WINE AND FOOD
Where I eat alone
Harold Acton
SOLITARY meditation promotes serenity but solitary mastication induces boredom and anorexia. If eating alone fails to stimulate appetite, it makes one more fastidious in the choice of viands. Usually I eat in vaulted 15th-century chamber, surrounded by Renaissance artefacts, in- cluding a large painting of the Last Supper. My cook, a former dressmaker, regales me with hearty Tuscan fare, though I am very partial to Piedmontese fonduta (melted cheese with artichokes) when truffles are out of season. When marooned in Florence I can enjoy this at Celestino's. But con- versation kindles appetite: one cannot talk brilliantly to oneself. However, the inva- sion of exotic tourists offers plenty of visual entertainment.
Previous page
