This was where we had all our buffet breakfasts & lunches during the Concorso sessions. A cosy but efficient place that served up to 90 persons per meal, easily.
Lunch menus include
La Tagliata di Manxo su letto di Erbette di campo all'Aceto Balsamico

Le mexxe penne "tricolore"
La scaloppa di pesce persico del Garda dorato su letto di crema di ceci

I maccheroncini di pasta fresca al pomodor e olive nere taggiasche
La taliata di filetto al forno con salsa al Valpolicella e rosmarino

Il timballo di lasagne verdi alle verdurine e basilico con vellutata al pomodoro fresco
and
I medaglioni al prosciutto di Praga con salsa al Porto

A bottle of white & red wine accompanied each lunch. The wines were representative of Italy's regions - Sicily, Apulia, Veneto, Lombardy.

The main foyer & bar is also the banquet hall at this hotel. The welcome dinner menu was

Buffet degli apertivi

La composixione con lardo di Colonnata, speck d'anatra affumicato e salame di cinghiale con miele di mugo e pane tostato

Il raviolone integrale ripieno di ricotta e finocchietto al burro versato

Il riso vialone nano mantecato al limone, gorgonxola e basilico in cesto di grana

Il medglione in pasta fillo al pate di funghi con salsa ristretta al Madera

La melanxana al funghetto e le patate al forno

La millefoglie all'amaretto

FIVE wines were from Castello Banfi's range were served with the meal.

An open-spit fire glowing warmly in this cool evening, warmed our hearts & set the mood for the Concorso members' first night out. The open oven & BBQ pit took centrestage surrounded by stocky wooden tables & chairs for the guests. The whole restaurant worked like clockwork, dishing out the hearty cuisine in courses. 

Some antipastis of  open-faced baguettes of pomodoro (tomatoes) paste & herbs was followed with fresh gorgonzola on grilled polenta got us going. The wines for the evening was already opened & worked smoothly with the food. Courses of grilled peppers & mushrooms richly slathered in fresh extra virgin olive oil & herbs kept the pace going.  Some pasta and then, the main course followed. The house specialty of assorted grilled meats of lamb, chicken, beef cuts & pork ribs were served hot from the fire. 

Immediately after the excitement of the first Concorso sessions, left my new-found friends & me quite satiated. Several of us skipped the last bit & expresso to head back for some rest with the next day's session in mind.

Dinner at this rather informal & hearty restaurant was a good introduction to the lifestyle of Verona. Abundant food done up in different innovative styles, many with a subtle message or story to tell.

Each table setting, here, is set out with 4 glasses - water, white wine, first red wine and highlight red wine. So, just count the number of glasses laid out for our group of 90 Concorso members during our first dinner outing ... 360 glasses!! This was repeated in every dinner engagement, we had.  I wonder how many Singapore restaurants have even a fraction of this number! And we are not talking about tiny multi-purpose glasses, but well-designed "real" wine glasses as you can see in to photo, above.

New friends gather for a photo-shoot before diving into the food & wine - (l-r) Angela Lloyd (South Africa), Remie Law (Singapore) and Francois Pierssens (Belgium).

On our first free evening, several of us headed out into the countryside to a recommended restaurant. Set in an old mansion surrounded by vineyards, its building also houses a small hostelry of just 10 rooms. 

The restaurant is run by 4 sisters, specialsing in freshly-made pasta dishes. Gnocchi & lentil pastas are the specialties, here.

Amidst old photos & hanging tapestries, this restaurant extrudes elegance of a bygone era. Yet, the dishes are hearty & fresh. With the main course, you're invited to select your side dishes from the buffet tray wheeled around the spacious restaurant. Similarly, there is a dessert trolley for your selection at the end of your meal.

For the main course, I had slow-roast lamb, whose meat fell off the bone & melted in the mouth. This went very well with Allegrini's La Grola

The next evening saw us at this Hotel-Restaurant located smack in the middle of "Orchard Road". A brisk evening walk from our hotel, prepared us well for this feasting.

Asparagi con uova di quaglia
Burro fuso e tartufo nero

Maltagliati dell'ortolano

Gnocchi di zucca con formaggio mezzano e fiori di zuchine

Stinco di vitello al forno

Legumi di stagione

Torta allo yogurt e lamponi con salsa alla vaniglia

FOUR wines accompanied this dinner - Chardonnay from Pasqua (Sicily), Tommasi's "Crearo della conca d'oro", Amarone from Gianluigi ending with Recioto by Tommasi. 

Additionally, I thoroughly enjoyed a Merlot from Grace Vineyard (Shanxi) graciously offered by Susie Wu (Shanghai). For a relatively young vineyard, the Merlot was seductively medium-bodied, well-balanced with fine tannins & distinct Merlot flavours. It appears that the new wave wineries coming online in China is finally getting their act together.

