White truffle from the province of Benevento (photo by Associazione tartufai)

Contrada Masseriola 11/13
Phone 0824.46574
www.ristorantelarete.com
info@ristorantelarete.com
Open all year
Closed on Tuesdays

by Pasquale Carlo

The province of Benevento is the land of truffle. This tasty undergrowth products are standing out. Next week there will be the white truffle market which is organized by many associations like the Associazione tartufai sanniti.

La Rete restaurant, which is located in Ceppaloni, less than ten kilometres away from Benevento, is one of the pioneering restaurants which propose this extraordinary product. I was welcomed by the owner Vincenzo Mignone who is helped by his son Dioniso.

Vincenzo Mignone

His son Dionisio

They told me the story of their restaurant with an involving passion. It was opened in 1978 and at the beginning they proposed a seafood cuisine based on fish coming from the Adriatic every day. Then they decided to propose traditional dishes as they were sure of the great potentialities of the local products.

Truffle is one of the best but there is also meat, salamis, cheeses, the very good extra virgin olive oil and the good bread baked in the wood burning oven. I started my meal with a Nudo Eroico sparkling wine (obtained from Falanghina grape variety) produced by Libero Rillo with sage leaves coated with breadcrumbs and fried. Then I tasted salamis (soppressata, bacon and sausage with currant). The very good bread was seasoned with a local tasty extra virgin olive oil.

Sage

Nudo Eroico

Sausage

Bacon and sausage

The "soppressata" salami

Bread with oil

I tasted truffle with scrambled eggs and with noodles.

Truffle with scrambled eggs

Noodles with truffle

These two dishes alone are worthy of the journey even if the wild boar sauce enjoyed with handmade pasta drove me crazy.

Pasta with wild boar sauce

Of course I was full and I couldn't eat the main dish also if I was tempted by roast and grilled lamb. I will enjoy it next time.

I ate a soft ricotta cake with citrus fruit and Strega liqueur and a delicious fig tiramisu.

Here is the menu. The starters include salamis, smoked beef with herbs and smoked breast of duck with chicory and balsamic sauce.

The first courses include the ones I had and giant gnocchi stuffed with ricotta and seasoned with cheese sauce, fusilli with Porcini and Cardarelle mushrooms, sausage and Parmesan cheese. There are many main dishes: beef with baked tomatoes, sausage and pigskin roll with ragù tomato sauce, white veal and beef. There is a good cheese selection and the dessert list includes dried pastries.

The dessert

There is a good choice of wines, the best Campanian wines and very good Italian wines. The cellar is fine and can be visited. You will roughly spend 45 Euros.

There is a white truffle menu which includes scrambled eggs with white truffle, noodles with Parmesan cheese, butter and white truffle, fillet with butter and white truffle and lettuce with white truffle and balsamic sauce (40 Euros).

Traduzione in italiano su http://www.lucianopignataro.it/a/ceppaloni-sannio-ristorante-la-rete/32529/