Taste of Travel: Italy : Fare From the Heartland : In Umbria, truffles, grilled meats and rich pastas are traditional, un-trendy and reasonably priced

PERUGIA, Italy —  I’ve heard often that the food in Umbria is as good as it is in the adjacent region of Tuscany, which is renowned for its culinary prowess. But perhaps because the Umbrians themselves prefer a low profile and seem shyer than their Tuscan neighbors, Umbria has remained rather unknown to--and significantly less unexplored by--Americans. This has resulted in restaurants that are less crowded and often less costly than those of their higher-profile Tuscan neighbors.

Umbrian food is regional and traditional, paying no mind to the trendy, lighter cucina nuova that may have passed through these parts during the past decade but left little or nothing behind. Go to the restaurant Coccorone in the town of Montefalco for old-fashioned cooking, as I did last October, and you’ll see almost everything prepared over a grill in an old fireplace, from sage-scented veal chops to scorched scamorza cheese. The food is good because of its earthiness, simplicity and fine flavors.

Or go to Trattoria Dalla Lea in Citta di Castello and dine on fagioli, patate e pasta (beans, potatoes and pasta). You won’t believe how tasty it is until you’ve had it. In this region, where the truffle is king, a shaving of it can be yours just by asking. I found the locally made pastas sauced with truffles and mushrooms intoxicating.

Umbria’s food is also special because of its pork products, in particular those found around Norcia, where Umbrian pigs feed on chestnuts, mushrooms and truffles. The pork and salumi of Norcia are so celebrated that almost all meals in Umbria include a sampling. Because spit-roasting over an open fire is the favorite method for cooking fresh meats, the renowned local specialty is porchetta, a whole pig stuffed with rosemary, garlic and pepper and cooked over coal embers.

Some may dismiss Umbria for being without a coastline, but it has one of the largest lakes in the country, Lake Trasimene, which provides a sea of freshwater fish including carp, eel and pike.

Truthfully, when I was asked by friends, “Why Umbria?,” I replied there are many reasons. But two came quickly to mind: the famous chocolate of Perugia and the dry white wine of Orvieto.

After a month’s stay, however, I learned of many more.

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Perugia plays a complex role as historic center, city of art to rival its heady neighbor Florence, and the bustling cosmopolitan capital of Umbria.

While best known for its chocolates--I saw them in every confectionary shop--Perugia has lots of other good food. It was in Perugia that I found La Taverna. I wasn’t the first. La Taverna’s foyer walls are covered with framed menus signed by the glitterati, including Marcello Mastroianni and Sophia Loren. Its three dining rooms are graced with brick vaulted ceilings, pink damask tablecloths and large urns bearing La Taverna’s crest. The charming surroundings are excelled only by its food. The zuppa de fave e carciofi (soup of fava beans and artichokes) was an Umbrian delight of pureed favas and artichokes, chunky with chopped, flat-leaf parsley.

In another Perugia restaurant, the intimate La Locanda degli Artisti, I sampled tagliarini al boscoila, a homemade pasta sauced with tomatoes, sausages, mushrooms and herbs that was perfect with Lungarotti’s 1991 Rubesco. On a second visit, I enjoyed penne Umbrian style: pasta made rich with cream and black truffles. (A good buy in Umbria is jars of various sizes filled with chopped truffles, which can easily be added to sauces). La Locanda has a good location near the covered market--a huge oversize greenhouse-like structure stocked with fresh meats, cheeses and greenery.

Twenty-seven miles from Perugia is Todi, a small, classic, ancient town, set dramatically on a hill among hills. Its Piazza del Popolo, considered one of Italy’s most visually harmonious town squares, is best appreciated from the duomo steps. Here, through the piazza’s stone arches and just a few doors down on a side street, one finds Todi’s great eatery: the Umbria. It has two large dining rooms, one of which is decked out with emerald green walls and dark beams and a working fireplace. The other room is ornately designed with walls of pomegranate and contrasting wide decorative borders. A third dining area is on a terrace offering a breathtaking view of the Tiber valley.

Each of the several times I visited, I found the Umbria crammed with diners. People return for their lentil soup ($6), broccoletti with lemon ($3.50), homemade spaghetti with tomatoes and basil ($6), grilled wild pigeon ($12) and deep-fried porcini mushrooms ($8).

