Meat, meat and more meat at Solociccia

After going to Mac Dario's for lunch the other day, we found out that Dario owned three restaurants: one was Mac Dario's, then Solociccia and the restaurant behind his butcher shop.

My dad made reservations at Solociccia a restaurant that is family style and serves only meat. As mom, dad, Bruce, Alisa and I drove up the hill from our villa La Rota we all said that we were very hungry. Our property manager had told us to, 'pace ourselves' and we were sure that it meant a lot of food would be coming our way. Once we got there the waiter showed us to our long table where people came together from all over, to eat at Dario's restaurant. Once we sat down we all looked at the menu which I have copied below;

Spicy meat ragu on toast

Batter fried meats and vegetables

Rosemary up your bum (Chianti sushi)

Fresh, raw garden vegetables

Homemade focaccia

Garbanzo and white beans

A roasted dish

Boiled beef and vegetable salad

A braised dish

Tuscan bread

Dario red wine (quarter liter)

Water with and without bubbles

Coffee, olive oil cake

Grappa Cecchini

that is the menu and to tell the truth everything was really good

For the first course, we had was The Spicy Meat Ragu on toast. It came on Tuscan bread and in a big dish. All of it came together so everyone passed the dishes around the table, the meat ragu had soaked the toast so that it had a feel of being dipped in a warm and soothing broth and the meat was very good, it was sort of like a Sloppy Joe but better.

The Batter Fried Meats and Vegetables were very tasty and each was different, the meatball was delectable and would be really nice in a pasta with a meat sauce. The batter fried onion was like a gourmet onion ring. Finally, the batter fried pork was, to me the best one because it had a sort of sweet after taste.

The homemade focaccia was crunchy bread with different veggies in it, like my favorite piece had onion. The Garbanzo and White Beans were warm and had an olive oil broth.

The Rosemary Up Your Bum was to die for! It was so good, rare meat with a hole in the top and a sprig of Rosemary sticking out and therefore 'up your bum'.

The Roasted Dish was similar to a roast beef with parsley on top with olive oil seasoning, it was way better than any roast beef we know and so much better than any deli cut.

Boiled Beef and Vegetable Salad is like a corn beef lovers dream, it was by far my favorite and it was so easy to eat all of it on the plate! The Boiled Beef fell right off of the largest piece and it tasted so delicious and rich and creamy.

At the point the Braised Beef dish arrived, I was too full to take another bite and when I tried it it tasted so rich and salty that I gave up on eating any more food.

Then our very kind waiter clanged his glass and we all listened as he told us about the Olive Oil Cake that was about to come out of the oven and onto our table. It was so nice and it tasted like lemon pound cake and then I grabbed the piece in the center and bit the bottom and found a type of sugar that was so sweet and crunchy.

After dinner we all went to the butcher shop for Grappa and Dario was filling the glasses again and again. I met Dario's wife Kym and she was very nice to me and told me I could ask Dario about his career as a butcher. This is the interview that I had with him,

In which part of Italy were you born in?

"I was born in that window across the street, right there!"

Why did you decide to become a butcher?

"My family has been doing this job for 250 years, and it has been passed on from father to son."

What is your favorite type of meat?

"All the recipes in the menu are the ones I grew up with, my menu is like music all the notes together make a melody. Everything in the menu is no waste and we use all of the animal in a way so everything is used because an animal gave its life for us to eat. In a world like ours where people are starving we have to handle, cook with and work with the meat carefully ."

What would you have done if you weren't a butcher?

"My dream was to be an opera singer, but I didn't have the voice I had the heart."

(he was playing opera music in his butcher shop and everyone was laughing and Dario was walking around socializing and balancing shot glasses in one hand and Grappa in the other. It was like a really loud food music concert in the alley. People driving by were getting Grappa shots while people from everywhere in the village walked over and laughed and talked and drank.)

I admire Dario Cecchini's talent for working with meat so well and bringing people together at his table to enjoy the meat and each others company.

Thank you Dario for answering my questions and welcoming me to your restaurant

The Watermelon Radish