I just got back from a family holiday in Thailand and one thing certainly strikes you as you putter around Koh Samui - the preponderance of Italian restaurants on the Island.

After a week or so of fabulous healthy, spicy and vibrant Thai food I really needed a plate of pasta asciutta and a large glass of Italian wine so we pulled into Pinocchio Ristorante facing Chaweng Lake.

After some excellent handmade grissini and mixed antipasto washed down with a glass or two of Grecanico , I was in heaven with a beautifully made al dente bucatini ammatriciana. Fulvio, the Tuscan owner told me he can get most ingredients from Importers at a price; the taxes on Italian wines are gobsmacking and most restaurants major in Ozzie wines so a good Italian was a treat indeed, even at twice the price.

On the night before departure me and Salvo Jr felt the urge again and found ourselves in another Italian, Duomo, marvelling again at the standard of the food as we tucked into home-made meat ravioli and a rather large linguine alle vongole. There was also freshly sliced prosciutto, decent mozzarella, handmade grissini and Italian house wine.

How can the quality of Italian restaurants on Koh Samui be so much better than Italians in G.B/U.S.A/Spain and a lot of Europe? Not a bit either….a lot, the mind boggles! On the whole I found dining in Thailand very similar to dining in Italy; the people there eat well, all the time but not too much and without lots of processed food so dining out reflects this and is usually good and real value for money.

I must give a mention to the little Hotel we stayed in on the North Chaweng beach road; it was a 10 minute walk to the lively centre of the resort so nice and quiet but close to the action.

The tiny Pandora Resort and Spa is run owned by Horacio Rispoli, a laid back Italo Spanish Frenchman who manages the property with Gallic savoir faire. Breakfast, besides eggs and bacon from the kitchen, had banana samosas, veggie spring rolls, amazing tropical fruits, local organic jams, home baked scones, biscuits, cakes and choc brownies, tiny sandwiches and pots of salads and purees (all veggie in this resort).Everything here is homemade. The cocktails included healthy raw cocoa/wheatgrass/tropical fruit based drinks as well as the usual drinks . Every night Matthias offered complementary little treats like baba ganouche with freshly baked parmesan tuilles or noodle pesto salad with your drinks.

The rooms are fantastic with A/C, fan, big screen TV with free internet, movies and skype; the toiletries are chemical free and fruity! The showers are big and strong (like me) and the beds large and comfortable. It’s a perfect place for independent travellers as Horacio and Matthias can help with recommendations and tips on anything from good dining to interesting places or deserted beaches.

Matthias Birembaux has lived on the island for 8 years, originally from France where his CV includes working at Michellin starred restaurants before coming to Thailand. If you are big foodies Matthias organises culinary trips where you can dine in special places, experience real producemarkets, dockside fish sellers and delve into Thai food culture in general. You can contact him on mathias.birembaux@hotmail.fr if you are planning a trip and want some culinary adventures I recommend you call Matthais to organise something. He’s a cool guy and likes his grub!

While in Sicily we took the opportunity to catch the olive harvest and the pressing of our favourite olive oil at the Planeta oil press or ‘Frantoio’ . We were guests of the Planeta family in their new Locanda, or Inn, as they humbly call this fabulous accommodation nestling in the middle of their vineyards in Menfi on the West side of Sicily, close to the archaeological sites of Selinute.

La Foresteria, as the place is called, is immersed in Planeta’s vineyards which stretch right down to the beach in Porto Palo. It has 14 beautiful rooms and an infinity pool. Guests can have cookery classes in the open show kitchen with Ace Michelin chef Angelo Pumilia and enjoying traditional Sicilian dishes cooked with contemporary flourishes on the giant communal olive wood table was a treat indeed.

Our visit was more like a mini Gourmet holiday as the place is so obviously dedicated to wine, cooking and hospitality. I had a little cooking master class with Angelo, he took me to the docks to see where his fish was landed by local fishermen and we visited Sciacca, famed for its bluefish where we met Michele in his anchovy workshop and we got to see the whole process from salting to the finished product, hand packed into jars.

After spending a morning in the olive groves and frantoio I understood why Planeta oil is my favourite and why it’s worth spending a little more on oil of this quality. First of all, all the olive trees are owned by them; the olives are pressed into oil within 2 hours of being picked to preserve the vibrancy and vitality of the product – the oil was so luminous as it poured out it seemed to have a spotlight shining through it.

