In our recent stay at Borgobrufa Spa Resort over Christmas (2023), we dined at Borgobrufa’s Michelin-starred restaurant – Elementi Fine Dining – on Christmas evening. Our meal was really fantastic, and quite reasonable for a Michelin star restaurant. This post reviews our meal and experience at Elementi Fine Dining. In sum, everything was great and I highly recommend a meal at Elementi!

Elementi is located on Borgobrufa’s property, right behind the main checkin area. The entrance is rather grand, with a main entrance that kind of resembles an American Olive Garden (this is the only thing reminiscent of the OG) and a pretty garden.  Oddly enough, Elementi backs up to Borgobrufa’s other restaurant, Quattro Sensi (which was also fantastic and has a Michelin mention!).

Once inside of Elementi, the main dining room is quite small, with only a few smartly appointed tables in what resembles, in my opinion, an upscale living room. The dining room gave kind of a 70s vibe, and I was certainly into it! There is also a real fireplace and if you visit in the summer, you will be treated to gorgeous views before sunset.

Our meal began with a very professional introduction to the restaurant, in which our (amazing) waiter explained the menu options. We also were provided water service, in the prettiest glasses. For menu options, Elementi offers two tasting menus for 100 euro per person each. If you do a tasting menu, the entire table must do the same tasting menu. However, guests can order a la carte, with prices for a la carte listed beside each dish. As it was Christmas, we opted for the Ispirazione menu!  We also started our meal with a glass of sparkling rose made with Sagrantino grapes, and then opened a bottle of Sagrantino to open up while we drank our rose. Both wines were excellent. I would also note, again, that our waiter was truly fantastic and did not make us feel pressure to order any particular menu or drinks.  Also, wine pairings are available for the tasting menus, but we ordered by the bottle as we really like specific wines from this area.

After making a decision on the tasting menu and wine, our tasting menu promptly began!

FIRST COURSE: PART 1 OF THE PROLOGO

Our first course, called the Prologo and was actually two courses, began with un uber local olive oil paired with a slice a sour dough bread made from local, Umbrian spelt. The olive oil was excellent and the bread was perfect – pillowy and tasty. Unfortunately, I only got a photo of my half-eaten sour dough. Also brought out, were the pictured little hands, each holding a local taste – 1) a crispy spelt cracker and 2) a local Norcia sausage. Both were excellent, and I really wish that I had taken a photo of this dish. Definitely off to a good start!

SECOND COURSE: PART 2 OF THE PROLOGO

Next up was the second part of our “first course,” an Italian antipasti. Antipasti translates to “before the meal” and is often a selection of pickled things to get the palate going. For this antipasti, we enjoyed a pickled zucchini, pickled peppers, olives from the Borgobrufa grounds, and the most delicious bread filled with a tomato sauce made from locally grown tomatoes. Each of these dishes was incredible (even the olives, of which I am not a fan), but the bread with the tomato sauce was the real standout in my opinion. The presentation was also top notch, with each bite being served in its own little dish.

THIRD COURSE: COLIGERE

Our next course was titled “Coligere,” which literally translates to “to pick” or “to take”, and that is exactly what this dish was about. According to our expert waiter, who, once again, was so incredibly knowledgable about everything food, wine and Umbria, this dish consists of a variety of micro greens local to the area that someone had recently foraged from the land. We were suggested to eat each micro green alone, possibly with a dip in more local olive oil with a touch of a salt and spice combination mixed into the oil. I think we were all a bit skeptical of this dish, but it turned out to be really interesting, and I loved how it was presented on the white plate. Elementi paired this dish with locally made kombucha (the orange drink in the short glass). And finally, more fantastic bread was served with this course, presented a top a wood and greenery bouquet. This bread was probably my favorite of the whole evening, being incredibly soft, pillowy and buttery.

