I Sette Consoli and the Stopponi family: Orvieto art

A classic cuisine but with a modern lightness at an elegant restaurant furnished with taste.

I’ve known Mauro Stopponi for almost 20 years and I adore his spontaneity and frankness which stem from the love he has for his work. Perhaps more than work it has to do with life and family, all intermingled in an indissoluble bond for Mauro, the proprietor of I Sette Consoli as for many other restauranteurs who work with their families.

Life, family, sacrifice, passion, dedication but also concern and uncertainty at this most difficult moment. All this can be found in every post, every photo, a love that is expressed in every gesture and every dish. Following both his personal and the restaurant’s Facebook is like being a part of his life at the restaurant, including his selection of the prime ingredients and the satisfaction he feels when clients voice their appreciation for a new dish.

He is a straightforward man, a true Umbrian without any frills but with a visceral love for his wonderful Orvieto, which he staunchly defends from undisciplined as well as the misguided decisions by local administrators.

All this serves as a background for a restaurant that too often is underappreciated by sector critics given its history, the quality of service, the exceptional plates offered and the gems one can come across. It is a restaurant that is not run based on economic considerations alone. Here, in order to offer exceptional products at the table, sometimes what they do is even “anti-economical” because they follow their hearts and passion rather than end of the month profit margins.

When a restaurant is like a home, when the kitchen is a place for discussion (and even confrontations) as in this case… then what comes out is magic. When a client enters and everyone “goes on stage” … it’s poetry. This is a modest, elegant, tastefully furnished restaurant with a new entry hall, paintings on the walls, white tablecloths and a hospitality that can only be found in place where they have been doing this job for decades. It has a style, with Mauro and his daughters Chiara and Serena on the floor, which cannot be learned in school but becomes ingrained in you over the years, years of having contact with the guests and which allows you understand their desires at first glance.

In the kitchen is Mauro’s wife Anna Rita Simoncini, who has a warm smile and the confidence of a true hostess.  Her dishes are exquisite and you fall in love with them at first bite. Her expertise is evident in every pairing, a skill in balancing every flavor to make every bite amazingly elegant. A classic cuisine with a modern lightness, one that is succulent yet never excessive even for the more traditional dishes.

When I read the menu I, as I often do, wanted to order everything. There is an absolutely affordable tasting menu but I opted for the à la carte one. Before the appetizers there is a selection of “starters”. Here you will find Porto Santo Spirito red shrimp carpaccio with Balik caviar, Culatello di Zibello on bread, Normandy butter and Cantabrico anchovies and so on. I ordered duck pâté de foie-gras with dried fruit and pan brioche and a selection of Villa Caviciana cold cuts with homemade liver salami on toast that has a delicate aroma of orange. While I was waiting some welcoming tidbits came: a mini suppli, a small shortbread tart with ricotta cheese, tomato confit and basil-infused olive oil and a tiny salted pastry with a creamy cod topping. Already at this point I wanted to ask if I could stay for dinner, too!

For an appetizer I had a splendid brain and tongue with vegetables in a sweet and sour green sauce that looked so nice I did not want to break up the composition.  The dish was colorful, fragrant, rich and elegant. Very tasty!

The first courses were no less inviting and it was difficult to choose between them. Guinea fowl turnovers with their juice and Cacio di Morolo cheese, spagettone pasta with a snail pesto of aromatic herbs and crispy crumbs and so on.  I chose tortelli pasta with an alpine Bettlemat fondue sauce, asparagus and crispy prosciutto. And since it is mushroom season there was also a mushroom menu dedicated to porcini mushroom and I could not pass up the fettucine with porcini. After tasting these I wanted them to adopt me.

Among the main dishes I opted for pigeon with foie gras, pan brioche and cherries. This was a very balanced dish despite its opulence and it was pleasing refreshing thanks to the June fruit which was brushed on as a fragrant sauce. I also ordered pan-cooked porcini that were served on a potato purée to exalt their flavor.

For the wine pairings I let them choose and they served three that were spot-on.

Being a bit of a glutton, I never pass up dessert: three cream puffs – two with a citrus filling and one with gianduia chocolate – a tart with fiorni figs and a dark chocolate mousse and, last but not least, peaches and apricots in rum with crispy meringue and a mango dressing. Simple amazing. All this was paired with a Porriture Noble Decugnano dei Barbi.

Coffee is served with two homemade, small pastries. In other words, I was cuddled and spoiled from beginning to end.

There were no off notes, nothing was over-the-top. Excellence served naturally without any frills. There were two of us but we ordered for three without denying ourselves anything, all for the very honest price of 100 euros a head. I usually do not talk about the price because I find it a bit embarrassing but I made an exception here because the quality/price ratio was truly amazing.

I Sette Consoli is one of the monuments one must see in Orvieto. You cannot come here, walk the picturesque streets of the city’s center without stopping at the establishment of the Stopponi family. During the summer their garden has wrought-iron gazebos with white curtains that move gently with the wind, surrounded by colorful flowers that decidedly create a sensational and romantic atmosphere.

Ristorante I Sette Consoli
Piazza Sant'Angelo, 1A 
05018 Orvieto TR
Tel. +39 0763 343911
Reservations: https://www.isetteconsoli.it/prenotazioni
Menù: https://www.isetteconsoli.it/menu
info@isetteconsoli.it
www.isetteconsoli.it
Facebook: isetteconsoli
Instagram: isetteconsoli
Opening hours: Lunch from 12:30 to 15:00 - Dinner from 19:30 to 22:00
Closed on Wednesday and Sunday for dinner

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