I spent six days working in Erba, a small town about 40 minutes’ drive south from Lake Como (map here). The local people were a pleasure to work with but the town itself doesn’t have much going on. What made the trip for me though was discovering this gem of an osteria up in the old town.
Osteria Italia is a fair walk from the Hotel Leonardo Da Vinci where I was staying, but I enjoyed the experience so much I went straight back for more the next night.
Stefano, the owner and chef (and waiter on my first visit) is a very friendly hospitable guy who gave me a warm welcome to his lovely old restaurant. A former salesman in the auto industry, he speaks good English and likes British rock, as demonstrated by the sounds coming from the restaurant speakers.
His menu is very concise, just the one antipasto (a plate of local cured meats, which I didn’t try in order to save space) and just four primi and secondi courses, so with Stefano’s guidance, I managed to a fair bit of the menu over the course of my two visits.
The stars of the show were the traditional Lombardian pasta dishes, neither of which I’d come across before. My favourites were the Casoncelli Freschi alla Bergamasca; gyosa-like raviolis stuffed Bergamo style with beef and sage, then fried in butter with pancetta and more sage.
I also really liked the Ravioli Freschi Valtellinesi al Casera: square buckwheat pasta pockets filled with potato, Savoy cabbage and three kinds of cheese. Both were eaten with a sprinkling of parmesan.
My favourite second course were the Mondeghili (Lombardian meatballs) fried in butter again and served with caramelised onions. I had these with a side of Peperonata, a stew of red peppers, tomatoes, and in this case onions.
On another night I had the Ucellini Scapati, which translate as ‘escaped birds’ but are in fact pork loin wrapped with pancetta and fastened with toothpicks. On the same plate was a ‘dadolato’ of diced seasonal veg fried in butter (of course) and simmered in milk.
I had an additional contorno of deep fried courgette flowers on the side, which are a personal favourite.
For dessert on my first visit I had Pan de Mej (also known as Pan Meino): biscuits made with wheat flour, cornmeal and millet flour. They go well with a glass of sweet wine, in this case Zibbibo from Sicily.
And the second time I had the Zabaione con Biscottini: egg yolks lightly whipped with sugar and sweet Marsala wine and served with small biscuits for dipping.
And to finish, an espresso and a glass of Stefano’s favourite digestivo: Savio Génépi Nature, a herbal liqueur from the Aosta valley. Génépi is an alpine plant known as Artemesia in English which is also used to make absinthe. The flavour is akin to chamomile.
So a lovely experience all round.
Another nice spot in central Erba is Ristorante Mercato 38 in Piazza Vittorio Veneto. There’s lots of tables outside, which are generally populated by local families and groups of friends having an aperitivo. It’s a typical community scene with lots of kids running around the market square. Everyone was very friendly and nice to me.
I ordered a plate of local antipasti; Mondeghino brianzolo (), Alborelle in carpione, Asprago bianco fritto con barba dei frati, Quova di quaglia e cialda croccante al Parmagiano ().
Mondeghili Brianza (), Soused Bleak, Fried White Asparagus with Monk’s Beard, Quail’s Quova and Crispy Parmagiano Waffle ().
Salmerino Alpino, a filet of Char lake fish and marinated green asparagus.
Arctic Char, Fillet with Marinated Green Asparagus
Pizzeria C’era Una Volta, 22 Via Lecco, www.pizzeriaceraunavolta.it
Around the corner from the Hotel Leonardo Da Vinci.
Erba is in the bottom right corner of my Como map. You can find all the places mentioned above on it, and more.