Retire Early Lifestyle
Retirement; like your parents, but way cooler

In 1991 Billy and Akaisha Kaderli retired at the age of 38. Now, into their 4th decade of this financially independent lifestyle, they invite you to take advantage of their wisdom and experience.

Sapori de Povenza Restaurant

Faeto, Italy

Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

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We arrived in Faeto after a drizzly day of riding a combo of train and bus, getting to Savignano Irpino, and having an angel-of-a-policeman call for Giovanni to pick us up.

We placed our belongings into the roomy villa we rented and asked the owners where we could find a hot meal.

He gave us the name of 3 restaurants.

Only one was open, so we went there.

My Grandparents, Antoinette Mastri and Giuseppe Figliola

This is where it all started.

My Father's parents came from Faeto, Italy, born in the late 1800s.

We were on a mission to find out if anyone knew them.

But first, we had to have some dinner.

The inside of Sapori de Povenza

We walked around the town in the misty dribble of rain that had continued all day.

It was about 6pm, we were tired, hungry and cold.

Being the only restaurant open, we walked in, grateful that it was clean and homey.

The bar

It was a casual reception... No one came to greet or seat us, so we grabbed a table for ourselves.

Here you see the bar, the espresso machine (a MUST for every Italian restaurant) and the cash drawer is somewhere below, out of sight.

Looking around, we saw menus on a table by the wall, so I got up to grab a few.

Menu of Starters, Appetizers and Sandwiches

Prices are reasonable, and only being in Italy a matter of days, our Italian is so sketchy we don't know what we are looking at...!

We find out later that this restaurant serves typical Franco-Provencal products and dishes. Which, being Foodies, piqued our interest.

There's a story to the Franco-Provencal influence, which I will get to later.

Menu of first and second plates

This menu is much heartier, with pastas, beef, grilled lamb, sausage, lamb skewers, and a terrine of cheese melted in a wood oven.

By this time, Nico, the Chef comes out and tells us to move to a smaller table.

Ok.

There is no one here in the place, are they expecting a crowd?

We order bottles of water and a liter of wine, then give him the orders for our first meal in Faeto.

Cicatelli panchetta e fagioli

Billy orders cicatelli pasta with ham and beans.

These kinds of beans are a common food in Southern Italy, especially in the country.

They are used whole or mashed into a paste or broth as a background flavor.

Panchetta is a salt-cured pork but isn't smoked like bacon.

The pasta is made by cutting little rolls from a larger roll, and then smashing your thumb into the center of it to create the little crater to hold the flavor of the sauce.

Pasta with a meat sauce

I ordered Tagliatelli with a meat sauce like pasta Bolognaise.

This pasta is rolled out thin, then cut by hand into strips with a big knife.

With it being so chilly outside, this really hit the spot.

Billy and I plus our traveling friend

As you can see, the restaurant is empty at this time, but we were moved to a smaller table.

Maybe Nico knew something we didn't?

Reservations for later?

Alessandra and Akaisha

After our meal, Alessandra (Nico's wife) and I get to talking.

I explain to her that my Grandparents came from this town and moved to the US in the early 1900s.

I mention some last names, and show her the photo posted above of Antoinette and Giuseppe Figliola.

She is nodding her head and we are chatting along using Google Translate, sharing photos and all, when Alessandra suddenly leaves the table.

Alessandra, my cousin!

I didn't think too much of it...

It was a bit of a surprise of course, but I figured it was the language barrier or she had gotten tired of our conversation and the awkwardness of using the translate app.

She was younger, I was older... my mind was trying to rationalize why she left so quickly.

But moments later she comes back to the table with the following photo below.

Congetina, my Grandmother's Sister

The photo was of Congetina, my Grandmother's Sister!

Alessandra says "This is my Grandmother."

Could it possibly BE?

What are the chances?

Considering Alessandra's age, I figured Congetina was probably her Great Grandmother. But to have her bring out a photo of a woman whom I knew well from growing up in the Midwest was simply a mind-blowing experience.

This woman was my Great-Aunt!

