Tucked excessive between mountains within the Pietre commune of the Amalfi Coast countryside, Felicia’s Residence Restaurant just isn’t a standard restaurant however an invite to cook dinner alongside Felicia in her Seventeenth-century farmhouse, Casale De Vivo, the place she grew up. Arriving right here will actually take your breath away as your eyes attempt to absorb the wonder. As you wind previous the backyard and enter a courtyard, roses climb the house’s patinaed stone partitions, grapevines creep alongside a trellis that shades a superbly set farm desk, aprons flutter within the breeze from a clothesline, and an outside kitchen constructed round a wood-fired pizza oven offers technique to gorgeous mountain views.
Felicia greeted Brian Hart Hoffman and me with an enormous bongiorno and benvenuti that felt like a hug from our long-lost Italian household. As she confirmed us her indoor kitchen, definitely the guts of any Italian residence, lovely elements had been laid out on the counter like a nonetheless life portray. We instantly felt at residence and couldn’t wait to be taught Felicia’s pasta methods. Brian and I adopted alongside as she led us by way of her course of of constructing and kneading pasta dough, which we might then form and reduce in a number of methods, from conventional fettuccine to trofie, a twisted pasta form good for absorbing the lemon sauce it could later be served with. Pizza dough was blended for a relaxation earlier than being stretched into rounds within the out of doors kitchen with the elements from the backyard at arm’s attain. Recent basil was ample, as had been candy and sun-warmed tomato clusters Brian couldn’t cease popping in his mouth, heads of garlic, do-it-yourself tomato sauce, and contemporary mozzarella. As soon as the pizzas had been topped, Felicia used a wood pizza peel so as to add them to the oven and switch as wanted. Right here, all the things was cooked by Felicia’s senses, and not using a timer in sight.
As sizzling pizzas Margherita got here out of the oven, we gathered across the desk for a memorable lunch with Felicia and her daughter, Giovanna. Felicia introduced unbelievable dish after dish from her kitchen: cantaloupe wedges topped with salty prosciutto, caprese salad, bruschetta, trofie with a lemon sauce, fettuccine merely cooked with tomatoes, and essentially the most unbelievable lemon tiramisù we’ve ever tasted … so good, in truth, we knew it needed to grace the quilt of this challenge. Gentle, ethereal, and brightened with simply the correct quantity of limoncello and lemon, the dessert was perfection. Our smiles had been massive, and our hearts had been full after a pleasant day with Felicia and her household.
GO THERE
To spend a day with Felicia in her residence, go to feliciashomerestaurant.com.
Head to our YouTube channel and watch our day with Felicia! Watch right here.
Carry a few of Felicia’s recipes to life in your personal kitchen!