In Spoleto, I lunched at the Trattoria Dell’Arco Di Druso, whose rooms are wall-to-wall, ceiling-to-floor covered with Spoleto music festival posters from past years. The food is simple trattoria fare, but never disappointing. Their pizza Margherita with tomatoes and mozzarella ($4), their polenta and their tagliarini with mushrooms and tomato sauce were memorable.

One of the best places to eat in Umbria is in Spoleto, at Ristorante Apollinare. Two menus are featured: traditional (la tradizione) and creative (la creativita) and both are worth sampling. Andrea Scotacci and his mother, Giovanna Gradassi, are charming hosts. Try the local specialty frascarelli, which is homemade pasta sauced with both light tomato and pesto, the latter put on the plate before adding the pasta. It was delicious ($7). Or try the baked lamb, perfumed with thyme and marjoram and baked with seasonal vegetables ($14).

Spoleto’s Taverna Dei Duchi, next to a great antique shop, also serves delicious food. There I sampled insalata Andalusia, a salad with roasted peppers, and brociole zingara, which is beef rolls in a red wine and onion sauce.

In Orvieto the choices were difficult since that city boasts many fine food establishments. I chose Trattoria Etrusca to enjoy umbrichelli-- an Orvietan specialty of hand-rolled spaghetti with tomatoes, mushrooms and dried chilies, followed by rabbit with juniper. The ancient volcano that created the mesa on which the city is perched also enriched the surrounding hillsides with the rare mixture of minerals partly responsible for the region’s excellent dry white wines, which make excellent accompaniments to the local fare.

To reach Fattoria Di Vibio, the B&B; created by Gabriella Moscati and her two sons, Guiseppe and Filippo (about 12 miles from Todi), I passed through verdant hills and picturesque farms and a romantic, poster-like view of Todi. The bedrooms of this working farm are tiny but the overall feeling is one of space due to the land, view and common areas for guests: a sitting room with a huge fireplace, a game room, a large dining room. The swimming pool is Olympian. Lunch outdoors under Gabriella’s umbrella was la dolce vita. Yet the cost for these accommodations was modest ($65 per person, per day, including breakfast and lunch or dinner).

Gabriella baked fresh fennel slices with balsamella white sauce. It was simply ambrosia, as were her tortellini in brodo (broth), cooked pears in red wine, homemade bread, minestrone (greens, carrots, potatoes, onions and peas), penne arrabiata (pasta spiked with dried red chilies and garlic) and, finally, apple tart.

I took snapshots of the family before driving off to Torgiano to Le Tre Vaselle, a posh inn owned and operated by the Lungarotti family, famous for their wines and wine museum. The inn’s dining room, with its somewhat formal, austere atmosphere and the many other foreign diners, prompted me to wonder if I were in Italy. But the food was remarkable. It was, however, the most expensive of this trip. Over several days, along with German and the Japanese patrons, I ate salmone marinato al rabarbara (marinated salmon with rhubarb), risotto con crescione e cosce di rana (risotto with frog’s legs and watercress), pappa al pomodora (thick tomato soup), nocette d’agnello al tartufo estivo (lamb scallop with summer truffles), pecorino umbro con mostardo (Umbrian pecorino cheese with fruit condiment), pera in sfoglia al Rubesco (pear in pastry with Rubesco--Lungarotti red wine) and crespelle glassate ai frutte di bosco (crepes with berry glaze).

From Torgiano I drove through a truly lush, fertile valley frosted with vineyard after vineyard intersperced with acres of neat lines of olive trees. Excellent olive oil is made in this area, which is also known for its dry red Sangrantino (D.O.C.), made from partially dried grapes.

When I finally reached Montefalco, I headed, on foot, down a very narrow street a few hundred feet from the main piazza. There I found the wonderful restaurant Coccorone. I entered a small garden with set tables, passing through the main door to a large oblong room. To the left was a fireplace and grill, to the right a bar and between, two Art Deco chairs, a piano and stool and five tables set for dining. Behind this setting were two large arches and the main dining room.

