Tenuta Gangivecchio

My entire Tornabene family excitedly made the long trip from a rented villa near Scordia to Gangivecchio for lunch. It was May, the vistas spectacular on the trip. Little did we know that a long awaited trip to meet the author of the cookbook all 15 of us have would be so disappointing. First we had ordered two vegetarian meals. They were not available and the owner yelled to the waitress, in Italian, just bring two of what we had for breakfast. One son speaks Italian. That set the tone for the dinner. The dinner had been cooked by two people who were at the next table there eating after having attended the cooking school. It was lackluster at best. The servings were skimpy, the wine mundane, red table wine. They even charged our 18 month old granddaughter 25 euros for a meal, of which she ate not one bite. The owner seemed to be worried that we would try to get free meals, since our surname is Tornabene. She very quickly denied being related to any Tornabenes, claiming that all of the records from her family had been destroyed in a fire. I think perhaps, had she wanted to inspire us to contribute to her Friends of Gangivecchio restoration fund, she could have been a little more hospitable. She gave us an obligatory history lesson about the Abbey. I would not recommend this remote restaurant to anyone. I am not sure I 'd even recommend the cookbooks written by the owner. When we saw her hanging on the balcony railing, smoking a cigarette, as we entered, we should have turned around and driven away. Stay away highly overpriced, average Italian food.