Breakfast of Champions Italian Style

Whenever Peter and I head out of Stia and we're near Antonio's, I always look out of the corner of my eye to see if his hand is edging toward the turn signal. This is the BEST place around for a panino.
Panini are such elegant creations in their delicious simplicity. But not all panini are created equal. The meat must be superb and the bread even more so. At Antonio's you get both. When you enter his osteria there is the bar on the left and a dining room on the right. Straight ahead is where the goods are. He makes his panini each morning and carefully wraps the bottom of each one in a napkin. Most days these are the choices: proscuitto crudo, tonno and pomodoro,tonno and capperi, salsiccia and crema di funghi and sometimes proscuitto cotto and fontina. Translation: raw ham, tuna with tomato, tuna with capers, fresh sausage (uncooked) with a spot of porcini flavored mayo, and cooked ham and cheese. How fresh is fresh? He makes, cures and smokes his own meats. His bread of choice is something unbelievable. What in the States you'd call focaccia is the closest I can come to explaining it. Not very puffy though and perfectly dimpled and flavored with salt and olive oil. These babies he doesn't sell separately. We know because we've tried to get him to sell us a few pieces saying anything...."We have no bread and everyone else is closed. Please Antonio,sniff, sniff." He'll sell big hunks of the everyday Tuscan stuff but not his dimpled beauties. After going there a million times you pretty much know the selections but he proudly announces them each time as if he were introducing top of the line Ferraris at the Auto Show. Proud man and he should be. These panini are great. My favorite is the plain proscuitto. Just a slice or two in the bread. That's all. He smokes his proscuitto with juniper so there is a little kick to it. Peter often gets the tuna and capperi. That's olive oil packed tuna flaked on the bread with a few briney chopped capers. In the cooler months we have a small glass of vino rosso and when it's warm we like the vino bianco to wash everything down Of course you can get the brioche and cappuccino breakfast if you want. But when you see the quiet little display of pastries you know that the main attraction is il salumi, the meat. When you get to Antonio's in the morning there are usually a few locals there and a couple of trucker types all dressed in various combinations of camouflage, day-glo orange, and masculinity. Sometimes a few carabinieri wander in. Always fun for me so I can check out those uniforms. Everybody with their paper wrapped panini. He'll make you a bigger one if you want, too. Maybe add a few more slices but nothing remotely near the jaw dislocators that are called sandwiches in the USA. Drive past in the evening and you'll see the same types maybe with their hand around a big slice of pecorino.
Now Antonio's isn't the only bar in town where the locals go and have their breakfast. There's a little bar in Papiano that's always filled with the locals from sunrise to sunset. Formichi's Tit Bar is a favorite among the feathered set. We serve coal tits, blue tits, and marsh tits. The real guest of honor is, wouldn't you know it, the great tit. He/ she flies in and out with a startling flash of yellow and black making all the little stubby tits fly away for a little while. And while we're on the subject, our bar is sometimes graced with a gorgeous warbler. A dusky grey blue beauty with a ruddy breast. A skittery little friend who comes and goes before the other tits gang up and take all the panini crumbs. Mangia tutto, my friends!