Small premise, just because I know it’s one of the first questions that comes to mind: don’t ask the reason of that name, it is a mystery and maybe it’s better to keep it that way… It adds a touch of curiosity that never hurts!
The restaurant called 4piedi&8.5pollici (“4feet & 8.5 inches”) is a corner, like the good little corner of the house, the preferred one, the one where we used to hide for a moment of peace from the daily routine. Or at least to me has always given this impression, that of the favourite corner, of the lair.
It’s small, there are just five or six tables inside, and the rest of the space is occupied by a relax corner with chairs and a small library , a table where to make pasta and a display cabinet with homemade products made by Laura, the owner.
I shall spend a few words on her, Laura, the owner, but I do not know which words to use to describe her human warmth , the availability, her smiling as well as chatting talent.
It’s definitely easier to talk of her creation, in which she puts all of her heart, and it shows.
Another peculiar thing here are the colors. Many, and they all fit together harmoniously. There seems to be an ongoing feast , and from the walls drawings (all handmade!) are watching. Corto Maltese (an allItalian comics’ hero) and lots of Disney characters … not to mention the Ode to life written on the wall of the little room before the WC. How can you avoid smiling coming in here?
But now let’s come to the crucial part: the food.
EVERYTHING is homemade, so there is nothing trivial here. And the ingredients are all sons of Umbria (did I already mention that the Tavern is located in Bastardo, near Perugia?).
The appetizer is a whole meal: cold cuts, cheese and jam (including roses’ jam, which I did not know but which I loved at the first taste, along with prickly pears’), pumpkin soup, olive oil bruschetta, warm focaccia… and other dishes depending on the season and on the imagination of the chefs, but mostly depending on what it was prepared, because, I’ll repeat, everything here is homemade!
Don’t miss the chocolate pasta. No, it isn’t topped with chocolate, chocolate is in the dough! The cocoa flavor is not noticeable, but it gifts the whole dish with a special flavor, unique, and it creates the perfect wedding with cheese and onion.
Eventually, the Rocciata (or ‘ntorta), is a typical Umbrian dessert very similar to strudel . It’s a dough made of wheat flour, water and oil , which wraps a mixture made of nuts , sugar , olive oil and apples.
I hope that reading you are getting the same mouthwater that’s coming to me… and the same desire to run in Bastardo, knocking on “4piedi&8.5pollici”’s door!
