Corso Garibaldi Calitri

.... A Book From Its Cover

If you head up Corso Garibaldi, one of the main streets in downtown Calitri, go past the ‘Bar Jolly' and keep going until the street becomes Corso Italia, you will come to a sign pointing to the right and indicating ‘Tre Rose'. Take that right into what appears to be a complex of apartment houses, find Via Sotto Macello 9 and you've found the Tre Rose!

It sports a non-descript, quite modest exterior like many of the other ‘jewels' in Calitri. No outside menu, no chic flood-lit marquee and forget about valet parking - count yourself lucky if you can find a parking space in this family neighborhood! Unlike in the Borgo, here people drive and park cars. Honestly, the first time we drove by looking for it, we were unimpressed by its appearance. In fact, we hesitated to stop and give it a try. Only a sign proclaiming ‘Tre Rose', some planters and a gas barbecue grill at street-side mark the spot. But for the sign denoting the place, you'd never think it was a restaurant. Remember though what they say about telling a book from its cover!

Actually, Tre Rose is an osteria. In years past, the town square, the church and the local osteria were the primary meeting places for small town Italians. The osteria is an Italian institutional tradition. The osteria was a tavern or humble restaurant where wine was served as the main attraction and tasty food prepared. It was a place where the rich and the poor could sit together. Here the cultured and un-instructed could sometimes find a way to communicate around a table with a pack of playing cards and a carafe of wine.
Back here at home, we continually hear claims of "authentic regional Italian cuisine" but what exactly is authentic Italian cuisine? Well, one definition is embodied in the Tre Rose ..... it's the tiny kitchen where the cooks are clad in white smocks and their hair bedecked in a white shower-cap affair as if they were NASA technicians; where one of the owners, now in his 40s has worked in this establishment since he was 17; where the walls of the dining area are tiled, beams pattern the ceiling and cloth adorns the clusters of appealing tables; where a TV charms the eye causing it to glance away from the most pleasing of dinner companions to steal a glimpse at that head-nod shot toward the soccer net; where a buffet table of calamari, eggplant, zucchini and deep fried smelts guarded by a phalanx of wine bottles beckons; and where a ‘vecchio' outside grill roasts steaks and lamb much to the aromatic delight of the neighborhood. And oh yes, it's got to be in Italy! Such is the local osteria - great places to meet and enjoy the company of Italians you would never encounter in your customary travels as a tourist.

It hasn't an extensive wine list. Just point to what you want, ask for the house wine or if you are lucky, patrons at a neighboring table might just share a bottle of their homemade brew with you. The service, though nowhere as elegant as in some Roman or Neapolitan establishment, is excellent, prompt and especially congenial. They are as interested in you as you are in them. All that is needed is that spark of initiative on your part to strike up a conversation, no matter how meager your Italian might be.

Its menu, though limited, promises to capture the Italian spirit of making every meal there a special occasion. The home-made house pastas, though regular fare, are a special treat for the novitiate. It was for us. Imagine a bowl of fresh pasta with meat sauce or potato gnocchi, enough for four, for only 3,50Euro and so, so good! Sh, don't tell anyone!

Not on the menu one night was an adjacent table of six elderly men. They were all locals and apparently lifelong friends. We learned that every Saturday night they gathered at the Tre Rose for dinner. One was 75 years old but surprisingly looked 55 - the olive oil diet? All were retired now and on pensions. Some had worked for years in Germany because that's where the jobs were at the time, while their families remained behind in Calitri. The neatest part was that they had their own supply of homemade wine stored at the Tre Rose for these occasions! They kindly presented us with one bottle and when that was downed, we received another (and I can recall the days when we had a hard time finishing one bottle of wine)! By then I could easily attest to the distinctive flavor of the Aglianico grape, local to that region and from which their wine was made. In particular, I learned that the Aglianico grape is a very tannic grape, which is tamed only by harvesting it as late as possible, often in November, to ensure full ripeness. When done correctly, it competes with the "big" Sangiovese and Nebbiolo based wines from Tuscany and Piedmont.

Go ahead and capture the Italian spirit of making every meal a special occasion and try the Tre Rose. Be adventurous, walk inside and surround yourself with the culinary warmth of time-honored cooking, the local spice of Calitrian life and the timeless charm of bygone times.

As for the name of this establishment, I'm honestly sitting here wondering to myself why I never inquired as to its origin. Well, next time when the wine begins to flow, I'll be sure to ask.

Paolo