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Okay this is one part I have put off for a while, because as you may have already guessed I am not a “real writer” my grammar and punctuation leave something to be desired but you should still get a feel of the restaurants from my scribbling. As the title say’s “Le Querce” (The Oaks) is my first review on these pages also you will have seen it is also my favourite, and as luck would have it most local to us. So when guests arrive hungry and a little tired it is so easy to point them in the right direction for a good meal almost on our doorstep (well 10 minutes)
When you first arrive it does not seem at all like a restaurant, you walk in at the bottom of the house open the door and there are the tables, subdivided into two parts. The main door gives you the main part with another part to the left, it is overly bright if you are not used to “real” Italian eating and not much in the way of decoration apart from always one television going and very often two but they are in the two parts so it is never as bad as it sounds. “Paulo” the owner, waiter, and most other things apart from in the kitchen, always greets you calmly when you are the first diners of the evening or even when you walk in to find it bursting at the seems. Only at weekends and holidays will you ever find anyone else serving or helping at table apart from Paulo, at times there must be 50 to 70 people there and the noise, bustle, and sheer “Italian vibration” is over whelming but he does it all with never ever a mistake and always helpful. In the kitchen is his wife being in this case “Mama” the chef together with other family members. If you have not eaten in a typical Marche restaurant you may find it odd but the meat is always cooked in the restaurant over an open fire with the charcoal, this is just one of Paulo’s jobs to fit in with everything else. It is a typical local restaurant so if you are Italian you will only receive one glass when the table is set for both your Wine and the Water, but he is used to strange English people so he will allow you two glasses we must now be considered “Italian English” because our table is always laid with one glass. Also it is considered bad manners to put a side dish on your main plate, so the locals will always be given a side plate, but again they do make allowances for less knowledgeable foreigners again we fall into “Italian English” and get our side plate. During the week you can nearly always count on getting a table but not every time so along with weekends it is best to book if you can. Liz and I have been midweek and been the only people there, the following week same midweek and and it is full that is usually the night we decide to turn up with a few friends without booking. But He will always try to fit you in if it is possible it is that kind of place, and even on the night you find it is almost empty the welcome is still the same and you can stay as long as you want without feeling he wants to get rid of you so they can go home.
It would be much easier to write about a menu in a particular restaurant but as not many in these parts have one it makes it harder to give descriptions of dishes, so I will have to generalise about the food as whole. He will always want to start you with the Antipasto starter and it does not come much better than here, but if you turn up with an “English” appetite take it easy because you can fill yourself on this starter alone as it consists of everything from Olives, cured meats, cheese, crostini (things on toast), beans, egg dishes, and more. You then move on to “Secondo” now it gets harder as depending on the season you will be offered Soup (but not as you know it), Polenta, Lasagne, or any number of other dishes. Try to make room for whatever it may be as it is usually the “dish of the day” and without exception a treat for the taste buds. Next on the menu will be “Carne” (Meat) you will be offered anything from Veal, or Steak up to a mixed grill, it will also be highly spiced and salty as is normal taste here, one of my favourites is Lamb it always looks a little sparse and nearly all bone but the flavour is delicious. In Marche side dishes are separate so if you are a little full you can choose to pass on vegetables or salad if you wish. For the vegetarian taste although the typical person around here does not quite grasp the logic, there are so many good dishes based on vegetarian food just mention it and you will be treated very well in fact even I could enjoy a meal at Le Querce on only vegetarian dishes, and I am very much a dedicated meat eater. An alternative here is to go for a platter of Pizza it arrives in slices mixed in a variety of toppings from vegetarian to non vegetarian all great and and you can suit all tastes in one platter made up to how many people there are at the table. Desserts in Marche are not the greatest culinary delights and tend to be a little bland so it will always a limited choice wherever you go, the one to choose here would be Tiramisu which is in fact very good, followed by that great coffee that melts the spoon, and a local Vino Cotto (Brewed Wine) to round off a very pleasurable evening. Given the reasonable charge for such a good night out, if you are here for a holiday or longer stay it is one place you will almost be certain to return to again.
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