La Sosta - PERUGIA

Excellent value and good home cooking make Bar La Sosta a keeper. Casual and great people watching as the locals churn in and out. Some sit for meals other hit the deli. The pastas are all excellent and the appetizers are solid. Friendly staff with an Italian attitude. Can't get enough of it.

Bar la Sosta/Caffe della Sosta, Via Perugina 12, Passignano, Umbria. We had a week’s holiday en famille at Lago Trasimeno – the forth largest lake in Italy; lots to see, experience and appreciate. Umbria – middle Italy at its best – traditions, landscape, history, cuisine, artistic/cultural impact and, not least, home to one of the Central Italian languages/dialects that contributed to the modern language. Start with the islands in the lake – we were on our way to Isola Maggiore late that morning. Exit the Perugia Bettolie superstrada towards the lake and there immediately in front of you down the ramp is this smart looking two story period building that must have recently had a make over/been reconditioned) straight out of a popular tourist brochure for Umbria. There were a handful of key words across the front of the place ‘pasticerria’, ‘bar’, ‘tabacci’ and ‘giornali’ … it looked like our kind of place. We had 30 minutes before the ferry left the terminal in Passignano for Isola Maggiore. The name of the place ‘La Sosta’ said it all – ‘Stop’ or ‘Pause’; we had coffee/brioche in mind. Equally useful, we were able to park directly opposite. We were travelling in two cars. Cross the road and into the bar and the place was all but empty – it was Wednesday, and the gods were clearly on our side that morning. There were nine of us – three couples and three little kids – so the order would be a demanding one given the time we had available. If the place had been busy we’d have had to give it a miss. It turned out to be exactly what we were looking for – friendly, efficient, comfortable place to sit and time in hand to enjoy that cappuccino/brioche. Nice atmosphere. Inside there was a long narrow bar with tables/chairs for around 30 people – seated and facing the glass fronted counter full of all kinds of pastries, brioche, cornetti, ciambelle, girelli, etc. – you could see that attraction/specialization ‘pasticceria’ given the regular casual ‘coming and going’ trade that was stopping to buy, but not to stay. Further into the bar there were a handful of auto gaming machines, but just the one player during our time. There were also local wines and preserved foods in jars stacked on shelves to capture the interest of the passing trade. We ordered at the counter – the first of our cars to arrive – four adults/two kids – with a plateful of brioche to share and two cappuccini. The friendly barista suggested that we choose a table and he’d call us back for the coffee. There was seating for a dozen outside under shade and decorative filigree ironwork – three tables – one of which became ours. We collected more chairs and shuffled things around. The other car turned up – couple and their child – followed us through the ordering routines and ended up at the next table outside over looking the road into Passignano. There was time to enjoy the breakfast break – great coffee and fresh brioche – notwithstanding the timetable that we had to meet the ferry. In the building next door to La Sosta there was a macelleria with a life size plastic cow out front – it proved irresistible to the kids – photo opportunities to send back to nonni and nonne. As we left a couple of bikkies chonk chonked noisily in and set their bikes up on stands outside the front of the bar. Then it was all rush … couple of kilometres into the centre of Passignano easy), drop off everybody to buy the tickets at the ferry terminal easy) and find somewhere to park desperately difficult) … which is when we began to feel that we’d under estimated things. The ferry departed at 12.00 mid day. Both drivers caught the ferry – running, last on board – having found parking space €4/four hours – time we’d planned on the island). It took 20 minutes on the ferry to Isola Maggiore where there are no cars. Imagine, time/space/life without cars. The day had started well with late morning prima colazione at La Sosta and continued much the same with the timelessness of the walking trails around the traditional settlements/points of interest on this small historic island. Sure, the village provides host to the many hundreds of tourists who catch the ferry each summer – and offers museums, restaurants, bars, ancient ruins and views across Lago Trasimeno. Here it is that you catch a glimpse of the spartan lives faced by the fishing communities who once lived here. Peter Steele 14 February 2020

We called in after seeing this place last year but too late to call in, we waited a year to go back and it was so worth it, this place has cakes that make the grand masters of art look like amateurs, the style and beauty of the cakes is just outstanding, you will have great difficulty in choosing one two or even three, so do what we did go back loads of times and enjoy the coffee and cakes and try them all, if you are lucky you maybe there when the cheesey muffin bread is on sale this is quite expensive but worth every euro the loaf is a huge muffin shape and loaded with chunks of cheese and grated cheese on top, we cannot wait to go back to Passignano sul Trasemeno the whole area is superb but this has to be the star of them all.

Assolutamente consigliato. tutto assolutamente eccellente, i proprietari sono tutti cordiali e disponibili. ciliegia sulla torta: Sono rimasto sorpreso dal fatto che mi hanno regalato una delle loro meravigliose torte di formaggio in un giorno. Bene!

Tutte le volte che vado in Umbria una fermata alla Sosta è obbligatoria. Di solito ci fermiamo per una gustosa colazione, viste le paste meravigliose che fanno, ma questa volta è stato per un pranzo e devo dire che ne è valsa comunque la pena.