Italy: Restaurants dug in trees mark new trend

Bologna, 17 Aug. (AKI) - Now Italy's delicious cuisine can also be experienced in small restaurants dug in trees, a trend widespread in the country, according to the La Stampa newspaper.

Inspired from the bar "Bigbaobab" opened in a village in South Africa, that acquired worldwide success , a number of restaurants in Italy were inaugurated in trees.

Among these is the renowned "Osteria del Bugeon", located in a four or five century old chestnut tree in a national park south west of the northern city of Bologna. The restaurant is in a meticulously decorated garden surrounded by small, picturesque and newly restored houses.

There is a huge door in the mighty trunk of the tree, with a welcoming label indicating the entrance to the restaurant. Inside is an exclusive circular dining space with a circumference of 824 centimetres and a height of six metres, capable of hosting meals for three.

In the northern region of Piemonte there are chestnut trees that are nine or ten metres in circumference and about 350 years old. In the neighbouring region of Emilia Romagna, too, there is another chestnut tree with an inside dining area composed of 9 metre circumference and an age of 400 to 500 years. Others can also be found near the Alps, in Tsahagnèr de Derby, in Val D'Aosta, such as one measuring 780 centimetres in circumference and bearing the weight of 4 centuries on its roots.