Naples and Sicily: Mostly Great Eats

[teezeetoo]

Grand trip, marvelous country, delightful people, delicious food. High points: Gli Ulivi and Il Mosaico in Ischia, both at Terme Manzi Hotel, Palazzo Petruccia in Naples, Coria in Caltigironde (perhaps our favorite of the "fancy" stops and an amazing value at 28 euros for a 3 course meal of great virtuosity), Trattoria Donna Rosa in Siracusa, Osteria de Mariano in Siracusa, Monte San Guiliano in Erice, Agriturismo Massimo de Mar in Avolo. Disappointment: Ristorante Il Dehors in Agrigento, the most expensive of our meals other than Il Mosaico and by far the least interesting.` In addition to restaurants (and leaving out the fine pizzerias and gelaterias) special kudos to the quality of the fish and produce in Sicily where, because we rented a house, we could shop and cook. Easily the best tomatoes, strawberries, apricots, oranges, fennel, etc. that we've ever had. Go, Eat, Enjoy.

[jen kalb]

Im loving this report, in an area we are planning to do more travelling in, and wondering if you could elaborate a litle more on your experiences

[teezeetoo]

hi, let me know what you are interested in. i posted a longer report on the Slow Travel Italy forum which dealt with places we stayed and sites we visited as well, of course, as the food. we visited ischia, naples, cefalu, siracusa, avola, noto, modica, caltigironde, selinunte, agrigento, erice, monreale and palermo over a three week period. we stayed in ischia/naples for a week, siracusa for a week which allowed us to visit the east and southeast, and split our last week between agrigento and just outside of palermo. we barely scratched the surface of what Sicily has to offer and didn't get nearly enough of Naples. It was all wonderful!

[chefathome]

Man, the simple yet sublime ingredients in Sicily are just so good. You're right about the people. They are hospitable and friendly. I find less affluent places such as Sicily are my favourites. They seem real and down to earth. I love that many still love off the land and are dependent upon what is fresh that day.

[barberinibee]

Thanks for posting and could you elaborate on your meal at Palazzo Petrucci? Dishes, ambience and price? I agree with you about the great tastiness of basic ingredients in Sicily.

[teezeetoo]

We were four friends and the chef's menu gave us the opportunity to have a 4 course meal for 50 euros if we were all able to agree on the same courses. We found ourselves quite happy with the option. The amuse bouche was a charmiingly presented tiny cauliflower cream soup. I wish we had kept the menu but as close as I can remember our first course was a cold smoked fish dish with greens, our second was a memorably good cuttlefish and pasta course, and our third was a lamb with apricots and pistachio. Desert was an intensely flavored and lovely chocolate and orange creation. Wines were reasonable and, best of all, lots of local choices and we particularly enjoy the opportunity to try local wines that we cannot get back in the states. We started with a light refreshing white recommended by the sommelier and progressed to a a more full-bodied white that he recommended for the lamb. Neither cost more than 20 euros and I believe the first cost less. We found the service friendly and interested in our responses to the food and very willing to work with our little bit of Italian and their little bit of English. What we especially liked was our sense that here, as with Coria, the kitchen was not throwing out tradition but building on it to try new and appropriate approaches to old and quite wonderful recipes. It is a lovely location as well, in the center of Old Naples, and we will keep very nice memories of this experience.

We note that others have sometimes complained about the service. We do sometimes
wonder if people who are not used to taking two hours or more over a well-prepared and convivial dinner expect the kitchen to "hurry up" and feed them in 30 minutes. We have also found that diners often criticize the slowness of the restaurant to bring a check. Our take is the staff is assuming you are enjoying the experience and, unless you tell them you are rushing to make some subsequent engagement, the staff in Italy may well consider it rude to throw the check on the table and hustle you out the door. In any case, we found the service generally good everywhere in Naples and Sicily and often particularly kind and helpful.

[barberinibee]

thanks for the full elaboration! I think you are right in your theories about complaints about service sometimes arising from misunderstandings about the culture. My take on slowness in getting the bill is (1) the priority is always getting food to other tables, so once you are done with your meal, you are last on the "to-do" list, and (b) the server is seldom the person who has the authority to actually tote up your bill, and he or she can't make that other person go any faster. I admit that I now routinely get up and head for the cash register rather than wait out the eternity that elapses between when I asked for the conto and when I actually get it.