Mark Kurlyandchik

Detroit Free Press

There’s a place in the world, about two hours northeast of Rome, where a fountain of red wine flows continuously, beckoning all who want a free taste.

What is this magical place? The under-the-radar Italian region of Abruzzo, where even intrepid Americans can still get a taste of the real sepia-toned Italian life we all picture in our daydreams.

For much of its history, Abruzzo has been sheltered from the rest of Italy and the throngs of tourists who trample its great cities. Bordered by the Adriatic Sea on one side and the Apennine Mountains on the other, the region has spent thousands of years steeping in its own traditions.

Today, life here is as rhythmic as the sea, the tides marked by three-hour lunches (pranzo) and "La Passeggiata,” an evening pre-dinner stroll through town to catch up with friends and to strut your sprezzatura — the Italian art of studied effortlessness.

And while Abruzzo may not have the name recognition of Tuscany or even Umbria, that hasn’t stopped it from earning a reputation as one of the best regions in the country for its culinary offerings, famous for Montepulciano and Trebbiano wines, chitarra pasta, grilled lamb skewers (arrosticini), porchetta and a surfeit of cheeses, charcuterie, desserts and digestifs.

With airfare to Rome more affordable than it has been in years, coupled with a strong dollar (and that aforementioned wine fountain), now is as good a time as any to head for the hills of Abruzzo for a culinary tour of Italy’s best-kept secret.

A tale of two cities

There’s a duality to the Abruzzese experience that includes the salt-of-the-earth mountainous inland as well as the laid-back seaside. Any trip to the region should include both.

Consider splitting your time between two locales: the quaint inland town of Sulmona and the cosmopolitan seaside city of Pescara, separated by 45 minutes of smoothly paved toll road or an hour-long train ride.

Sulmona

Sulmona is a medieval walled city of about 25,000 people located on a plateau surrounded by majestic rolling mountains. In the ancient period, it was known as the birthplace and home of the Roman poet Ovid, a statue of whom still stands in the central piazza.

Today, this quaint town with cobblestone streets and a 760-year-old aqueduct is best known for its confetti — brightly colored sugar-coated almonds often arranged as floral bouquets and other whimsical figures. You'll see the colorful arrangements overflowing from numerous shops in town.

Situated on the northern edge of the historic town, the Hotel Santacroce Ovidius offers a great jumping-off point for a stroll through the city and offers well-appointed rooms for around 100 euros ($110) a night. There’s also a restaurant on site and a coffee counter (or “bar,” as they’re called in Italy) for your morning cappuccino and cornetto — the traditional Italian breakfast.

For the best meal in town, head to La Locanda di Gino for lunch at the white-tablecloth restaurant on the main floor. Gino is a quaint four-room hotel (80-100 euro/night; $88-$110) but the family-run restaurant downstairs is good enough to be featured in the Michelin guide.

The restaurant offers a daily changing degustation menu for 30 euro ($33), featuring well-made dishes typical of the region: crusty bread with smoked slices of fatty pork cheek, tangy red garlic scapes preserved in oil, stuffed zucchini flower with prized Navelli saffron and the ubiquitous Abruzzese lamb stew.

As in the rest of Italy, lunch is the most important meal of the day in Sulmona and wouldn’t be complete without a bottle of Montepulciano (red) or Trebbiano d’Abruzzo (white) wine. Most restaurants in town carry nothing else.

After lunch, hit any of the cafe bars for a pour of local amaro, the Italian digestif that ranges in taste from bitter as truth to syrupy sweet depending on the blend of herbs and botanicals used. The locals will likely try to push genziana, a biting straw-colored digestif made from wild gentian root that settles the stomach but can be a bit potent for the uninitiated.

If you find yourself hungry later in the day or at odd hours, stop by the shoebox-sized Pizza e Sfizi Sulmona for a delicious thin-crust wood-fired pie. The dough here is slapped out on the counter rather than tossed, creating a delicate, chewy crust. An entire margherita pizza here will set yoeuu back just 3.50 euro ($3.80).

There’s also plenty to see and do in and around town, including the local market in the main square held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings. The old town boasts some beautiful historic churches and fountains, and if you want to explore the vast wilderness of Abruzzo, a few national parks are just a short drive away. Welcometosulmona.com is an English-language guide to the city and a great resource for planning your trip.