This is the mecca of all visitors to Verona, who are winelovers. It acts both as a Winebar as well as a full-fledged ristorante with more than just "pub" food. The bar area is small for such an always busy operation. 

I dropped in several times to sample their wines as aperitifs or as after-dinner nightcaps. They have a huge blackboard behind the bar, listing about 100 wines available by-the-glass (see other Vinitaly pages). Their winelist is an inch thick folder, offering premium wines in several vintages & wines from every quality region in Italy & the world. Finally, wines are served in wineglasses suitable for the particular wine selected, all etched with a BV logo at its base. 

To physically view their old vintage offerings, simply ask to visit the underground cellar located below the winebar. Here you'll find dusty old Y'quem, Sassicaia, top Burgundies and Bordeaux, all for sale.

Botega has a full food menu to select from. Antipastis of shredded horsemeat dressed in vinigrette sauce, fresh gorgonzola on toasted polenta, hams & salami. Pasta dishes including risotto, of course. Main courses of freshwater fish & various meats, all perfectly grilled & sauced.

The "Thank You" dinner for members of the Concorso was held here. The property is owned by the Tommasi family & run by Best Western Hotels. I was last here in 1996 for lunch with the Tommasi family & was so overwhelmed by the food that I forgot to take notice of the name or location. As our coach approached this historic hotel in a small town in Veneto, it hit me immediately! This was it!!

The aperitifs of delicately deep-fried garden vegetables & whitebait, cheeseballs & meatballs, served up with 4 different Proseccos was a delightful introduction to a gorgeous evening held in an outhouse fronting the courtyard garden.

We then proceeded to the main dining hall with beautiful frescos along its walls. 4 wines were served with this menu.

Crudo di Parma con grana e mostarda

Tortelli del "Borgo" al burro versato

Risotto con asparagi

Feletto alla Rossini
Contorni di stagione

Meringata di fragole

Carpaccio d'ananas con gelato "Vaniglia"

Here are the award-winning Chef-owners of this trattoria set in a non-descript road just outside the town centre of Torreglia, a small town within the Colli Euganei region near Padua. If Singapore were to re-look their zoning regulations, we could have such top quality stand-alone restaurants  with a homely touch.

The chefs served up a gastronomic feast for our tour group and their regular guests - winery owners of Colli Euganei. A late dinner starting at about 2045hrs lasted till past midnight, saw a slew of fine dishes accompanied by some of the finest wines of Colli Euganei.

the many wines of Colli Euganei DOC

Another award-winning ristorante for our final lunch at Colli Euganei. This was our longest lunch lasting from about 1330hrs till 1700hrs, where a  gustatory menu was served with accompanying wines.

Scartosso di piccoli pesci e crostacei con dolce-forte di pomodoro
La Montecchia Chardonnay

Nervetti di vitello all'aceto con passata di fagioli coanellini e olive nere
La Montecchia Godimondo

Risotto con asparagi ed erbette, mantecato all'olio extravergine di Baone
La Montecchia Godimondo

Ravioli di caprino di Montegalda all'olio e pepe
Urbano Salvan "San Marco"

Gran Fritto del Quinto Quarto
La Montecchia Villa Capodilista

Carre d'agnello caramellato e caponatina di verdure
Pigozzo "Oltre il limite ... e altro"

Sfoglia caramellata con al crema fredda di pistacchio, salsa alla vaniglia
La Montecchia Fior d'Arancio passito

Morbidone al cioccolato con croccante di mais e salsa yogurt

Caffee espresso "Guatemala Huehuetenango"

Its showcase butchery & meats counter took one-quarter of the dining space. And what wonderful & fragrant meats were served as appetizers. Air-dried paper-thin hams, meaty salami, ultra-rich Lardo & fragrant cheeses were sliced as requested.

Being lunch & needing to get back to Vinitaly, we opted for  pasta main courses, although Winston went for a meaty main dish. To accompany the meal, I selected a Greco di Tofu from Campania. Towards the end of the meal, the owner was disappointed that we had not had a local wine, so graciously offered each a complimentary glass of his house Valpolicella. This was a substantial wine with good fruit & balance, not the reputed insipidly thin grape juice. 

I have had the pleasure of enjoying good Valpolicella, previously, but how do you convince consumers that there are good things out there besides the crap bulk wines?

proudly displaying wines of Veneto

This restaurant boasts the traditional cuisine of Verona. On its menu are lentil pasta & risotto to start you off besides the soups & cold meats. The main courses were a choice of meats hot off the grill or braised meats off the trolley. Here the specialty is horsemeat with the horse's hoof prominently displayed on the trolley. In the same traditional way, the side dishes also come on a trolley offering pickled onions, roasted peppers on olive oil, baked potatoes & boiled white beans.

In my enthusiasm to try it, I opted for grilled horsemeat, which was a small mistake, as the portion was just too much for me. I should have taken the specialty, which was the braised meat selection with accompanying sauces.

Check out the braised meats in the Main Courses pages