COURSE FOUR: LA ZIA

The next course, and the start of our meat courses, was probably one that I was least excited about – a string ray fish soup. That just did not sound appealing.  In any case, I decided to try it, and it turned out to be very good and not “weird” at all.  To get things started, our waiter explained that this is a “poor man’s dish” utilizing ingredients that were easy to get and not in fashion with the wealthy crowd back in the day. The course started with a broth made from the sting ray fish over a mixture of local greens and vegetables. Of course, the broth was served a gorgeous Domiziani Ceramics bowl.  The broth was a tiny bit fishy, but nothing too crazy. Next, in a much larger bowl, we were presented with the sting ray fish, which was surrounded by traditional broccoli, a local broccoli variant, and broccoli that was pureed into a foam. Traditionally, the soup and the fish are mixed, but the chef choose to keep them separate here. Surprising to me, the sting ray looked and tasted like a pretty mild fish, nothing too crazy! I really loved it with the “foamed” broccoli!

The La Zia dish was also served with long, crispy Rosemary breadsticks and at the end, a surprise of taralli with raisins.  Taralli are circular crackers originally from Puglia, but popular in many parts of Italy now.  I particularly liked this surprise, as the taralli were really great with the raisins! Once again, the Domiziani Ceramics dishes were totally on point.

COURSE FIVE: ROMA CITTÀ APERTA

After the fish course, we moved on to one of my favorites, pasta! The first pasta course was called Rome is Open! This course consisted of three large gnocchi made from local spelt. The cooking was finished in a pan right in front of us and one of the waiters/sous chefs plated the gnocchi directly from the pan onto our plate! There was a small amount of sauce with the gnocchi – I cannot recall exactly what was in the sauce, but it was a lot of butter!

COURSE SIX: CCCP

The second pasta course was a play on one of Rome’s most famous pasts – cacio e pepe (which is usually pasta, Pecorino cheese, and black pepper). This dish was made of large tube pasta tossed with Pecorino and black pepper, but the sauce was made from local peas and chickpeas. I thought this tasted great, although it did not really taste like a cacio e pepe. Once again, I loved the Domiziani Ceramics plating.

COURSE SEVEN: ANIME

On the seventh course, we moved on to meat dishes.  The first meat dish was veal sweetbreads with veal marrow in a sauce made with morel mushrooms. I was sort of iffy on the description of this dish, but it was excellent – possibly my favorite of the entire tasting menu. It reminded me a lot of foie gras. I forgot to take a photo to start, so here is the dish missing a few bites.

COURSE EIGHT: UNA STARNA ITALIANA

Our final course was a delicacy of the area – chargrilled partridge (how Christmas appropriate, LOL), pine nuts, and cracked wheat. In layman terms, it was a cut of partridge served over a wheat base and topped with a sauce that was almost dark chocolaty in nature. The partridge really tasted a lot like chicken, and the dark sauce was really tasty. Given that this was the last “main” course, I was really too full to finish it.

COURSE NINE: IL POETA

Next course, a dessert course, yet also another savory bite. Particularly, beef heart tartare with bee pollen and beeswax. The dish was presented with a half-glass of honey wine and bee wax soap, which guests used to rub on their hands before eating the meal. I was honestly not too into this dish, especially since I thought it was a dessert course, but it was not bad.

COURSE TEN: DOLCE E VIAGGIARE

The tenth and final course was probably one of our very favorites – Dolce e Viaggiare! This dessert was four desserts each representing a different European country: Italy, France, Spain, and Austria. To make it even more fun, the various dishes were served on a plate with the corresponding flag, of course made by Domiziani Ceramics.  For Austria, we had the famous Sacher Torte, for Spain, a Basque cheesecake, for France, the a cake with an orange filling that I cannot recall the name, and for Italy, the Sfogliatella.  All were great, but I think the Basque cheesecake was everyone’s favorite.

I finished my meal with an Amaro from Jefferson, one of the best Amaros in Italy.

All in, I thought Elementi Fine Dining was one of the better Michelin star restaurants experiences that we have had. The price was reasonable, and the food quality and service level far outranked the price. One would easily have paid $400 USD for this meal in NYC.

STEAL OUR TRIP

Elementi Fine Dining: Via del Colle, 38, 06089 Brufa PG, Italy. Open Thursday – Sunday, 19:45 – 00:00.  Also open on certain holidays (like Christmas, when we dined). 100 Euro per 10 course tasting menu without drinks, a la carte also available.

Borgobrufa Spa Resort: Via del Colle, 38, 06089, Brufa di Torgiano, PG Italia – Phone +390759883 – Email info@borgobrufa.it.  Open year round. Read my post on Borgobrufa as a spa resort here!