Sandra & L'Angolo Dolce

Today I went to the best pastry shop in Lucca (perhaps in all of Italy!) and had the pleasure of meeting the owner and master baker, Sandra Bianchi. Pasticceria Sandra & L'Angolo Dolce (the Sweet Corner) is just outside the walls of Lucca, in the Borgo Giannotti neighborhood, a leisurely 10-minute walk from Porta Santa Maria. Judy mentioned this pasticceria in her January post "Outside the Great Walls of Lucca." I made a return visit today to give the shop a post all its own (and to enjoy some pastry!).

Sandra has been making breads and pastry in Lucca for 20 years. She is not just a master baker, but also has a deep interest in keeping her foods beautiful and healthful. She uses fresh, locally sourced ingredients whenever possible, including organic products. Whole grains show up in her breads and pastries and she has earned a certificate of nutritional excellence for her pasticceria. This is definitely the place to give in to temptation and have a sweet treat! 

You enter L'Angolo Dolce through automatic sliding doors that welcome you to a modern, bright, and cheery space. Shelves along either side of the pasticceria hold a variety of treats - candies, jams, small cookies, wines. In the back is a coffee bar, with a gleaming espresso machine, organic milk for steaming, and a friendly barista. Stand here and drink your morning cappuccino or head for one of the seats along the counter in the middle of the shop. The counter runs alongside the pastry cases and gives you a front row seat to Sandra's art form. And art it is - stimulating the eyes every bit as much as the palate.

Hw fun is that clock over the coffee bar?

The pastry cases are clear glass, through which the many delicacies can be viewed in all their tempting magnificence. Today, going from one end of the case to the other, I found first the miniatures. So many varieties - little chocolate cakes, tarts with fresh fruit, small cakes topped with almonds and apple, cream puffs and little dishes of tiramisu. Each about two bites of bliss.  

Next came the larger items. Beautifully decorated cakes - dense chocolate, a layered stack dusted with powdered sugar and topped with fresh berries, lemon-filled tarts, apple-topped beauties, and a light, airy cake filled with chantilly cream and fragole (strawberries). Oh my! 

Continuing down the case, next up are the panini (sandwiches) in a variety of shapes and with many different fillings. I spotted tomato and mozzarella, prosciutto, ham, and frittata. Take out is available for picnic lunches. 

Lastly, the breakfast pastries, also with a wonderful variety. There were several types of cornetti (the Italian version of croissants) - vuoto (unfilled), con crema  (filled with pastry cream - this counts as a breakfast protein, right?), and dark ones made with whole grain flour. In addition were round pastries studded with raisins, square ones drizzled with chocolate, spirals and twists that looked flakey and buttery, and a little torta di riso (rice cake), which is a local delicacy. I would have to stay here a year to try them all. What a tempting idea!  With so many choices I stuck to my favorite, a cornetto con crema. It was hands down the best one I have ever tasted. Along with my cappuccino this made a perfect prima colazione (breakfast). But why stop at breakfast? The lunch menu of salads, sandwiches, and tarts sounds equally delicious. 

The pasticceria also has a wonderful selection of other items. At this time of year Easter confections are in abundance. Marbled candy eggs, beautifully decorated chicks and bunnies, elegant dark chocolate eggs wrapped in lacy packaging, small chocolate eggs with pretty hard candy shells, all look almost too good to eat. They certainly make pretty regali (gifts).

When in Lucca, Pasticceria Sandra & L'Angolo Dolce is one of the best reasons I know for venturing outside the walls and entering the "real" world outside the tourist areas. You will be rewarded with artful and delicious treats! Grazie Sandra!                        -post by JB

Contact:  Sandra & L'Angolo Dolce.   Via Borgo Giannotti 391. Lucca, Italy

www.pasticceriasandrabianchi.com

Pistoia - a City of Culture

Each year the Italian Ministry of Culture identifies one city as an "Italian Capital of Culture." The competition is fierce; competing towns plan renovations and improvements and the winners receive funds to promote structural and cultural projects, along with tourism. It's a big deal! Mantua won the title in 2016. In 2018 it will be Palermo's turn. 

For 2017, the Italian Capital of Culture is the city of Pistoia, which lies midway between Lucca and Florence. Pistoia is too often overlooked by tourists in favor of larger and better known Florence or nearby Lucca. That's a shame because Pistoia is a city with fascinating history, sights, and culture. I have to admit that despite many visits to this area, I had never ventured to Pistoia - until now.

Arched loggia in front of the Palazzo Comunale.  

Pistoia is a pleasant 40-minute train ride from Lucca, my home away from home on this trip. The countryside between the two is dotted with backyard gardens, nurseries, small towns, and hills topped with towers, churches, or small villages. Arriving at the train station in Pistoia, it's an easy walk, about 10 minutes, to the centro storico (historic center). I visited on a market day, so the Piazza del Duomo was bustling with merchants selling everything from buttons to bakeware.

