This biscuit may look simple, maybe even a little boring. But believe me, it is not. It was made at a wonderful place called Granarium, located in the countryside in Umbria. Their tag line is “dove il grano diventa pane”, or “where wheat becomes bread”. This amazing place is not just a bakery, it is also a mill. Work further backwards with me…it’s a farm. Yes, they can truly say “from wheat to bread” because they grow the grain, harvest it, mill it into flour, bake it into countless delicious products and sell it….all in the same place.

Granarium is the brainchild of Gian Piero Lucarelli, a man so passionate about his end product, he decided he needed to control every aspect of its production. He explained to me he wanted to sell bakery products that were the best, and the only way to do that was to begin with growing the grain. Gian Piero is no stranger to farming. He hails from an agricultural family, so tending the fields is what he grew up doing. He took me and some friends of mine on a little tour of his facility. I say “little” because physically, it’s a small space; not a giant production factory. But in this small space, every step of the production is carefully tended and watched over; from the grinding of grains, to the cleanliness of the kitchen, to the giant wood-fired oven, to the lovely counter space where the bakery products are sold to the public. It is a dream come true for Gian Piero, and luckily for the rest of us as well.

The harvested grains are stored in these silos which are attached to the Granarium building. Wheat grains enter the building through tubes, and go through various stages of machinery to separate the wheat from the chaff, and remove stones and dust, before beginning the grinding process. 







Below you see the various stages of cleaning the wheat. In the third picture, Gian Piero shows us the clean wheat ready to be ground.

After being ground, the wheat goes through a three part sifting process. The sifter separates the wheat germ from the flour from the bran. Each separate entity has its different uses when baking a wide variety of products.

As we move from the factory area into the kitchen area, Gian Piero snags a scoop of flour and asks me to taste a pinch. Raw flour? I am not excited about this, but not to offend, I take a goodly pinch and pop it in my mouth. I am amazed. I expected it to become gluey in my mouth and have no flavor. Quite the opposite, this flour maintains its texture and is actually full of wheat flavor. It’s flour, and it’s delicious! 

Next, he shows us racks of biscuits that are cooling from the ovens. He offers us each one. This time no one hesitates, and we each happily take a bite. These unadorned, simple biscuits have four ingredients he explains. They contain freshly ground whole wheat flour, sugar, butter and organic eggs. They are so incredibly, simply delicious….not too sweet, not too buttery, filled with the flavor of whole wheat like I’ve never had before.

Moving into the next room, he shows us the wood burning oven. Yes, singular oven. There is only one, but it’s a mighty big one. In the back corner of the interior of the oven is a walled off area, where a wood fire is built. Beech wood is fed into it to maintain its constant heat. And because the wood fire is behind its little brick wall, there are no ashes all over the floor of the oven. The baked goods don’t get blackened by ash, but appear to have been baked in a regular oven. The wood maintains a constant heat, and gives off a nice aroma to the baked products.


I'm sorry my photo of the oven did not turn out. Instead, I offer you a peek at the wooden paddles used to take things in and out of the oven.

Back to the little storefront, we have polished off our delicious biscuits, but our eyes are big for all the other goodies to be found behind the counter. Tiziana is there to offer us more tastes and to wrap up our purchases. We buy all manner of cookies while munching on wedges of jammy tarts she’s insisted we try. We also buy squares of “pizza” crust topped with cherry tomatoes. In addition to all the baked goods on offer, there are bags of flour to buy as well as sacks of lentils and beans that are also grown by the Lucarelli family. Purchases in hand, and so grateful for their time, knowledge and skills, we say goodbye with hopes to see them again soon. Gian Piero, the Lucarelli family and Granarium are the very definition of the farm-to-table movement. This is truly “slow food” at its best. 

One of my purchases was a big bag of the very same biscuits we’d been lucky enough to taste on our tour. They were quite heavy, but I only gave a momentary, fleeting thought to the weight of my luggage as I needed to have these biscuits. Today is a sad day. I have eaten my last biscuit. I am trying not to cry. They have been a morning staple with my first coffee of the day….and now they are all gone. I am trying not to cry.

