La Valle Restaurant in Fidenza

With Irina, my partner, we travel as much as possible. Recently we took a long trip that took us from Tuscany, to Lake Como, to Lake Garda, and back home to Rome. During this trip we ate at several different places, but only from the Chef of one of them, upon learning of our return trip, did we get the peremptory invitation to stop right in Fidenza, in La Valle.

The arrival at La Valle Restaurant

This is a country villa, about ten kilometers from the highway toll booth, a few curves slightly uphill and here we are. As we enter, we walk past the long wooden counter and then overlook the interior rooms, where, again in wood, there are the a few elegantly and modernly set tables ..

We are greeted by smiling and elegant staff and immediately we are brought menus that include various tasting menus, a la carte dishes, cold cuts, cheeses and desserts.

Very nice and extensive the wine list which, as the area teaches, is full of champagne lovers. And here you will find many of them on the menu indeed. But the breadth and quality of wine possibilities does not stop at French bubbles, but ranges over all of Italy and even other parts of the world. Really many bottles, many even emblazoned, with mark-ups appropriate to the tenor of the place, but in some cases they exceeded. Against the trend was the proposal of the very few rosés on the menu: in the end we chose one off the menu, which we were refreshed on the spot.

The gastronomic proposal

The gastronomic proposal is from local tradition, strongly revisited, lightened and with forms bordering on the most classic fine dining, without ever fully getting there.

We opted to go a la carte, because then she and I would swap plates, so we would taste more: a monumental fresh pasta Cavatello, chervil, spit-roasted snails, mustard; a more normal Fusillone Panarese, oyster, beet, kimchi, yogurt; a tasty and satiating Controfiletto e spalla di pecora Cornigliese, chard, bear garlic, fermented hot sauce of blackberries and noble pear; a very good barbecued Pigeon d’Anjou, confit thighs (slightly too spicy), beet variation, miso emulsion and shallot. We finished with an innovative and very good Zabaione al Marsala, with caramel, salted peanuts, semolina.

It was a midweek day and the restaurant was full, so it is successful. To us, the service, while top-notch, seemed a bit slow, which, with all the rituals of fine dining, got even longer. Let’s be clear, nothing tragic, but two and a half hours for two courses and dessert is a bit long.

However you are well, you eat very very well, you drink very well and we are well pleased to have scheduled a stop to try it out. Remember that for warm weather they have nice outdoor tables.