil – dinner out at
a restaurant of your choice, or a cosy self-catered evening
- DAY 5:
Prosecco brunch – departure for airport
Price per person: £327, based on two persons
sharing a guest apartment
Price includes:
- half board
- visit to olive press
- gift of 1 litre fresh cold pressed, extra virgin olive oil
Not included
- flights
- meals outside Casa Fontana marked with *
3. Extended catered olive picking weeks
contact us for availability and pricing on a holiday to suit you,
duration, catering, etc at £?
4. Self catered Accomodation only with olive picking
and gift of oil optional from £297
SAMPLE Casa Fontana MENU
Home marinated olives
………..
White bean and celery salad, home baked bread
…………
Papardelle fresca with wild boar and chestnut sauce
……………
Warm chicken terrine with green beans
………….
Spicy orange and date salad with liqueur syllabub
…………
Wines:
Prosecco
Grechetto del Torgiano
Nero d’Avola della Sicilia
LOCAL RESTAURANTS for Your Night Out:
Masolino's
A restaurant within the medieval walls of the ancient hilltop town
of Panicale, with a breathtaking view over the lake and the surrounding
slopes dotted with olives and vineyards. It is worth strolling through
Panicale’s narrow lanes before dinner, to work up a bit of an
appetite for the delicious Masolino fare to come. Mamma does the cooking,
daughter Stefania the delicious desserts whilst son Andrea heads the
service and manages his impressive wine list. The food is authentic
Umbrian at its most delicious. Amongst the many offerings we love
the truffle and leek pasta, the tender pork loin with a rosemary flavoured
chickpea puree and the flambéed crema catalana that is an aristocratic
distant cousin to the ubiquitous crème caramel. The house speciality
is guinea fowl in a delicious creamy dressing, served on a king sized
bruschetta. For the figure conscious, we would recommend a light but
delectable dish of fillet of beef with ruccola and balsamico. The
cost is around 25 – 35 Euros per person, depending on your choice
of wines and the number of courses you can manage. Buon appetito!
Lillo Tatini
There can hardly be a more beautiful spot in which to eat than on
the terrace of this Panicale restaurant, overlooking a medieval square
and a Renaissance marble fountain. Its owner is Umbria’s answer
to Nigella Lawson – both in looks and culinary knowledge. She
is also a grand master of wine and it is worth discussing her comprehensive
wine list with her. The food is a modern take on traditional Umbrian
dishes, fresh and seasonal from the area. Here are some of our favourites:
cold asparagus soufflé; lake fish cannelloni with tiny local
lentils and courgettes; Patrizia’s take on carbonara which is
a quail’s egg poached inside a ravioli case with rough cut pancetta
bacon and parmesan shavings; “involtini” of chicken with
endives; a trio of grilled, minced and sautéed lamb; even the
humble potato is ennobled by adding truffles. We can rarely last through
to dessert but the fig sorbet is worth trying. A four course meal
for two with wine costs around 50 -55 Euros per person.
Locanda del Principato
Gives “slow food” a whole new dimension. Slow in the sense
of non-convenience, everything cooked from scratch, slow in that much
time and care is taken designing and preparing the perfect menu and
slow as it takes a great deal of time to get through the nine courses
or so that is dinner. The only thing that is not slow is the service!
The restaurant is only open three nights a week and offers just the
one menu, at the discretion of the chef who designs it around what
is seasonal – and whatever he happens to find in the market.
Take our word for it; even though we have no choice in what we eat,
he has never disappointed us. Also strange to relate, one never rises
from the table feeling bloated in spite of all those courses. We amuse
ourselves by quizzing one another afterwards about who remembers all
the courses. One or two always seem to be forgotten, even though all
are great quality. In between delicious pasta courses, you get a tiny
espresso cup sized taste of some light broth. Their risottos are always
imaginatively married to the flavours of the season: light green and
crunchy in the spring, rich and spice laden in the winter. One of
their specialities is cross-bread wild boar, juicy and tender, cooked
with herbs and juniper berries. Although there is an extensive wine
list, we normally contend ourselves with the house wine which has
never disappointed. Count on about 45 - 50 Euros a head with wine.
In the summer you dine in the charming garden, the rest of the year
in the rather eccentrically decorated basement restaurant. A word
of warning. After the meal an antique baby carriage is pushed to your
table, with thirty odd varieties of grappa with herbs and flavourings.
It is all on the house, but do exercise prudence. Avoid the peperoncini
grappa like the plague! It is so lethally strong that if your were
to drink it, you would consider the plague a kind and gentle alternative!
Siro
Siro’s is a little further away but we find the extra half
hour driving well worth it. A simple place with white table cloths,
original paintings, sketches and cartoons covering the wall from floor
to ceiling. Many depict the owner, a somewhat eccentric figure with
a Wagnerian mane of hair. The clientele are delightfully diverse,
you find the local bank manager rubbing shoulders with construction
workers; young lovers and large family groups blend into a happy,
noisy crowd. And happy they have every reason to be: the food is divine!
We always share a Siro antipasto, a huge platter of some ten to fifteen
tiny little tasty bits, a sliver of pecorino with chestnut honey,
home cured ham wrapped around an artichoke, a piece of puff pastry
with a creamy filling - the variety is endless. All the pasta are
“fatta in casa”, home made. Siro has an arrangement with
local women whose practiced fingers produce such delicacies as “caramelle
al tartuffo”, a pasta parcel pinched at each end, with a minced
ham filling and a creamy truffle sauce. Sharing is a must if you want
to get as far as the meat course. It is worth persevering, however,
as the oven baked lamb is really melt-in-the-mouth and even the humble
sausage acquires new dimensions of flavour in Siro’s excellent
kitchen. As for the wines, do not even bother to consult the wine
list. The house red is as good as anything coming out of the famous
Lungarotti cellars nearby. Price around 40 – 50 Euros per person.
Dates
1. Perugia Airport Chauffeured Package £367
2. Self-Drive Package £327
3. Extended catered olive picking weeks £?
4. Self catering olive picking weeks from £297
Olive
Autumn Breaks '08: Choose your dates
• Wednesday 5 to Sunday 9 November
• Wednesday 12 to Sunday 16 November
• Wednesday 19 to Sunday 23 November
• Wednesday 26 to Sunday 30 November
• Wednesday 3 to Sunday 7 December
To check availability on your choice of Tour and make a booking on
the
"Olive
Autumn Breaks '08"
tours based at CasaFontana please email:
enquiries@casafontana.net
To talk to us please phone UK 07710 317
337 or Italy +39 075 832 093
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