Dear readers, you should think about stopping my tears. Join me in 2014. Let’s visit Granarium together and munch our way through the Umbrian countryside. PS: And just beyond Granarium is a quite lovely winery I’d like to take you to as well :)
Drop me a line at:
 irene@bellagiornatatours.com

People often ask me why I am so enamored with taking people to Umbria when most tourists want to go to Tuscany. Maybe it is because I am so comfortable there. While living in Rome, Umbria was the closest place to get away to for the weekend. Its hill towns are so incredibly charming. Its food is so delicious. Its lesser known wines are incredible. Every area of Italy believes (and rightly so) that their specialty foods and their local wines are the best, but I fell in love with Umbria’s first and they will always hold a special place in my heart. 

Umbria is chock-full of great places to visit, but on this particular trip most of my time was spent on the eastern side with the bulk of my time in Spello, the area around Bevagna and Trevi. 

Spello is a little gem of a hill town. For some reason, it seems to have more than its fair share of great restaurants. Poor me. It’s so hard to make a decision on where to eat; they are all so good. And for such a small town, it seems to have an incredible number of great shops as well. Start at the top at the store that sells all things made from olive wood, and work your way down the hill, through ceramics, linens, and fabulous food products. Below, you will see some of the many great dishes I have been lucky enough to partake of in Spello. On the left is a delicious plate of mixed bruschette. In the middle is a fabulous molded appetizer filled with potatoes and porcini mushrooms and topped with a sauce made with cheese and truffles. And on the right is a wonderful mixed grill plate, cooked right in front of me in the open fireplace. Fabulous! PS: These three dishes are from three different restaurants.

Bevagna and its surrounding countryside is filled with wine opportunities. I was able to fit in two wonderful wine tastings on this trip; one at a place I’ve been to sooooo many times before (and love going back to), and another at a winery that was new to me though I’ve drunk their fabulous wine sooooo many times before. Ahh….Sagrantino and Montefalco Rosso; two of my favorite wines on earth, along with passito, the sweet dessert wine made from sagrantino grapes. Sigh. The third photo below, is a serving of homemade cookies with a glass of passito at a restaurant in Spello.

On this trip, I also stumbled across a couple of new and wonderful places to return to. One is a beyond-fabulous mill/bakery which I will be writing more about in a future blog post. Another is a factory outlet for cashmere clothing. I now own a green cashmere cape. Yes. It’s green. And it’s a cape!

My last bit of time in Umbria was spent in wonderful Trevi. I’ve found a “new” (newly refurbished) hotel for my future clients to stay in that is simply so charming; I can’t wait to bring people there. The people who run the hotel are incredibly nice; I know my travelers will be so happy there. Trevi is fast becoming a great food destination and hosts an abundance of food related festivals. The countryside is filled to the brim with olive oil trees, making it one of the “olive oil capitals” of Italy. I am so excited to return.

My research trip has come to a close. Where did the time go? With a final night in Rome, my trip will be over. As usual, I either start, or in this case end my trip to Italy at my favorite pizzeria in Rome.  I share a fiori di zucca (zucchini flower) pizza with an old friend and top it off with an incredible gelato at a nearby gelateria. The pizza from this place never fails to make me swoon. I have told the owner in the past, "When I eat pizza here.....I know I am truly in Rome." Do you see the little green flecks in the gelato? They are pieces of real, fresh mint leaves, making this THE best mint chocolate chip gelato I have ever had!

Italy. It has stolen my heart.....yet again. And each return trip only further strengthens my desire to share my favorite spots with first-time travelers. Return with me, won’t you? Let’s eat, drink and sightsee our way through Rome and the countryside together. Don’t be surprised if Italy steals your heart as well. Drop me a line at:mailto:irene@bellagiornatatours.com

Welcome to Montepulciano, a charming hill town filled to the brim with great food and wine, wonderful architecture, beautiful art, and best of all…fabulous people. This town in lower Tuscany offers a little bit of everything a visitor could want. Montepulciano is presided over by their famous clock tower which features a clown, from Naples of all places. The Pulcinella is a reminder left by a Neapolitan bishop who was banished to Montepulciano for being a philanderer. (I can think of worse places to get banished to.)

