‘We’ve been in gastronomic heaven since arrival’ - Sue Mulherin
SHOPPING
The foodie capital of Poggio Mirteto is a five minute drive away, with its Slow Food butcher, fresh pasta merchant, artisan ice cream maker and much more. A two minute stroll from Casa Poggio is an agriturismo selling organic produce – honey, jam, eggs, limoncello liqueur... Market days are Tuesday and Friday, good for spit-roast pork and local cheeses. You’ll even find a family-run supermarket selling home-produced oil, honey and meat.
EATING
Some excellent little restaurants are dotted around the hills – from steak on the barbecue at a Romanesque abbey, to fresh fish in a beautiful old villa, to fungi porcini from a cosy trattoria in the mountain foothills. All are firmly off the tourist trail. You will eat heartily and very, very well. Nearest to home is a pop-up restaurant at an organic farm: an unmissable experience. As one of our guests wrote, ‘We’ll be talking about our meal at Orto Bio for years to come.’
OLIVE OIL
Casa Poggio’s south-facing slopes are home to 150 olive trees, some as old as the house itself. For one week every October a team gathers to pick the olives by hand. The result is a typical Sabine extra virgin oil: bright green, grassy and intensely peppery, mellowing in time to a smoother, more golden product. Olive oil from the Sabine Hills is so prized by Italians it was the first to be given protected status (‘D.O.P.’).
WHEN IN ROME
From eating arancini rice balls in a tiny trattoria, to the best spaghetti alla carbonara at a deluxe deli, we’ll give you a list of well-kept Roman secrets.
