Antico Borgo - Menu

"Antico Borgo, Sant'Agata de' Goti: Time Travel to Sant'Agata and Dine Well When one vacations, or travels, he or she is confronted with an infinite array of possibilities. Adhere to the Michelin, the Baedeker or the AAA guidebooks; or plan your excursion around an episode of Rick Steves, or risk it and open a portal for serendipitous delight. If you put adventure and exploration ahead of security interests, and are vertebrate enough to ignore the ungrounded, inexplicably dire, warnings of your travel companions, you could end up in a marvelous place like Sant’Agata di Goti: situated between the Italian cities of Caserta and Benevento, and the 14th and 21st centuries.. Sant’Agata di Goti, like most inland Italian cities, seemingly has opportunities and an economy that are not competitive with the coastal cities nor the modern cities of the north. Here, young, admittedly ambitious, people come of age, bid adieu to extended families and their comfort zone and depart for, at a minimum, the apparitions of riches intrinsic to metropolitan life. The question is, who stays and who fills the void? Many times, it is the old who stay; they prefer the Scopa Deck and familiar conversation to the chaos, anonymity and marginalization of the thriving cities. Fortunately, it doesn’t end with declining, aging populations. Young imaginative, equally ambitious, bohemian and entrepreneurial types see opportunities where others saw limited horizons and inescapable paradigms. Sant’Agata di Goti is one such magnet for the daring, the creative and bold young visionaries and dreamers. And why not? The scale of Sant’Agata is manageable. The cost of living is minimal: the same pizza costing nine euros in Napoli—forty kilometers away—cost a mere three euros in Sant’Agata. A two bedroom apartment in Sant’Agata costs less than 90 euros per month. You don’t need a car in a cities like Sant’Agata. The young, who boldly take a stand in Sant’Agata, are not risk adverse, they are venture capitalists: they open wineries, bed and breakfasts, cafes, pizzerias, art galleries, hotels, bistros, gelaterias and of course restaurants. Creative expression is more important than financial success. And this brings our prolix prologue to Ristorante-Pizzeria Antico Borgo: the jewel in the crown of Sant’Agata di Goti. Antico Borgo is where everyone, from bus boy and waiter, to the chef and the proprietario i.e. owner, is young energized, responsive, motivated and a While established restaurants in the big cities may have snooty waiters plagued by tunnel vision, myopia, presbyopia, hearing loss and dropsy, the staff at Antico Borgo has an attention to detail rarely evidenced in affordable restaurants. The cuisine reflects a quest for excellence and a vision of ever expanding reputation and success. In the states, only celebrities, grand poohbahs, politicos and the ostentatiously rich get treated this well in restaurants. Every guest is a VIP at Antico Borgo. My test of a ristorante in Campagna—where the water buffalo roam—is two-fold. First how fresh and authentic is the Mozzarella di Buffala in the Insalata Capresse? Second—and I am not being a food snob here—I do not order my pasta off the menu; I tell the waiter what I would like the ingredients to be and let the chef—the alchemist, eager for creative opportunities—perform the magic. This works at Antico Borgo; the results always exceed all reasonable expectations. Aesthetically, Antico Borgo sits at the intersection of rusticity, medieval, renaissance and elegant refinement; you can dine indoors or al fresca. I dined al fresca and enjoyed a cool evening mistral; there are no insects to distract you from your repast.. Now then, hang on to your Barcalounger, the next part is astounding. Dinner for four people: three courses each, with high end wine (Greco di Tufo), with a digestivo for closure, cost less than 100 euros. I have not found dining this affordable since Italy abandoned its free-falling Lira for the rock steady, hard ball euro. I am a high school math teacher; I checked the “conto” i.e. the bill, twice to see if our waiter had forgot some items; it was all there. My recommendation: stay a night or two in Sant’Agata. Most of the buildings in Sant’Agata dei Goti date back to the fourteenth century; the intelligence, vision and ambition of the present generation dates to the future of a tradition. One final admission, I lived in Sant’Agata, from 1973 until 1976; it is Brigadoon: a time capsule of what Italy was 40 years ago … I urge you, take a peek at the past, present and future: “Guarda un po!” One word of warning: the people of Sant’Agata di Goti are very proud of their local wines; their wine tastes are off the beaten path … to be safe, order a Vesuvio Wine, Lacryma di Cristi, Greco di Tufo or perhaps Donna Fugata .. if you decide to experiment with a local wine, taste it before agreeing on a bottle for your table."