Gastro-tourism at Vetralla's Cene in Cantina

 the cooks at Emergency's  cantina 

For the past  18 years the town of Vetralla, 65 km northeast of Rome and a short drive inland from Civitavecchia port, has been celebrating the beginning of summer with  Fiori in Finestra, Cene in Cantina (Flowers in the window,  dinner in the cantina) festival.

Opening  the festivities are oxen  and horsemen  

antiques & handicrafts   galore 

Piazza S. Egidio  is always beautiful

 On  two successive  mid-June weekends (17,18,19  and 24,25,26 )  local cooks show off their skills and the town is hopping  with happenings to please young and old: parades, magicians, music and   tiny shops with local handicrafts.

 The piazzas and balconies   are decked  with flowers while  in May  blossoms are used to decorate the cobblestones for  several religious processions.

The main focus of the Cene in Cantina festival is of course the  eight cool cantinas beneath the town's historic palaces which are opened up and filled with long communal tables for   lunch and dinner during the two weekends.

stone steps lead down to a cantina

inexpensive  home made food in  a "cool" cantina

Vetralla's best cooks  compete to produce tasty four-course meals  with flavors of the past.Check the menus  written in dialect   on the  website of the proloco www.prolocovetralla.it  and call to book your table.
 The traditional dishes include truffles, pork, hand-made pasta  all cooked using Vetralla's excellent extra virgin olive oil and washed down with abundant local wine. All profits benefit  local volunteer associations.