Alessandra simply took it all in stride.

I find out later that lots of people are related to each other in this little village of about 500 people. So for her it was no big deal.

For me... I hadn't expected to go half way around the world, to the only open restaurant in a small town and meet my Cousin by accident!

Mr. Daiuto

A few people started coming into the restaurant now, and Alessandra had to get back to work.

We met a man whose last name was Daiuto, which was my Grandmother's Mother's name.

So Mr. Daiuto pulled the above photo from his wallet of HIS Father and showed us.

Again, to these people in the town, it was no big deal, everyone knew everyone. But for me, I felt as though I passed through a living time warp.

The man in the above photo was my Grandmother's Mother's Brother's Son.

I was related to the man holding this photo of his Father, but I wasn't sure exactly how many cousins or twice-removed cousins it was.

I wasn't prepared for any of this, and I was somewhat emotional.

An amazing experience!

Our bill for 3 people

This is our bill for our first meal at Sapori de Povenza Restaurant.

As you can see at the top, there is a $2Euro coperti or cover charge per person which is added to restaurant bills in lieu of tipping.

Our bill totals $47Euros which is just under $50USD.

This price included a liter of wine, bottled water, a coke, and three meals.

Billy and another customer having some laughs

Since this place was literally the only opened restaurant in town, we went there several times for coffee and pastries or meals at night.

Getting used to having "everyone" be related somehow to us (or ME, actually), it became a fun familiarity with total strangers.

This man might have been another Daiuto, but I don't recall.

Everyone seemed so friendly and willing to engage.

Billy is having a blast with all of this.

Someone would walk in the door and Billy would throw his arms open wide and say "Brother!" "Papa!" "Mamma!"

They would look surprised, but then would join right in to the fun. Like this man above.

What a hoot.

The front of Sapori de Povenza

In the morning we had a coffee and pastry sitting out on these benches in front of the restaurant.

We'd gaze at the intensely green hills of the Difesa forest that surrounded this town.

Misty and Magical.

Some history of Faeto

In 1266, a Franco-Provencal group of soldiers were sent to fight the battle of Benevento.

After the battle was fought, soldiers decided to make their homes in this region.

Their foods, beliefs and their language altered the area, changing it forevermore.

There are only a few places in Italy and France - they call them linguistic islands - where this Faetar language is spoken.

When my Grandfather was in the United States and looking for a wife, he wanted someone from Faeto, (who spoke the same language as he) so they could understand each other.

That is how special and different this language is from Italian or French.

Nico, the Chef

On a return visit, everyone now has accepted us as being part of the family.

This is Nico, the Chef/owner of the restaurant.

You can see his wood burning oven, especially made for pizzas!

Italian Pizza!

We have spoken many times about how pizza in Italy is different than pizza made in America.

Besides the fact that the dough is different, it is also wood-fired. The bread is yeast risen for 8-24 hours so it is easy on the digestion and is light and airy.

The next evening we ordered 3 different pizzas and took home our leftovers.

Really delicious.

Nope. We're not related!

The last evening we were there, this woman came in with her family, and she spoke English!!

She was from England somewhere and had owned a family farm in Faeto for decades.

She explained that one doesn't make a lot of money running a farm. I think she had sheep and pigs.

She sold the animals wholesale.

I was wondering why she might not make cheese or Prosciutto ham - Faeto is known for their Prosciutto ham.

You know, make products to sell from her animals and maybe it could bring in more money

But I imagine that she and her daughter were busy enough just running the farm itself.

People here were very friendly, probably because few outsiders come here.

Our bill for 3 people

This time, we had the cover charge, wine, water and 3 pizzas. It came to a total of $36Euros or about $38USD.

Would we recommend Sapori di Provenza?

Considering it was the only open restaurant in town, and was owned and run by my Cousin,

Absolutely!

But not only that, the food was good!

__________

Sapori di Provenza

Piazza William Booth 4

71020 Faeto Italy

Tele: +39 346 892 1660

+39. 346. 045. 6219

Website: https://saporidiprovenza.wordpress.com/

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