On 15 August, like so many from Rimini, I chose the hinterland to spend the 'Ferragosto'.
We went as far as Badia Tedalda, a mountain municipality in the province of Arezzo in what is the upper Tuscan Valmarecchia.
The destination of the journey was theOasis of Cocchiola, a multipurpose accommodation facility a few kilometers from the center of Badia, B&B, restaurant, pizzeria, camping and bungalow. We weren't the only ones in August, in fact Cocchiola is a very popular destination, especially on summer weekends. To escape the heat of the cities, you always prefer to stay where the air becomes cooler and where the heat is dry and more bearable, plus if there is a swimming pool, all the better.
Badia Tedalda and Cocchiola are located along the road axis of the Marecchiese, SS258, and connects the two provincial capitals of San Sepolcro and Rimini. Oasi della Cocchiola has a large park where children can play and run freely, a swimming pool as we said, a large bar where to eat less elaborate things and a stone accommodation facility where the rooms and the restaurant are located.
Our table was reserved right in the dining room, a long setting for great ceremonies but in a style that had little to do with the stones and wood of the structure. We had arrived a little early but they did not accommodate us. You must enter at 13pm! We obey without replying.
The menu was fixed, and variations or alternatives to the menu were not allowed. I didn't know and I adapted as I assume other people didn't know too.
They immediately bring us some Tuscan wine for the whole meal and antipasti well 'ordered' and colored which gave me hope. The menu then included one lasagna and Strozzapreti, a cut and pork rabbit, and the Dolce. To read it the impression was of having to eat until you burst but it did not happen.
Except for the plentiful appetizer, the first courses were scarce, the meat little, the dessert microscopic. The slow service and the staff not exactly accommodating, so as not to make us miss anything. It is certainly not easy to manage situations of this kind in mid-August and with a full room, but is it a restaurant or not? It almost seemed that the dishes were scarce on purpose just to prevent someone from not having their portion. Some foods even seemed to have just thawed and badly reheated.
At the time of the bill the children have paid 10 €, the adults 35 € (exaggerated). Let's put it this way, the place is visually exceptional, the landscape is exciting thanks to the lush nature, and the discount for children made me ease my disappointment. However, it is better not to add anything else.
