Caminetto d’Oro is a medium sized place that was not full but they are known for their steaks so we went. It was a lively place even so and service was good. They started with a creamy cheese on a spoon. It was tasty but it would have seemed nicer to have a bowl of it for the table to go with the ample bread basket, but I guess this way you could just eat it plain if you wanted to.

With the waiters caution we split the pasta soup, as the steaks do not come in small sizes. The soup was very tasty and a nice amount.

 

The steak arrived still steaming and cooked nicely rare. We chose the Piedmontese breed of cattle as we had not previously tried it. Although it was nicely tender it did not have the taste of the Fiorentina. The meat was fairly lean and needed to be doused with the olive oil they served with it. We preferred the strip side of the porterhouse cut because the tenderloin was just too dry due to lack of fat. It tasted more like pot roast than steak meat. The strip side more closely resembled the American tenderloin. The roast potatoes that accompanied the meat were very nice. We ordered two side vegetables, peas and asparagus. The portions were small but the peas were marvelous – sweet and so very fresh.  The asparagus were also good but not as exceptional.

 

We had seen some nice strawberries at the market so chose them for dessert with housemade ice cream and balsamic.  It was a great choice and good to the last drop.  We finished the meal with a glass of grappa for which they brought us some cookies to go with. Perfect!