Finding it is a bit like going to a rave. First, you need to know a local hombre to get the number. On tinkling, you are directed to another telephone box to wait for a call. Then, like the shopkeeper in Mr Benn, a taxi appears to pick you up from Alicante town centre and you are driven 20 minutes up the coast, blindfolded.
This sort of experience excites the hell out of me and has my salivary glands pissing like a Dutch dyke.
I’ve been pretty unkind to Stresa. It is a fabulous location for a quiet holiday and I spent just a few Autumn days there. Plenty of boating, walking, cycling, even snow skiing a brisk 4 hour walk uphill away. But I ate out at a few places in the town and mostly found it poor reward for my day’s exercise.
One notable exception was Caffé Torino where a superb meal for two with a bottle of wine cost only £1,340,056, or €54.30 at today’s exchange rate. The antipasto (below) at €8 is one of the best value plates I have ever seen.
The Italian menu said Tagliere di Salumei di Mottarone which I translated as Viande Sechée or Succulent wind dried mountain pork and cheese from a nearby ski resort. However the local linguist settled for the dreadfully American Cold cuts which turns this simply beautiful display into a CSI murder victim found in the cellar of a lonely spinster.
Stumble It!