I had never eaten in a three star Michelin restaurant when I started planning my time away. I knew I wanted to include some of the Top 50 Restaurants in the world.  I was researching the European options, preferably not in big cities, and came across Casadonna Reale, Number 43 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants 2017 (Brae, in tiny little Birregurra, Australia is number 44). It was conveniently situated (sort of) on my way from Rome to Bari.

After a beautiful drive up into the mountains of Abruzzo, I pulled up to an imposing set of iron gates, rang the bell and drove up the cobblestone drive, getting my first view of the 16th century monastery I was to stay in that night. All the stress of that day – waving goodbye to my wifey who was headed home, a flight, a laptop and water bottle disaster, a three-hour drive on the wrong side of the road involving the GRA ring road around Rome and a lot of mountain driving, the uncertainty about how the tolls worked (it’s easy, you take a ticket at the first barrier you go through and then when you take an exit off the motorway you can pay in person to the nice toll-booth man, it was just 200km before I took an exit!) – fell away and wonder set in.

I was greeted at the door and shown my simple, elegant room with a view over the vineyard. I took a very long shower and washed the last of Greece and the ocean and the sunscreen that had built up like the layers of an ancient city away.

The gates into Casadonna Reale

My door at the end of the hallway

The rear of Casadonna Reale, with the restaurant on the ground level

A beautiful sitting room

My super comfy bed

The view from my window

I made my way down for an apperitivo before dinner.  This was my only misstep.  A gorgeous waitress who had worked in Sydney for a year at the Ivy, served me a glass of Italian sparkling. That alone would have been perfect, sitting on the terrace overlooking the gardens as dusk closed into darkness, letting my anticipation for dinner build.  But then came the prosciutto, olives (still not a fan), house made lavosh crackers and potato crisps. I couldn’t not eat them! They were delicious! I didn’t even consider it!

Serious aperetivo

A glass of Italian sparkling

In a very happy place

But I underestimated the feast to come.  I made my way downstairs, escorted by the ever attentive and lovely receptionist/make guests feel special Rosanna.  The enormous glass door to the restaurant swung open to a reasonably small space, but it felt really big because there were only 8 tables in there.  Big tables.  Big enough I felt ridiculous sitting at mine, set for one.  I got over that very quickly. There were 5 wait staff for 20 diners, plus Christiana, who is the General Manager and also works the floor as a host and server as required.  Her brother, Niko Romito is the head chef and together they founded Risotrante Reale, the accommodation at Casadonna Reale and its other businesses.

Christiana was informed.  She knew I’d had a sparkling upstairs, that I had to leave early in the morning and would miss breakfast but was getting some brioche to take with me, that I was from Melbourne where her and Niko had travelled for the World’s 50 Best ceremony. The care and attention to detail immediately put me at ease.

The entrance

Simple and elegant

The dining room

Essenza menu

I settled on the six course Essenza tasting menu with paired wines, reasoning I wanted to try as much as I could but didn’t think I could quite manage 11 courses! How right I was!

Six courses turned into 11 with all the chef’s surprises! There was bread.  So much bread.  I’m ashamed to say I barely made a dent. But I will remember the piping hot sourdough and the crack it made as I tried to break it open without burning my fingers for a long time.  It was what bread should be, always and forever.

The beef tartare was creamy and rich.  The watermelon and tomato was the prettiest flash of red and crunch and sweetness. The squid melted, simple and perfect. The ravioli had a bite, giving way to smooth ricotta and the buffalo cheese water it came in was a texture I don’t think I’ve ever experienced before – it was just short of a liquid gel. Extraordinary.

By this point, I was really starting to struggle, to my absolute horror. I can eat. But I was coming off three weeks in Greece of pretty light eating, mainly salads and fish and I was not in my usual form. I was even starting to leave wine in the glass, worried about an early morning, a 4 hour drive and a 7 hour ferry the next day. That has literally never happened before.

The capellini pasta was…I wish I was actually a food critic or a chef so I could describe this better…it was like eating semi-dried tomatoes but in pasta form.  The flavour was so intense, so powerful. By the time the veal came, I was beaten. It was delicate and the chianti it came with might have been my favourite wine of the night. But I was starting to think I really couldn’t manage a single bit more.

I was almost relieved when dessert came – coffee, a bitter ice cream (I wish I could remember the source of the bitterness, but alas, 7 glasses of wine). But then, petit fours! Somehow, after genuine concern I might not be able to finish and I would have to live with the shame of that all my life, I did it!

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What struck me so much as I was sitting and just taking in the room after I finished was how comfortable and looked after I felt.  After some initial solo dining angst, it all went away because I was transported by the theatre of a finely tuned, top of their game restaurant. Aside from taking photos, I didn’t touch my phone. I just watched it all unfold around me. It was like a dance.  everyone in there knew their role, knew which roles were interchangeable (I suspect not all the wait staff spoke English because I didn’t see those ones other than to clear), knew when to take a step back and a step forward.

I spoke with Christiana at the end of the meal and told her that sometimes, especially in nice restaurants, it can be difficult to dine alone. But that I felt so welcome and at home. She took me into the kitchen to meet Niko. She translated my sentiments and told him I was from Melbourne.  His smile was enough to power the whole restaurant – luminescent. What an operation it was in the kitchen, there must have been 10 plus chefs in there for us 20 diners.  Or I should say 24 diners as there was a table in the kitchen, a real chef’s table.  One I intend to return to given half a chance.

I floated upstairs, again accompanied by the lovely Rosanna after a chat about this, her first job and her desire to improve her already excellent english, with a gift of house made honey from Christiana and a selfie with them both to mark the occasion.

Even now, as I write this sitting at a wine bar in Montenegro, 2 weeks later, I can taste that tomato in the pasta and smell the sourdough and see the smile on Niko’s face and hear Rosanna’s voice as took care of me and feel Christina’s satisfaction that she knew I’d had an extraordinary experience. My first 3 star Michelin experience will take some beating.

Me, Christiana & Rosanna

The honey put to excellent use in Croatia