Piazza della Sala was the site of many food stalls - fruits, vegetables, fish, cheeses, olives. Is there anything more gorgeous than a pile of small purple artichokes at an Italian market?

The market ended about noon and before long the merchants packed up, the street sweepers cleared away all evidence of the market, and the piazza quieted. For the rest of the afternoon the streets were uncrowded and the town peaceful.

Some highlights in Pistoia: 

The Cathedral of San Zeno (the Duomo), which sits at the heart of the oldest part of town, dates from the 12th century (though it's believed a church has stood here since even earlier times).

The raised altar with its ornately frescoed ceiling vault is stunning. Unfortunately the chapel containing the famous silver Altar of San Giacomo was not open when I visited - a good reason to return! There is beautiful artwork throughout the church. Underneath the main altar is a crypt, which is stark and surprisingly beautiful after the more ornate church. The church also has a soaring campanile (bell tower) and an octagonal baptistery that lies across the piazza.

The main altar in the Duomo.  

Also in the Piazza del Duomo are the Palazzo del Comune, which houses the Museo Civico, and the Palazzo Pretorio with it's imposing "stone seat of justice." I don't think I would want to face a judge here! Step into both for the beautiful architecture, remnants of frescoes, and sense of history.

The Palazzo Pretorio has wonderful fresco remnants.  

I found the Museo Civico well worth a visit - the entrance courtyard is impressive and the art, especially the oldest pieces in the first two rooms, is captivating. Entrance is free for anyone over 60; on the day I visited there were few other people in the museum.

A 13th century painting with a typically religious subject.  

Time for a break? The Caffe Duomo is a good spot for a coffee and perhaps a pezzo dolce  (sweet) . 

Just off Piazza del Duomo are the Tower of Catilina, a tiny church (San Salvatore; currently undergoing restoration) and, just a couple of blocks away, the Ospedale del Ceppo with its painted ceramic frieze (by the Della Robia family). The exteriors of all three are worth a look.

Tower of Catilina

Tondo on the facade of the Ospedale del Ceppo.  

 The smaller Piazza della Sala and even smaller adjacent Piazzetta degli Ortaggi feel like the friendly living room of Pistoia. They are ringed with bars, shops, and restaurants. Look for the beautiful stone well in the middle of P. Della Sala.  Lunch was great at the lively Taverna Gargantua', which looks into the piazzetta and onto a modern sculpture of 3 young men, all blindfolded and holding lanterns as they set out in different directions. The sculpture, called Giro del Sole (Trip around the Sun), is by local Pistoian artist Roberto Barni.

Giro del Sole sculpture In Piazzetta degli Ortaggi, Pistoia

This is just a taste of Pistoia - there is much more to experience and it's definitely going to require a return trip.                                                                             -post by JB

Interesting architecture on the exterior of the Duomo. 

Buona Pasqua (Happy Easter)

Handcrafted ceramic egg. 

Buona Pasqua is the greeting I've heard in the streets and shops throughout Lucca in the past few days. Easter is celebrated in a variety of ways in Italy; the traditions are religious, cultural, and culinary. As in the United States you will find colored eggs and chocolate treats - but in Italy there is no Easter bunny or egg hunt tradition. This year I was able to experience an Italian Easter first hand and cook a pranzo di Pasqua (Easter lunch) with friends here in Lucca.

Shop window, Lucca.

The first signs of Easter appeared in the shop windows - especially the local chocolate shops, which have had dazzling displays of Easter confections. This is Easter candy at it's artisanal best! The displays included everything from small chocolate eggs to white, milk, and dark chocolate bunnies, lambs, and hens.

There are also huge chocolate eggs, most filled with small toys. Most of the Easter chocolates are wrapped in shiny foil, colorful paper, cellophane or packaged in pretty boxes. Pop into one of these shops and you are sure to be tempted with a sample!

Artisanal chocolate Easter treats.

The pastry shops compete with a display of their own, including traditional Colomba cakes shaped like doves, glazed chocolate cakes with Easter messages, and beautiful tarts ready for the Easter meal.

I also found delicate ceramic decorated eggs at a street fair, beautiful porcelain eggs, and stuffed bunnies and lambs in shop windows. 

Porcelain eggs. 

Easter in Italy isn't all about eggs and chocolates. It's an important religious holiday (second only to Christmas).

Basilica of San Frediano, Lucca, ready for the Easter service.

Many Italians observe quaresima (Lent) in the 40 days before Easter, carry the traditional bunches of olive branches on Palm Sunday, attend mass on Holy Thursday, and participate in an ancient and moving ceremony on Good Friday. In this ceremony, which represents the crucifixion, black-robed and barefoot members of the Misericordia (a volunteer religious and civil organization) move through the streets of Lucca in a procession, carrying a large wooden crucifix and stopping in small squares and churches to chant prayers. 

