Picturesquely located on the outskirts of Isola del Gran Sasso, Ristorante San Giovanni di Fieni Luca sits next to the hill-top romanesque abbey San Giovanni ad Insulam, in part at least dating back to the 11th century, and to be featured in full in its own right in a subsequent feature on this website (unfortunately the abbey was closed for lunch!). However, we can at least report on this family-run restaurant.

We are always on the lookout for good local agriturismi & restaurants so it was excellent to find another one so close. Ristorante San Giovanni di Fieni Luca proved welcome shelter and relief from the hot midday sun when we visited it for lunch in early September. The restaurant was bustling with large family groups and other Abruzzese having lunch, so we were glad we had for once taken the unusual precaution of actually making a reservation.

We were seated in a large wooden-framed glass-walled conservatory next to the bar area facing onto the road to Isola, which meant the temperature was not as cool as we would have liked, but was otherwise fine, the sound of jolly Italian children and their often equally animated parents providing a rather raucous but merry backdrop. The gardens and older parts of the abbey complex were just visible, and despite the proximity of the road it was a pleasant, colourful eating environment.

Antipasti it seems is something of a speciality of Ristorante San Giovanni's. After some initial embarrassment (involving our request for chilli oil as opposed to the chillis they had out on our table being met with looks of incredulity) we were initially served with the strange deep-fried dough-like Abruzzese signature dish, slightly chewy and dry, but accompanied by a nice selection of flavoursome ham & salami.

This was followed by a fabulous selection of hot and cold antipasti, presented in unusual but highly practical plastic pre-partitioned plates (a la 1970s plane food trays) with the compartments overflowing with fagioli, silverskin onions, potatoes, tomato & beans, chickpeas, lamb's liver and other interesting Abruzzo classics. The liver, fagioli & potatoes were particularly tasty, and nicely balanced by the sharpness of the onions.

Primi piatti was for us a ravioli with lamb, though options such as the house speciality Spaghetti alla Chittara  were equally tempting. The ravioli was well-cooked, not too soft, and not overwhelmed by the rosso sauce.

After this we were more than content to say "basta! grazie!". Unfortunately the restaurant owner's engaging son, whose family had moved back to Abruzzo from Canada, where he had spent most of his pre-teen life, was insistent we tried one of their meat dishes, like many of the Abruzzo restaurants and agriturismi this is considered it seems almost a matter of honour, and we did not want to earn their wrath, so acquiesced gratefully. Served with roast potatoes, the dish was well worth the effort, the lamb not too salty or too "well-cooked".

Our choice of red wine was a produce of the restaurant/agriturismo, and a perfect lunchtime accompaniment, light and slightly chilled but with a bit of a fortified kick to keep us awake. It would have been nice however after all this to have been able to simply go lie down in the attractive-looking open-to-the-elements agriturismo guest rooms nearby…maybe some other time…and another review!

From memory the whole caboodle cost approximately €39…

Ristorante San Giovanni di Fieni Luca
Official Website
Email: trattoriasangiovanni@tiscali.it
C.da San Giovanni
64045 Isola del Gran Sasso (TE)
Tel/Fax: (+39) 0861 976115

Luccioli Summary (5 fireflies = excellent; 1 firefly= poor)

Antipasti           

Primi Piatti        

Secondi Piatti    

Dolce                 

Vino                 

Friendliness       

Value for Money 

A map of Ristorante San Giovanni di Fieni Luca