Yesterday we returned to Assisi to visit the Basilica of St. Francis. The weather had changed from sunny Sunday to Normandie rain. We parked at the end of the city near the Basilica, which we discovered was the end with few restaurants. Lunch being a higher priority at the moment, we searched for food. We did pass a couple of places with groups of people standing outside eating some pizza or something, but that is not our idea of a good lunch, bien sur.

After climbing up some long flights of stairs, our app said eight flights, I saw a restaurant sign on a wall – Il Frantoio. Tired of walking, we decided it was perfect, without knowing anything about it at all. To our pleasant surprise we had stumbled upon a Michelin listed place, a sure sign of good dining. Here is the photo Tricia took from the main entrance, we entered from the other side so had not even looked at the menu until we were seated at our table.

Most have heard of Michelin restaurants and stars, here is a bit of the background. If you are an auto racing fan, or even just a drivers that appreciates quality you know that Michelin is first and foremost a tire manufacturer. To increase tire sales they produced a driving guide in 1900, correctly calculating that if people drove more and longer distances they would wear out their tires and need new ones. The guide listed hotels and places to eat all over France.

Just being included in the guide was an endorsement, this was long before Yelp or Google Map comments. Eventually they began to evaluate restaurants giving a star to those deemed most worth, the system developed into 1, 2, or 3 stars.

• 1 Star: “A very good restaurant in its category.”
• 2 Stars: “Excellent cooking, worth a detour.”
• 3 Stars: “Exceptional cuisine, worth a special journey.”

Il Frantoio does not have a star, but it must be close. We had an amazing experience. The first thing they brought was what the chef called a “welcome plate.”

Well it was actually four plates. In the distance, to the left of the bread, were two red potato chips, thin and hollow in the center with two different mayonnaise drops on top. There was a mini-taco, and a red pepper crème brule.

For our entree we asked to share scallops. No bringing the dish with two forks here, nope, the chef split it between two plates for us.

For Mains Tricia had gnocchi, I had pigeon.

We were going to pass on dessert but a cocktail on the menu was just to interesting for me to pass up – and I am not a big cocktail fan.

It had Cointreau, lemon sour, olive oil, and a dash of balsamic vinegar, and one egg white. I had never heard of olive oil in a beverage so was interested. It was beyond good, not overly sweet, a hidden taste of the oil, with a texture that was silky smooth – perfect desert. It was actually invented by our server, which was a nice touch.

Thanks to being in Italy, as opposed to expensive Geneve, it was not a terribly expensive meal, less than we thought it would be when we first realized we had settled in to a Michelin listed place.

After a satisfying meal we visited the Basilica, a bit of food for the soul made the day complete.