09/10/2025: 🎬 Mission Monte d'Oro – October 2025
(A semi-serious account of a lunch that was announced... but not planned)
Outside temperature: 24ºC, full sun, almost summer after the cyclone 🌀 that had even shaken the cacti.
In a rare moment of grace, I leave work early—and that alone deserves a toast.
A flash of inspiration: "Let's go out for lunch!"
No sooner said than done.
I rush toward Palermo, quickly pick up my friend, and we set off for Montelepre.
🚗 But of course, nothing is simple:
road closures, diversions, traffic wardens armed with barriers and excessive zeal, and I, between honking and sarcasm, shout:
"I'm a public official! I have to get through; it's a matter of life or death!" 🍽️
Meanwhile, as in any respectable screenplay, my ex passes by.
Not the ramen pig, but another type of pig—a native breed, but with the same instinct for appearing at the wrong time. 🐷
Cocciante starts up in my head:
🎶 “Poor devil, how sorry I am…” 🎶
And I, on the other hand, in annoying mode, respond with the look of someone who doesn't curse just for class.
The assistant looks at me and, out of pity or fear, lets me pass.
We finally arrive in Montelepre, hungry, hot, and ready for anything.
The GPS is probably still crying.
🍷 At the Monte d'Oro Restaurant, we are greeted by genuine smiles and the aroma of lovingly prepared cuisine.
A fixed menu, so no worries and maximum results.
🧀 Rustic appetizer – hearty and hearty, like a hug from grandma.
🍝 Two first courses: pappardelle with wild boar ragù (wild like us on the highway) and busiate with porcini mushroom cream and pistachio pesto (a marriage of love and carbs).
🥩 Mixed meats: no lamb – the deliciousness took us by surprise – but everything else was excellent.
The pork, the real one, stayed at work. And that's where it should have stayed! 😂
Meanwhile, my friend exclaims:
“Ahhh, we didn't take a picture!”
“Of who? Of the pork?”
“Nooo, of the plate!” 🤭📸
And then it arrives:
the piping hot Sicilian cassatella, powdered sugar and cinnamon on the outside, and warm ricotta cream inside that drips slowly and inexorably like a sweet sin. 🔥
A bite and total silence.
I see the light, she sees paradise.
It's mystical ecstasy and a first-degree burn.
Between an "ouch!" and a laugh, my friend seals the moment:
"My skin is sticking to me... worthy of a Monster finale!" 😂🍥🔥
☕a coffee and the awareness that life, with its detours and passing exes, sometimes offers lunches like this: full of laughter, sugar, and complicity.
At the end of the day, we look at each other and laugh.
Maybe we haven't saved the world, but we have tamed the windmills of hunger and madness.
Because the two of us, in the end,
are a bit like Don Quixote and Sancho Panza:
visionary but hungry for life...
and with a belly that bears witness to every battle won. ❤️🍷😂
07/10/2025: Exceptional experience. A warm and welcoming trattoria, with excellent, carefully prepared food. Everything was delicious. We had a wonderful time and will definitely be back.