Sardinia: Suckling pig at Hotel Su Gologone

Suckling pigs roasting at Su Gologone in Sardinia.

A cobbled path twists its way through an olive grove to an ivy-covered villa made from stone quarried in the great limestone massif of the surrounding peaks of the Supramonte. Step inside to a fin de siècle setting straight out of a Merchant Ivory movie: copper pots and pans hang on cobalt-blue walls in a candle-lit dining room that smells fragrantly of myrtle and rosemary. Racked before the hundred-year-old fireplace is the restaurant’s signature dish: suckling pigs, skewered on metal rods, roasting before a glowing fire. Su Gologone, a country inn tucked away in a valley along the island’s mountainous eastern coast, is known for two things: its romantic setting (Madonna, Richard Gere, and Stella McCartney have all taken refuge here) and Signora Palomera’s authentic Sardinian cooking—roasted suckling pig known as porceddu; homemade ravioli stuffed with wild fennel and pecorino; and seadas—a type of fritter stuffed with cheese and lemon peel, then drizzled with local chestnut honey. Order a bottle of the region’s famed blood-red wine, Nepente di Oliena, make a heart-felt toast, and put your appetite in the hands of Signora Palomera. She won’t disappoint. Tomorrow morning you can work it off with a trek along an ancient shepherd’s path to an overlook where, on a clear day, you can see the tiny fishing village of Cala Gonone 10 miles away.