Down the hill

Eastside Road, December 6, 2016—

BEAUTIFUL, ISN'T IT? Tuesday is normally our fast day, but a surprise visitor suggested we join her at the neighbors' house for dinner, and I had a bottle of wine too big for just the two of us, and she had made a quince tart (I think I'd call it a galette) from quinces she'd picked from our tree a couple of months ago, so why not?

T. made a fine risotto in the usual way but with the addition of grated Chioggia beets, which I found quite delicious. If you're going to eat beets, this is the way to do it.

E. grilled a couple of pork loins on the "Tuscan Grill" in his fireplace, over grapevine cuttings I think and some charcoal.

Green salad afterward, and then this delicious quince tart. I should mention that this guest is a baker herself, and a farmer: she raises the wheat she uses in her own flours. She has a fine website.

Côtes du Rhône, Domaine de Piaugier, 2015: fruity, well rounded, very pleasant;
Barolo, Fonatanafredda, 2006; very fine

☛RESTAURANTS VISITED, with information and rating: 2016
(2015 restaurants)