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I asked for the table closest to the fireplace and grill where the chef was busy cooking veal intestines, pigeons and veal chops. At the same time, he was grilling wooden skewers laden with escargot on a different grid. Another grilled item was chunks of scamorza cheese cooked on both sides and served sprinkled with truffle shavings, if requested. The crusty bread made with no salt was perfect with verdure al stagione (steamed spinach), lightly dressed in olive oil and fresh lemon juice. I relished the homemade stringozzi-- Umbrian pasta sauced with sauteed, minced mushrooms in olive oil.

From Montefalco I drove myself to Perugia where I caught the main highway north, which traces the Tiber, and eventually found myself in Citta di Castello, Umbria’s most northern city.

The secret of Citta di Castello is the absence of tourists. I met only one English-speaking couple from Wales during my one-week stay. But I dined well at Ristorante Tiferno, at the hotel of the same name. One outstanding preparation was tagliatelle con sugo di mare-- superb--homemade string pasta with mussels out of their shells combined with chopped calamari and sliced green beans in a wine sauce with just the right amount of fresh lemon juice. The grilled lamb chop that followed was lean and delicious.

But the best was yet to be sampled at the Trattoria Dalla Lea, a small, charming two-room setting owned by a husband and wife team, Antonio and Lea Giambanelli, and most ably assisted by their dashing 16-year-old son Cristiano. On several occasions I enjoyed the best peasant dish preparation of fagioli, patate e pasta (beans, potatoes and pasta). Another outstanding dish was Lea’s penne al cognac made with a dash of tomato puree to render a light pink color to the cream and cognac sauce mixed into cooked penne. Cristiano always brought us caffe lungo-- Italian coffee made American by adding more hot water. This trattoria was packed with local patrons during lunch and dinner.

In Gubbio, I lunched at the newly remodeled Bosone restaurant in the Palazzo Raffelli Hotel. It has outdoor tables under extra-large Italian umbrellas that create an alfresco dining room with a full view of the countryside. But the weather that day was sad and gray, so I went inside to dine in a room with a vaulted ceiling, white walls and a huge baronial fireplace. There I ate a tasty risotto di zucchine e dolce verde (risotto made with bits of zucchini in a gorgonzola sauce) with arcobaleno di ortaggi (a rainbow salad of vegetables: hot slices of carrots and zucchini with asparagus). My friend had a superb zuppa di fagioli made with red kidney beans (borlotti) and lots of prosciutto and herbs.

Umbria may be referred to as Tuscany’s little sister, but I found the delicious food, fine olive oils and cheeses and good wines just as good, but for less money and with fewer crowds.

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GUIDEBOOK: Dining in Umbria

The following are recommended restaurants (and one B&B;) in Umbria. Prices represent the cost of a light lunch or dinner for two including local wine.

Bosone, Via 20 Settembre 22, Gubbio; about $60; telephone in Italy (075) 927-3882.

Coccorone, Largo Tempestiri, Montefalco; about $50; tel. (074) 279-535.

Fattoria Di Vibio, Todi; $65 per person, per night, including two meals; tel. (075) 874-9607.

La Locanda degli Artisti, Via Campo Battaglia 10, Perugia; about $35; tel. (075) 573-5851.

La Taverna, Via delle Streghe 8, Perugia; about $75; tel. (075) 572-4128.

Le Tre Vaselle, Via Garibaldi 48, Torgiano; about $150; tel. (075) 988-0447.

Ristorante Apollinare, Via S. Agata 14, Spoleto; about $70; tel. (074) 322-3256.

Ristorante Tiferno, Piazza R. Sanzio 13, Citta di Castello; about $40; tel. (075) 855-0331.

Taverna Dei Duchi, Via A. Saffi 1, Spoleto; about $35; telephone and fax (074) 340-323.

Trattoria Dell’Arco Di Druso, Via Arco di Druso 25, Spoleto; about $40; tel. (074) 322-1695.

Trattoria Dalla Lea, Via S. Florida 38, Citta di Castello; about $25; tel. (075) 855-2000.

Trattoria Etrusca, Via Maitani 10, Orvieto; about $50; tel. (076) 344-016.

Umbria, Via San Bonaventure 13, Todi; about $50 for lunch or dinner for two, including local wine; tel. (075) 894-2390.

--J.F.