Hello, from 11,811 feet...🏔️

what to eat, drink, and see at the top of Europe's highest mountain & a recipe for pasta puttanesca

Apr 12, 2024

Welcome to A standing reservation! Thanks for reserving your table. If you’ve found your way here via pure luck and haven’t already reserved your standing reservation, pencil yourself in the book and we’ll be sure to serve you up something good:

Need to catch up on A standing reservation? Head over to the archive to catch up on what you might have missed.

The reservation archive

Sail to Ponza and Palmarola with us this summer 2024! Want to receive more info? Reply directly to this email and I’ll send you the full brochure. A brief overview can be found on the tavolotwelve website.

Email me the brochure please

A quick update before we begin…

First of all, I’m back from a small hiatus. I’ve had a few busy weeks working on a live streamed event for Pokemon. Yes, that’s right Pokemon. The Europe International Championship to be exact. But I’m back now and we’re gearing up for a spring and summer of snacks and sailing. Which, by the way, are you sailing with us this summer? Take a look at the experience on the website or see the brief outline below. If you’d like more info on dates for summer 2024, reply straight to this email and we’ll come up with dates for you and your group!

The all inclusive sail to Ponza and Palmarola looks a little something like this...

5 nights, 6 days on board
All meals on board, snacks + private chef: (5 breakfasts, 5 lunches, & 2 dinners)
Beer / wine / mocktails + soft drinks during aperitivo on board & with all meals when we're together on board
Wine tour / tasting at a local winery in Ponza
Private car transportation to and from Rome to Nettuno, Nettuno to Rome.
Activities on board - snorkel equipment, floaties, SUP
Welcome kit: few fun gifts to help you settle into life at sea.

The carbonara replay

For those of you who missed it, here’s the link to the replay for how to make carbonara. If you’ve made it, let me know how it came out for you! Should I do more of these live streamed videos? Let me know what dishes you’d like to see in the comments.

11,811 ft up and away

The final snow fell on the mountain just before our arrival to Pre Saint Didier, a small village at the foothill of the tallest mountain in Europe, Mont Blanc. Beautiful and quaint, the style of the homes resemble and take influence from neighboring French and German architecture. Much different than what we find in central and southern Italy. Not only are the style of the homes different, but most importantly, it’s the food that sets the Valle d'Aosta region apart. Home to incredible cheeses, cured meats, and lots of apples made into strudels, pressed into juices, and sold by the kilo.

Mont Blanc is well known by skiers looking to hit the slopes at places like Chamonix on the French side and Courmayeur on the Italian side. I’m not a skier anymore, but imagine starting your day in Italy for your first run, stopping off for a panino about mid day, and ending your day with a drink in France. Gianluca, a well seasoned skier, hit the slopes for a few days and came back to share that he’d successfully jumped over to France for the afternoon. Now that’s when I wished I was a skier. I did however, take the lift to the top and enjoy the apres part of the ski. Can you blame me? With views like the ones at the top of the mountain, sipping a glass of white wine taste even more crisp.

When we first arrived to the base of the mountain, we bought a ticket for the Skyway Monte Bianco and were lifted above the clouds close to the top of Mont Blanc, 11,811 ft. At the top the wind whipped and whistled, blowing clean mountain air wildly across the terrain, touching down on the white snow creating and small vortexes on the snow covered mountain. Luckily, the day was sunny with blue skies and we had a clear view of the highest peak. The ticket to the top is an expensive one, but I highly suggest taking the Skyway to the top and enjoying a drink at one of the many beautiful bars, both inside and outside, to soak in the views of the mountain surrounding you. And if it’s a nice day, you can take a walk through the snow (or on the grassy mountain in the summer).

