After a coffee with N, it was time to get back on the road. We hooked up the gps and gawked at the number of kilometers: 591 or 367 miles. It seemed like a long way home, at least by Italian standards. Back in my American days, we used to do that many miles with barely a blink of an eye.
Our car was now laden with the fresh cheese, and snacks from N. A Pugliese olive and onion torta or pie and a bag of taralli, a twisted breadstick type snack found in Puglia. These were deliciously seasoned with fennel and helped make our trip go by faster.
Along the way, the iPhones were whipped out and our next stop was selected. The choice was based entirely on restaurant reviews. The winner? The town of Fontanellato in Parma, perfectly situated so we could have dinner and be home an hour or so later.
It was dark by the time we arrived. It wasn't quite dinner time yet so we killed some time visiting the small town's landmark castle. The Rocca Sanvitale castle is one straight out of a fairytale. It is surrounded by a water-filled moat, and connected with a drawbridge.
Then it was time to eat. The restaurant was Trattoria Teatro, just a stones throw away from the castle. For starters, we had their own house mixed salumi plate, served with crispy fried polenta bits.
Then we had tortelli, the pasta that the Parma region is most known for. I had the tortelli di erbetta or herbed filled tortelli that was good. The boys had a tortelli in brodo or tortelli in broth that they enjoyed. However the consensus was that it wasn't as good as the dish S had at Trattoria Petito in Forli at the very beginning of our road trip.
I don't remember if we had dessert. Did we have dessert? A semifreddo perhaps?
Soon we were speeding back towards Milan. Our road trip had finally come to an end. New Year's 2010 has indeed been a memorable one!
Trattoria Teatro
Piazza Giuseppe Verdi 5, Fontanellato 43012 (PR)
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