But there’s so much more to Montepulciano than the cute clock tower. This town contains several churches and palaces containing some great art. There are eye-catching side streets to stroll down (or up). This, like many hill towns I constantly forewarn clients about, is quite vertical. It is very easy to work off one’s lunch or dinner. You really have no choice but to do so….which is why eating and drinking here is so great! 

There are wonderful views from Montepulciano since it is one of the higher towns in the area.

There are many artisanal craftspeople in Montepulciano. You will find all kinds of artisans, from wrought iron forgers to mosaic makers hard at work, not to mention ceramic artists. There is a wealth of shopping to partake in from the aforementioned artists as well as all sorts of wine, food and olive oil products. (I had a wonderful visit with the mosaic man….I’ll be writing about him in a future blog.)

And last but not least….there is….wine. Ah! Take a sip of the local Rosso di Montepulciano and Vino Nobile and you will be hooked. There are many underground caves which would suffice for a wine tour, but I found one with especially nice people, an especially nice tour, and especially nice wine that I will be taking future clients to. I can't wait to return!

This attempt at a panorama was taken from a great place to have lunch outside of the town with a fantastic view looking back to Montepulciano and the surrounding countryside.

Montepulciano, a window on Tuscany. Come join the fun! Book now for tours departing 2014. Drop me a line at irene@bellagiornatatours.com. Let’s discuss your future in Tuscany.

My trip to research new itineraries for my clients continues into southern Tuscany. Pienza will be my home base for the next three nights as I return to favorite haunts and explore new discoveries the area has to offer. 

Between Rome and Pienza, there is a lot to see. My first stop was at the Parco dei Mostri or Monster Park in Bomarzo. This fascinating little side trip, seemingly in the middle of nowhere is only an hour north of Rome, and makes for a great spot to stop and stretch your legs. The “garden” is a shady stroll through a “sacro bosco” or Sacred Woods. Around every turn of the path, appear gigantic statues and sculptures carved from the local stones. These mythological and fanciful creations are amazing in proportion and number. The garden was created in the 1500’s, fell into disrepair and the monsters lay in wait, hiding under overgrown greenery for 300 years. It was rediscovered in the 1930’s and developed into a park in the 1950’s. Today, an entry fee ensures its upkeep. It is an interesting and surreal stop.

Next stop: Bagnoregio, a city like no other. Bagnoregio has been called a dying town, but really it is far from that. It is uniquely situated on a rocky promontory which can only be reached by footbridge. (Be prepared for an uphill trek.) The city is now charging an entry fee, as they should, to help pay for the work (such as retaining walls) to keep this town alive. And alive, it is. Though it is very small, on this beautiful, cool fall day, several eateries were operating and filled with lunch time patrons. We in fact, had a really enjoyable lunch with sausages and veg cooked over the open fireplace, along with a mixed bruschetta platter to start. So delicious. After lunch, a stroll was in order. It doesn't take long to stroll the short side streets and take in the beautiful views to be had from nearly every dead-end street, and in a town like this, yes, they are all dead-end streets. 

Pienza is one of my favorite places in all of Tuscany. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the way the city was designed back in the mid 1400’s. The hotel I love to stay at has windows which open to a stunning panoramic view of the Val d’Orcia. When I wake up here each morning, the first thing I do is throw the windows open and lean out the windowsill. The view is the definition of Tuscan countryside. 

Small, and completely walkable, Pienza’s tiny side streets are charming and filled with eateries and great shopping. Pienza is Cheese Central; home to Pecorino, one of the most delicious and essential of Italian cheeses. This is also Honeyland, with so many varieties to choose from, it makes my head buzz. (Get it? Buzz….bees….honey?) Pienza is also located between Montalcino and Montepulciano, two of the best known towns for wine. It never ceases to amaze me in Italy; no matter how small a town is, there is never a shortage of great food and wine. What better place to stay while exploring this area of Tuscany?

Join me, won’t you….on a future trip to Italy? Let’s explore lower Tuscany together. The towns prominently listed in guidebooks are wonderful, but so are all the great places off-the-beaten-track. Let me take you there.