It was the first taste of the lemon and ginger risotto that started me thinking that this country house high on an Umbrian hilltop was some kind of vegetarian paradise.
Now every time I meet someone who is a vegetarian I rave at them evangelically: you must go to Montali.
The setting is beautiful, with renovated farm buildings sitting in an olive grove in the hills near Lake Trasimeno. You have to drive up a windy road to reach Montali and once there you feel cut off from the hassles of modern life. There is a little pool and you can sit with a book or just watch the Umbrian countryside.
Montali is a nice hotel with comfortable, simple rooms, but it is the food that is the truly special draw. The country house was created some 17 years ago by Alberto Musacchio and his Brazilian wife Malu. The gregarious Alberto is the restaurateur. Malu is the genius in the kitchen.
For dinner she and her team of young chefs produce a four-course set menu of vegetarian haute cuisine. There are strong Italian and Brazilian influences in the cooking but Malu has clearly been inspired by all kinds of cuisines.
Earlier this year I stayed for 10 nights and there were also Russian- and Indian-inspired dishes. Overall, I enjoyed some of the best meals I have ever had in 20 years of being a vegetarian. Only Terre à Terre in Brighton, which I also love, can hold a candle to it.
At Montali, a typical first course might be a fennel salad with rocket or a salad with thin sliced beetroot, soft goat's cheese, and rocket with chopped walnuts.
One night it was a glass bearing an asparagus cappuccino. On another, it was pear and melon with balsamic vinaigrette and the delicious contrast of two cheeses.
The second course might be that amazing ginger and lemon risotto — a house speciality — or a freshly cooked three-sheet lasagne, filled with fresh cherry tomatoes and olive tapenade.
The main course might be Brazilian-style pie with palm heart and black olives, served with green beans topped with ginger.
The desserts are also fantastic — coffee crème brûlée served with a banana drink. Or there is the chocolate lava cake with liquorice ice-cream and kiwi sauce.
A Montali cookbook is forthcoming and I asked Alberto if he was not worried about revealing their secrets. He said: "We want to try and help raise the standard of vegetarian cooking and also, for the true experience you need to come here. It takes a team of cooks almost all day to create the evening meal."
During the day you can either lounge around Montali — they serve lunch to guests who stay — or head out for a daytrip to Perugia, Assisi and Siena. Closer to Montali is Panicale, a pretty hilltop village and the lake.
There is also a wonderful hotel and vegetarian restaurant in a village south of Pisa in Tuscany called Villa Orsini. When I stayed there a couple of years ago the owner said some of their guests did a kind of vegetarian Tuscany-Umbrian pilgrimage between Villa Orsini and Montali, sometimes tacking on a visit to Florence.
A visit to Montali is certainly a soul-rebuilding excursion for vegetarians who have endured holidays where they have struggled to find decent food and counted themselves lucky to score an omelette.
Getting there
It costs €100 per person, per night, to stay at Montali, which includes breakfast and dinner. In low season, it is €80 per person, per night.
Montali, Resp. Alberto Musacchio, Via Montali 23, 06068 Tavernelle di Panicale (PG) – Italy, +39/075/8350680, montalionline.com
Perugia's little airport has also recently gained a Ryanair flight from London Stansted.
Thomson holidays also offer a Montali holiday.
10 travel tips for vegetarians
1. Montali
Country House on an Umbrian hilltop that has a vegetarian haute cuisine restaurant - fanta.
2. Villa Orsini
Hotel and vegetarian restaurant in Tuscan village south of Pisa.
3. Terre à Terre
A top vegetarian restaurant in Brighton - order the Terre Tapas for a taster plate of all of the main courses. Stay in Paskins guesthouse, king of the vegetarian breakfast.
4. Maceo
A nice restaurant in Paris, not far from the old opera house, which is not exclusively vegetarian but has a veggie "garden menu". A good place to have up your sleeve in a tricky town for veggies.
5. La Zucca Magica
This Nice restaurant is probably the best vegetarian place in the south of France.
6. Café Pushkin
This Moscow restaurant is not vegetarian but the menu offers a variety of veggie-friendly pies, pickles and dumplings.
7. Morgan M
Marvel at Morgan Meunier's famous vegetarian taster menu at his restaurant in Islington, London.
8. Bicycle Beano
Jane and Rob run several bike holidays a year in Wales and Shropshire. Different venues are used for accommodation but the food is always vegetarian.
9. Café Paradiso
The cookbooks that have emerged from this Cork vegetarian restaurant suggests they know a thing or about food. Rooms are also available.
10. Mildreds
This institution in London's Soho is often packed – the vegetarian burger of the day and the mushroom ale pie with mushy peas are popular items on the menu.