Pescara

During the summer months, Abruzzo’s most populous city overflows with vacationing Italians who make good use of Pescara’s 10-mile-long Adriatic coastline. But even in the shoulder season, the salt-flecked city thumps with an energy that belies its 120,000 inhabitants, as throngs of shoppers and families stroll the old city's main artery in search of fashion deals and good eats.

A one-way ticket on the frequent train from Sulmona to Pescara will set you back less than 6 euro ($6.60) and from the train station in Pescara, it’s a 15-minute walk to the seaside promenade lined with classic Abruzzese seafood joints.

A good option is Marechiaro da Bruno — a white-tablecloth seafood restaurant by day and casual pizzeria by night. One of the two Brunos that owned this restaurant died in July, leaving it in the hands of Bruno Micominico, who, like his late partner, started working at the historic seafood restaurant 30-some years ago as a server. Bruno will tell you the whole story if you ask for him.

Settle in with a bottle of Pecorino, the third and least common Abruzzese wine grape (not to be confused with the cheese), brought back from near extinction. Its tart acidity pairs well with Bruno's seafood-focused fare. Try the mixed seafood chitarra, a spaghetti-like Abruzzese pasta that gets its name from the stringed instrument used to shape its strands.

The city of Pescara shines brightest during the hot summer months. In the off-season, consider renting a car in town to explore the inland Pescara province, home to some of Abruzzo's most coveted wines.

Two of the Detroit area's top chefs — Mabel Gray's James Rigato and Bacco's Luciano DelSignore — recently staged a pop-up dinner at Marramiero Winery just outside the small town of Rosciano. The winery produces some excellent Montepulciano, Trebbiano and Pecorino wines, but also breaks from tradition. For its "Inferi" wine, Montepulciano is aged in French oak barrels for 14-18 months, as opposed to the more traditional "Incanto," which is aged in stainless steel tanks. Marramiero also offers a brilliant brut rose made from pinot noir that you can't find anywhere in the U.S.

For dinner, make a reservation at the Michelin-starred La Bandiera, a family-run culinary oasis tucked away deep into Pescara province's winding hillsides. (It's about a 25-minute drive from Marramiero.)

Michelin-starred restaurants have a reputation for being pricey, but diners at La Bandiera can easily enjoy a multicourse meal and wine for a very reasonable price. A five-course chef's degustation menu, for example, is just 45 euro ($49); add 18 euro ($19.70) for four glasses of paired wine.

The kitchen here draws inspiration from traditional Abruzzese cuisine but adds whimsical twists and a level of finesse uncommon to the region, resulting in dishes like a superspaghettino (similar to angel hair) served cold and topped with basil, capers, smoked ricotta and tomato sorbet — a delightful riff on pasta pomodoro.

If you want to avoid driving back to civilization in the dark, La Bandiera offers four highly rated suites above the restaurant for less than 100 euro ($110) a night. No need to rush, you can head home in the morning.

And if after eating and drinking your way through Abruzzo, you find that you still haven't had enough, you can always find the free wine fountain at the Dora Sarchese vineyard near Ortona in the Chieti province. You can fill your cup with free Montepulciano all you want, so long as you drink it there.

One cautionary note for travelers to Abruzzo: If you go, you might never leave.

Getting there

Nonstop flights on Delta Airlines from Detroit to Rome run May-October. During the off-season, multiple airlines fly the route with layovers in airports both in the U.S. and in Europe.

You’ll have the most flexibility if you rent a car at the airport in Rome, but be forewarned that Italian city driving is not for the timid or the faint of heart. Sulmona is mostly a pedestrian city with special rules for cars, and the traffic in Pescara can be nightmarish. The toll road, known as the autostrada, runs through both. (Sulmona is less than two hours by car from either one of the two international airports in Rome.)

For a more relaxed approach, consider the Trenitalia train or a shuttle bus. For less than 25 euro, ProntoBus runs routes multiple times a day from both Rome airports to various stops in Abruzzo, terminating in Pescara. (Note: The Sulmona stop is in a barren parking lot off the side of the autostrada; it’s best to have a ride from there arranged ahead of time or phone numbers for local taxi companies handy. Same goes for the train station.)

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