The procession begins in daylight but continues after dark as local worshippers carry candles to light the route through which the crucifix travels. 

Candlelight Good Friday Procession.         Photo courtesy of Eva Fritzsche.

Pasquetta, or Easter Monday, is a national holiday and a perfect time for drives and picnics in the country or an extra day of relaxation. I think Pasquetta is a tradition I should bring back home!

                                                                       - post by JB

An Easter toast from Lucca, Italy

April 1 - A Day for Gardening and a Dinner Time Surprise

Before going any further, I should apologize to my friends back home who were hit with an April Fool's Day snowstorm. Mi dispiace (I'm sorry)!  Here in Lucca, April 1 was a clear, warm, sunny day.  No scherzo (joke). It is a day for spring gardening to begin in earnest, starting with the Verdemura garden show.

This annual event takes place along the northern section of the wall surrounding Lucca. Strolling through the many booths and exhibits it is possible to see a huge variety of colorful plants, and also to look out on views both inside the wall and out toward the hills surrounding Lucca. In other words, there is beauty in every direction as far as the eye can see. 

The Lucchese bring wagon-like carts to Verdemura and use them to carry home larger bushes, vines, or trees. Wisteria (glicine in Italian), viburnum, hydrangea, lemon and orange trees, lavender, and grape vines were in abundance.

Eye-catching flowers - orchids, peonies, camellias, pink dianthus, alstroemerias, and even an exotic Mano di Buddha (Hand of Buddha) with its striking yellow fruit were on display, along with a variety of bulbs and sedums. There were booths with herbs and others with garden vegetables, including a remarkable assortment of tomato plants. Oh to have a kitchen garden here!

There was truly something for everyone at Verdemura, young and old, green thumb or not. Children were entertained by the whimsical garden art, the oversize tic tac toe and domino games, and the seemingly magic balancing toys.

Serious gardeners found tools and even small tractors alongside the plants. I was entertained by the basket weavers, the maker of the painted wooden birdhouses, the cheese and wine vendors, the produce markets, and the many booths selling delicate scarves, ceramic dishes, essential oils, spices, and teas.

After spending the morning at Verdemura I had already proclaimed this a perfect day. And then - an April 1st treat - the dinner time reappearance of risotto alla faraona on the menu at Gigi Trattoria. Delicately seasoned with thyme and just a hint of rosemary, studded with tender pieces of Guinea fowl (faraona), steaming hot and oh so very delicious. If you've followed my risotto saga you know that I've spent a year longing for this dish. I have to say it was worth the wait!

Sunday in Lucca

If there is one thing you can count on it's this - if it's Sunday in Italy, the sound of church bells will fill the air. It's an enchanting sound, and walking through the quiet city on my first Sunday morning back in Italy, it established a perfect sense of time and place for me. Today is Sunday and I am in Lucca.

Sunday is also a good day to visit churches. And for such a small city, Lucca has A LOT of churches filled with architectural, artistic, and religious interest.

Santa Maria della Rosa church  

One very special church is Santa Maria della Rosa, which happens to be right across from my apartment. One side of this small church is built up against the original Roman wall of the city and the church is one of the few places in Lucca where the oldest wall can be seen (the current wall that  surrounds Lucca is from the Renaissance period).

A section of the Roman wall, built circa 200 BC, lies within the church. 

The church is intimate and shadowy with beautiful frescos and a serene vibe that is perfect for prayer, meditation, contemplation or just deep breaths and a pause from the outside world. Tourists rarely wander into this church, so it remains quiet. There is a beautiful painting of a Madonna holding three pink roses over the main altar. As with most of the churches here it is possible to take photographs, but only "senza flash"  (without flash).

Just one of the beautiful frescoes inside the church of Santa Maria della Rosa. 

If it happens to be the fourth Sunday of the month you can also count on finding an arts and crafts fair in the area surrounding Piazza San Giusto.

On this Sunday, the piazza was filled with merchants selling artisanal soaps, beautiful hand-painted pins and jewelry, brightly colored wooden tops that spin and nearly hypnotize, papercrafts, leather goods, woven scarves, brightly colored ceramics, paintings, and even art pieces made completely from painted sassi (stones). Wandering through all these beautiful things is a wonderful Sunday morning pastime.

Hand-painted terra cotta pins

Brightly colored spinning tops

Hand-made scented soaps

Sunday afternoon brought rain showers and chilly weather, a perfect excuse to put the Moka on the stove, sip a cup of coffee, read, and have a little pisolino (nap). I can't think of a better way to spend a Sunday in Italy!                                                           -post by JMB

Paper crafts