At the Crossroads Where Nature, History and Taste Meet: A Day in Olgiate Olona

Once upon a time there was a grey wagtail that lived in a large park on the Olona river. Its friends were the squirrel, the owl, the magnificent dragonfly and the heron, but it also got along with the chub and the emerald toad. Since these likeable animals did not live far from the city, there were always many people coming to visit them: cyclists, families, children and the elderly. For a day we too decided to immerse ourselves in these fairy-tale atmospheres by visiting Olgiate Olona, one of the six municipalities of the Olona Valley, partly carved out by the ice of the last glaciation, partly by the river itself. The origins of this town probably date back to Roman times, and various finds would testify to the existence of an ancient military station near the Cascina del Buon Gesù, on the road towards Lake Maggiore.

Later, in the Middle Ages the Olgiate area was known as a “portion of arable land enclosed by ditches and hedges”, called “augia”, the word from which the place name Olgiate derives. Throughout the Middle Ages and beyond, the town was an important religious and administrative centre thanks to the parish church that developed over the Roman village. We begin our walk in the historic centre on the trail of the castle that isn't there: according to some sources, until the 12th century the ancient castle of Olgiate was still standing, its presence also recalled by 17th- and 18th-century plans that show a ring-shaped settlement, with fortifications and ditches.

Walking through the characteristic little streets of the centre, lined with well-kept gardens and old houses with terraces that in the warm season are covered by a shower of flowers, we reach the heart of the town, namely the Parish Church of Saints Stephen and Lawrence, patrons of Olgiate. The church preserves several precious works inside, including the painting “Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well”, by Paolo Pagani. We also visit the Church of St. Gregory the Great and that of St. Anthony Abbot. Continuing our tour, we also enter the park of the 19th-century Villa Greppi-Gonzaga. Here there is a beautiful noble chapel, as well as some municipal offices and the library. In the late afternoon we decide to follow in the footsteps of the ancient Romans heading for Lake Maggiore, visiting Cascina del Buon Gesù.

Until 1966 the hamlet was crossed by the Milan – Gallarate tramway and there was a block of buildings, now demolished, called Palazzo dei Maghi where the coaches stopped to deliver the mail. We visit the Parish Church of San Giuseppe, built from 1944, next to the 18th-century Oratory. After this lovely walk, we arrive pleasantly tired and hungry at a crossroads. But this time the choice does not put us in difficulty, since it is the Ristorante Pizzeria Bivio, in Corso Sempione. The pleasant atmosphere and the warm colours of the furnishings immediately put us at ease, and it's only the beginning. “We renovated and opened this place in 2007, after inheriting it from my father-in-law Vincenzo. Before that, for thirty years we ran the former Vesuvio, also in Olgiate Olona, together with my parents Dora and Attilio.

My wife learned a great deal from them, and in fact now it is together with her, Annamaria, that we run the restaurant, with the help of the cook Cassiano Volpato and the waitress Monica”, the owner Michele Vitagliano tells us. The Bivio is the official restaurant of Pro Patria Calcio, and we, for fair play, decide to taste a bit of everything, starting with the pizzas. We taste the Pizza Bivio, with mozzarella, porcini, taleggio, chilli, speck and rocket, the Pizza Lunare, which is a double pizza with a very rich topping, and the Pizza Pecorino, which is actually a focaccia, with pecorino, parsley, garlic and fresh cherry tomato. The other part of our group instead chooses the restaurant specialities, starting, depending on preference, with a fish appetiser or a platter of cold cuts.

Next we taste tagliolini with lobster, paccheri with prawns and rocket and some exquisite risottos, with Castelmagno or radicchio. We wash down these delicacies with various excellent Italian wines, especially from Campania, Puglia and Tuscany. Among the main courses we choose fillets of sea bass in a potato crust, king prawns baked with porcini and saffron, while our “carnivore” friends opt for the tagliata with asparagus and the beef fillet with two peppers. We also taste excellent grilled fiorentina steaks. Our dinner ends with irresistible desserts, all homemade, from tiramisù to tarts, torroncino semifreddi, chocolate, pineapple and apple cakes, plus limoncello bavarois: all temptations we will soon give in to again, since to burn off dinners at the Bivio there are always the walks along the Olona river.

Francesca Bertha

FOR INFORMATION:

Ristorante Pizzeria Il Bivio Via Sempione, 50 Olgiate Olona (VA) Tel.: 0331/641500