That evening, we made our way to the small village of Courmayeur to have dinner in a restaurant named La Maison de Filippo. The menu was filled with traditional and a bit elevated Valle d’Aosta classic dishes like snails, local fontina cheeses, and hot fondu chocolates. In every regional in Italy there’s a typical digestivo and Valle d’Aosta has their own typical and traditional drink. While génépy is the typical digestivo that’s served in small glasses, the region has another particular digestivo that’s a bit more particular. It goes by the name of coppa dell'amicizia. Not served chilled and not only just alcohol but a base of coffee and whatever liquor is being poured, the traditional digestivo is shared out of an ornately carved wooden vessel. It’s passed around and sipped out of small individual openings, a spout for each person sharing the drink. We decided to pass on this as the owner told us it was very strong and after a long day on top of the mountain and an early day skiing, it was probably for the best. I suppose there’s always next time.

The following morning we woke up with fresh brewed coffee and apple strudel we’d picked up the night before at the local pasticceria. We took to the mountain for the afternoon. I positioned myself at the top in a bar. And while the other skied, I soaked up the sun, read my book, and enjoyed a glass of wine. Dozens of skiers popped in and out drinking bombardino (the equivalent to egg nog) and glasses of wine, coffees and spritz’s. Accents and languages from all over the world floated through refuge mountain house. A long day of skiing for some and for me, a day of people watching and enjoying the beauty of a $4 glass of local white wine.

There’s no better way to end a day skiing at the mountain than with a warming dish. Polenta. We took to the kitchen and made a large pot with fresh sliced truffles, a treat given to Gianluca’s parents. With each bite, it warmed us. Bringing warmth back into our cold fingers and toes after a long day on the mountain.

A grey morning greeted us on the mountain and we set out to the valley for a walk in the snow. But before our walk, we refueled for lunch. Cured meats, cheeses, thin layers of potatoes and fontina, roasted potatoes, and vegetables. A perfect mix match of local dishes and homemade classics. The most gluttonous and fatty of them all, the cured lardo. Lardo or pig fat, is delicately sliced and served like thin sheets of paper, so thin that it melts in your mouth when you put it on a piece of warm bread. It might sound strange but it’s melts in your mouth just like butter. And when drizzled with a bit of honey, it makes every antipasto that much better.

After a walk in the snow through the valley we winded our way back down the mountain and straight to the spa. The QC Terma spa is dotted with thermal pools, saunas, and steam rooms all over along the property with views looking up at Mont Blanc. It’s truly jaw dropping and was the perfect way to end our trip at 11,811 ft.

End of one season, beginning another

We did it. We said goodbye to winter and hello to spring. The buds on the trees are opening up and unfurling their new and delicate leaves. Flowers are bursting on trees, from green grass and wet soil. Here in England, wild garlic seems to be everywhere you look. Rain pours down out of nowhere during this time of year so it’s highly recommended that you carry an umbrella that can stand the times of gusty and sporadic rainfall. Because we live on the Thames river, the wind kicks up and sends a chilly breeze through the old apartment windows. But even so, it’s cozy inside and from where I sit, the Thames is speckled with small waves that ripple over one another. One by one, shimming down the winding bends in the river banks.

Inside looking out. A new roll of film came back from the developer - view of the Thames and the historic Hammersmith Bridge.

Pasta puttanesca

After a long week of work and sleeping in a hotel room, all I wanted was a simple and easy pasta. With lots of olives left over from Easter antipasto, we whipped up a puttanesca that made being home that much nicer.

Ingredients

350 g of pasta of your choice (mezze rigatoni is my choice)
1 anchovy fillet
Half a bunch of parsley, chopped
1 clove of garlic, crushed (more to your liking)
1 jar of passata (700g)
100g of gaeta or kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
10g of capers, rinsed
1 peperoncino (spice to your liking)
4 Tbsp of olive oil
1/2 cup of water
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

In a pan heat the olive oil and add the anchovy fillet, allowing it to melt into the oil. Add the peperoncino and crushed clove of garlic and sauté until fragrant. Add the passata and put 1/2 cup of water into the passata jar, swirl around and add to the pan. Season with salt and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the olives and capers and continue to cook. Boil your pasta and cook to al dente. Once the pasta is cooked, add it straight to the pan with your sauce, toss, and add half the chopped parsley, toss again. Plate and garnish with parsley. Enjoy!

Until next time at a standing reservation…

With love & snacks,

Paige