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. |
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Sapori de
Povenza Restaurant
Faeto, Italy
Billy and Akaisha Kaderli
Currency Converter
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/
For more stories, photos and videos of
Italy, click
here
For more on
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click here and
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About the Authors
Retire
Early Lifestyle appeals to a different
kind of person – the person who prizes their
independence, values their time, and who doesn’t
want to mindlessly follow the crowd.
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