I’m sure you’ve heard me mention the family restaurant in Atina many times on this blog so I decided it’s about time I did a little post on it!! IL Vicolo means little laneway in Italian and yes that’s where it is – down a little lane way!! It’s owned by Bruno’s Zia Adele, Zio Lello and Zia Franca and his Zia Terese works there too so it’s pretty much a family affair. It’s situated in the basement and is quite big for a small town but then people come from near and far!
It has so much character and the brick work is amazing inside, it is divided into 3 rooms, there are no candles, no music and believe it or not no menu!!! You basically eat what is on that day so you are guaranteed fresh, home-made, seasonal produce everyday!!
They are known for certain dishes, one of them being “pasta fagioli” which is one of my favourites
On Friday’s a local fish supplier comes to the village and sets up his little stall and sells the nicest fresh fish so we were lucky enough to be there to help with the eating:)
One thing I really love in Italy is the rocket, the leaves are much bigger than you get here and have a much nicer flavour!! There’s a lot of preparation in it though as it all comes fresh so lots of cleaning and pulling off stems to be done which is Zia Franca’s job:
They are also famous for their home-made limoncello, once you’ve had home-made you can never go back:)
They all thought I was a bit mad taking loads of photos as they have never heard of blogs but I thought it would be nice to give you a little snap shot into a real Italian kitchen:)
p.s. I’ve been meaning to write about this great new idea by Paul over at siopaeile, he has created a collaborative google map focused on farmers markets, artisan food retailers and individual farmers who sell directly to the public. The idea is that anybody can see what’s available in their immediate vicinity at a glance. This supports local farmers and enables people to source the freshest produce. There are also environmental arguments to buying locally as you know. Not only will people be able to see at a glance who is selling fresh produce in their area on the internet, they will also be able to see this information on GPS devices.
So imagine you are driving home in your car and you have one of the GPS devices. You spot that the farm you are just passing is selling home made cheese or new potatoes. I think a lot of people will be tempted to visit the farmer. This will be a whole new avenue of advertising for Farmers so check it out!!
italian foodies 
“no menu!!! You basically eat what is on that day”
such a good idea. its so sad that you dont see that in the uk, instead you see the same old excessively long list of pre-prepared, out-of season choices from the freezer or vac pac. is it because british people are too fussy about food? or just feel that by having a long list of choices, they are somehow more ‘free’?