While we were staying in Santo Stefano di Sessanio, there were two nearby stops we were excited to visit. The first, Ristoro Mucciante, is a famous stop for Arrosticini (a local style of grilled meat on sticks) where you eat outside and grill the meat yourself. The second stop is an old church in Santo Stefano just outside of the city.

Ristoro Mucciante

Ristoro Mucciante is a small outdoor restaurant situated alone surrounded by mountains in the Gran Sasso National Park. It was originally built as a movie set. In the 1960s, Italian directors, pioneered by Sergio Leone, started creating western thriller movies for Italian and American audiences. They featured strong themes of violence, politics, and black and white morality. What started as an Italian phenomenon spread and Hollywood directors began coming to Europe and filming in Spain, Italy, and other low-cost locations. The building for Ristoro Mucciante was created as the “Way Station Café” for the 1977 movie Hitch-Hike directed by Pasquale Festa Campanile.

Today the restaurant is popular with motorcyclists and hikers. They primarily serve arrosticini, a local traditional food started by shepherds making skewers of lamb on outdoor grills. Ristoro Mucciante features a walk up counter where you can order drinks, cheese, bread, and skewers of raw meat for you to grill. There are picnic tables all around to sit at and experience the breathtaking view while waiting for your order. Once it is ready you take your meat over to the arrosticini grills (long, narrow gutter-style) to roast and season the meat skewers.

Arrosticini is traditionally enjoyed outside, often with bread, or lentils on the side. This was the perfect atmosphere to enjoy them in. The food was excellent, the setting inspiring. So inspiring that when we came home my partner decided to use his work bonus and buy one of the grills. It comes with a box so you can cut the meat in tiny square skewers. The first time so far was a big success!

Chiesa della Madonna del Lago

The Chiesa della Madonna del Lago was built in the 1600s, next to a small lake outside the town center of Santo Stefano di Sessanio. The church is currently closed in disrepair due to damage from the 2009 earthquake. It is dedicated to Mary of the Lake, which some believe to be a reference to Diana in times past.

The landscape was so peaceful as we drove down from the height of the city to the area with the lake. The lake is lovely with flowers all around and lots of tadpoles and frogs in the water. The church itself is in rough shape but has construction materials around, so perhaps there are plans to repair it.

There were beautiful wildflowers everywhere. One thing I knew I wanted was to find a rock to take home from this place, I brought rocks from home to exchange for the ones I found on my trip. When we parked at the lake, I stepped out of the car and looked down at my feet and immediately saw a lovely piece of flint – the state stone of Ohio. It felt like such a confirmation and blessing of the trip.