For more info go to - http://www.planetaestate.it/lang/it/

Me and John have just returned from a visit to Sicily where we toured the Settesoli cooperative vineyards, they supplied our first house wine 34 years ago and still supply it today, enjoying stunning views of the vines tumbling down the hillsides right to the sea. Sicilian hospitality is renowned because of the warmth of its people and we had a wonderful time there culminating with dinner in a renowned beachside seafood restaurant.


Da Vittorio is a restaurant on the beach at Porto Palo di Menfi, 5 minutes’ drive from La Foresteria. The beach is a blue flag and also green flag which denotes it is safe for children. Vittorio, the grizzly boss is taking a well-deserved holiday now that the 7 day a week, relentless summer season is over and I am shown around the kitchen by chefs Ignazio, Michelangelo and Lillo in his snazzy micro shorts and pinnie. This family run restaurant is renowned for fresh fish and the whole family is involved in running it . I meet babies, sons, brother in laws, daughters, sons, mums and dogs before Michelangelo shows me what they are preparing for our party. Giorgio Locatelli is a regular visitor and I can see why this unassuming and unpretentious place is respected, all the fish is locally caught.The trays of red mullet and red king prawn set my mouth watering and I hoped I wasn’t slavering down my chin while Michelangelo chats away, grilling whole fish, prawns, cuttlefish and polenta on a flat top stove, in summer they stoke up the wood burning barbecue outside.

Fishermen glide in for a plate of pasta and a slice of salami or 2 before work - I’m thinking if the fishermen are here eating we are definitely in the right place. I notice a photo behind the till of Locatelli and Vittorio shirtless, and they both seemed worse for wear. Vittorio’s antics are legendary and he has been spotted cooking wearing nothing but his speedo budgie stranglers! Given the searing heat of the Sicilian summer I can understand why though.

This mid-October evening was warm, close and heavy without a breeze even though we were just 25 yards from the sea, seated at a long table on the veranda as the dishes started rolling out of the kitchen.
The meal was a delicious all fish and seafood affair, our hostess, the charming Roberta from the Settesoli Cooperative and Mandrarossa, had arranged the dinner and we are treated to a procession of white wines including Grecanico, Fiano and Chardonnay as a preview of the forthcoming wine tasting in the Settesoli winery

Menu
Aperitivo
Tuma, primo sale, lightly cured black pig sausage, cerignola di Belice olives.

sea snails
With grilled white polenta (vittorio is originaly from bergamo)
Carpaccio course.
Swordfish and wild fennel
Tuna with celery and capers
Red prawns with oil and lemon
Bass with local cheese

Bluefish with sweet and sour onions
Anchovy fish cakes
Spaghetti with sea urchins
Baked line caught bass with pacchino toms and potatoes
Lemon sorbet
Pistachio and wild strawberry cake
Amaro Averna

http://www.ristorantevittorio.it/

The Nonino family have been making grappa in the region for more than 100 years, originally from a mobile still before they founded the distillery in 1897 in the village of Percoto.



Grappa and Aquavita were traditionally made from the distillation of the pomace (skins, seeds, stems and pulp) left after winemaking, these remains were carelessly handled and stored as wine was the prime product ,often uncontrolled fermentation had already begun by the time the distillers received the pomace.



In 1973 Nonino revolutionised the industry when they produced the first single varietal grappa by distilling the pomace of the Picolit grape on its own. An important factor was the freshness of the pomace which was used as soon as the wine was pressed; Nonino were prepared to pay 5 times as much for the pomace to ensure they got it immediately. To highlight the quality of this new style grappa they presented it in the most refined and beautiful bottles which soon caught they eye of distillers worldwide. They continue to innovate and in 1984 they produced a new grappa distilled from the whole grape, once again other distillers were compelled to follow the Noninos’ example.



We visited the distillery accompanied by Antonella, one of the 3 daughters of Benito and Giannola who are all involved in the Family business, there are over 50 individual copper stills as each single varietal needs its’ own still and Benito has constructed each one by hand himself!

We toured the facility and Antonella took us through the whole grappa making process, the pride and passion shown in their product is evident everywhere, no wonder a Nonino grappa was the only grappa present in Forbes Magazine’s top 10 spirits in the World in 2008 (Nonino Grappa Cru Montevitigno Picolit).

Before dinner we visited the tasting rooms, once the family home, where we tasted a few brilliant and rare grappas. Throughout the afternoon children and grandchildren drifted in to say ciao, and feeling somewhat light headed and one drink short of delirious, we headed for dinner.