We arrive in the piazza just before 8pm. The band for the night is setting up on stage. The table stretches the length of the Borgo and another row of tables runs across the piazzetta. All 200 seats are sold out at €15 a head and the extra tables means we’re not squeezed in shoulder-to-shoulder along the benches. The sheet taped in the center of our table for 26 shows that Maria Giulia has a group of 20. Antonella’s family is there, along with Elda, Damiano’s family, and Daniela and Roberta. Other friends and in-laws round out our group, but Maria Giulia is still inside and in her housedress. Something it wrong, but we’re left in the dark guessing. Cinzia surmises that since tomorrow is the 3 year anniversary of Eugenio’s death, that Maria Giulia is not in the mood for a festa and opted to stay inside. (We later were told that Cesare had invited a couple of his friends, which would have exceeded our reservations, and the region’s new limit of 200 people before an ambulance is needed, so Maria Giulia and one of her friends stayed inside.)
The first course was a small antipasto plate containing several items – none very memorable. Next we were served big portions of gnocchi with a tomato and pecora sauce. The sauce contained several pieces of tender pecora and was delicious. Seconds were offered, but we held out for the main course. Up next was the grilled pecora. A mix of ribs and leg were included in each plate. They were grilled over a wood fire, possibly coal, and their charred fatty bits were wonderful. Cinzia was full and I was happy to finish her plate. Dessert was a small bombolono with a pasty filling that contained some type of alcohol and spice, but the paste was closer to a sweet roll than a traditional donut.
We eventually rolled away from the table to watch the music for a bit. People are filling the piazza and the bettolaccia is doing a brisk business. The crostata, pizza, crepes, and bomboloni that were made earlier that day in the communal kitchen will sell out and the old communal laundry area under Virgilio’s house has been temporarily converted into a grilling area where sticks of pecora, hamburgers, and hotdogs are prepared for hungry customers. This was a much better use of the space than the shooting gallery they operated during the 2015 festa when we were here last. With the loss of revenue from not being able to hold the serpentine dinner in the Buchi, this new and improved bettolaccia looks to be more than making up the difference.