Sui Passi di Francesco — Restaurant in Valfabbrica

Unfortunately we had a bad experience here with my daughter and teenage grandchildren. We arrived very hot after walking 16km all day. There was no place for us to register or receive rooms and keys except in the small single room restaurant where the 2 women in charge were still serving lunch. Perhaps 15 diners stared at us as we stood sweating. One woman told us to wait. After a 5-10 minutes, exhausted my daughter and grandson sat in 2 chairs only a few feet from some diners just inside the door. There was a small stool squeezed between the chairs directly in front of a desk with a plexiglass screen and small cutout apparently for passing money.... in short, a reception "window." My granddaughter is a mature 14 year old and sat carefully but the stool was apparently pushed up against a glass table mounted on a statue pedestal almost invisible behind the stool and half under the reception desk. When she sat, the table fell and broke the base but somehow not the glass top. It was an accident and my granddaughter was very embarrassed in front of so many people. Although the woman later repeatedly told me it was NOT a place to sit, it had a soft cushioned top, was made of steel, and I myself later sat on it with no problem.

But the woman wanted us to pay €300 for what she called this expensive "table." Our view was that had we not been asked to wait without instructions, awkwardly, exhausted, and embarrassed in from of diners without information about where and how long to wait, and had such delicate items not been placed directly behind and under the table where presumably there is constant traffic, this unfortunate accident would not have happened. To us this expense should have been part of the cost of doing business and a good reason not to place such delicate things in such a highly trafficked location.

After a few emails to our agent, we OFFERED to give her €100 just as a gesture of good faith.... as we left, she accepted and asked for it in cash. We then waited to leave until after the transfer service picked up our bags.

As for the rooms we were eventually shown, they were in the "attic" where neither my daughter nor I could even stand up in half the space. My daughter hit her head 3 times on the masonry ceiling. The owner also gave strict instructions not to touch the air conditioning levels even though it wasn't very cold. In fairness the bathroom was clean bright and functional.

But I would NOT recommend this place and you can be very very sure we will never allow our travel agency to book...

We started in the hotel on our recent pilgrimage on the Via Di Francesco. The room was clean and comfortable. We had an external bathroom which was immediately outside our room so very easy to access. There was a comfortable common lounge that was very close to our room. We ate dinner at the restaurant and the food was very good. We ordered the pilgrim's menu €15 for a primi, seconde and side dish. There was an additional €2 coperta. Including a litre of house wine the total for 2 of us was €41. Very reasonable. The service was excellent. I highly recommend the rooms and...

E C C E Z I O N A L E ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Abbiamo cenato presso il ristorante "Sui Passi di Francesco" questa sera, prenotando un po' all'ultimo momento ma senza alcuna difficoltà nel trovare disponibilità da parte dei gestori. Il locale si presenta semplice, sobrio ed accogliente! Ci sono stati proposti ben TRE menù differenti: un menù tradizionale, con piatti classici umbri a base di materie prime locali, spesso arricchiti con trovate ricercate ed intriganti (vedasi il risotto allo zafferano con polvere di liquirizia!); un menù comprendente piatti a base di tartufo; un menù a prezzo fisso, con portate più semplici ma comunque interessanti e gustose! Noi e le nostre figlie abbiamo provato piatti da tutti e tre i menu: l'antipasto con strapazzata al tartufo ci ha immediatamente proiettato nella cucina di casa, in un'atmosfera familiare, con un gusto esplosivo ed intenso! Se il buongiorno si vede dal mattino..... Con i primi piatti, ulteriore passo avanti! Il risotto allo zafferano con polvere di liquirizia era DIVINO!!!! Strangozzi al tartufo ECCEZIONALI! Pappardelle con crema di limone, prosciutto croccante e tartufo: SQUISITE! Come secondo, tre tagliate magistralmente cotte, tenerissime, succose, insaporite meravigliosamente!! E infine i dolci, con un tiramisù ed una caramellata di mele buonissimi, che nuovamente ci riportano nella cucina di casa! Personale delizioso e disponibilissimo!!!! Rapporto qualità/prezzo ECCEZIONALE!

Posti come questo ti ricordano che amare il proprio lavoro, coltivare la passione per la buona cucina con le radici ben piantate nella propria terra e nella propria tradizione, sono gli ingredienti perfetti per un meritato successo!

"Sui Passi di Francesco" diventerà tappa fissa ogni volta che torneremo da queste...