My favorite trip in a long while. Yes there are tourists but they are mainly day trippers and the island is yours before 10 and after 5. Even during the day you can find at least a nice bagno for sea, lunch and nap. Below are the bagnis of note, as well as our favorite food discoveries.
- Ristorante da Ciro "Lo Zodiaco": old fashioned restaurant by the port considered to be the best for fish by locals. Best dishes were sliced marzano tomatoes with just a squeeze of amalfi lemon and scorpion fish spaghetti.
- Il Riccio: an institution, with 1 Michelin star to boot. A bit of a scene at the bagno, but lovely lunching and views of Ischia, Procida and the Bay of Naples over the distant horizon. Favorite dishes were vermicelli (local for spaghetti) ricci and a salt crust turbot from further down the coast. A nice bottle of local Furore washed this down, followed by the very unique and exciting "Temptation Room" filled with desserts and sweets including a sensational baba.
- La Grottelle: a traditional, family-style trattoria with la mama still behind the stove at a tender age of 76. Famous for the ravioli Caprese, but pizzas are even better. Dinner and lunch nice but latter even better thanks to the stupendous views of the Amalfi coast.
- Lido del Faro: a more local bagno on the other side of the island, with a superb restaurant. Top dishes here were a cuttlefish and green pepper pasta, which I will need to replicate. We washed this down with a local Fiano Raiano, a simple crisp white.
- La Fontalina: our daily cantine, and one of my favorite places anywhere. Yes, there are tourists, but it doesn't detract from a sublime location and beach restaurant. The veggie antipasti bar is unsurpassed, including favorites such as steamed carrots with chili, sautéed escarole with raisins and pine nuts, fried eggplant caprese style, vinaigry zucchini etc., etc. The sautéed clams/mussels, the famous zucchini spaghetti, alici marinati, fried anchovies were all favorites, but the list could go on!
No comments:
Post a Comment