Le Marche

This post was supposed to be better, but after trying and trying, I can't seem to add any further photos. I apologize. You miss out on seeing the true wonder of Il Casato and Mario....


Okay, so I know this is late in coming (and I am back in the US, which will be the subject of my next post), but I thought this would still be a fun post, for a number of reasons. First, this area, Le Marche, is located to the east of my region, Emilia-Romagna, but is much less traveled than another regional neighbor, Tuscany. In fact, this region was written up in the New York Times last year as being the next Tuscany. I know this sounds like quite a cliche, to visit the next anything, but the article made this region sound so lovely....I wish I had more pictures to share with you, but blogger has thwarted my attempts to add all but the following photos. Here are some general photos of the region:




And here is a photo from the town of Urbino, which is located in the northwest of the region and is actually a UNESCO World Heritage site:
The highlight of the trip, though, was definitely the encounter with Mario Boria, who runs Il Casato in Castelraimondo. This farmhouse holding the restaurant has been in Mario's family for 250 years and everything served is made from the ingredients grown on Mario's farm. There was vino, meats, pastas, homemade grappa, and a delightful cherry dessert. I would say that no trip to Le Marche could possibly be complete without a trip to see Mario....