Image
  • Writing
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • About my Novels & Writing
    • All Writing Posts
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Scrivener – Writer’s Word Processor
    • iPad for Writers
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Books
    • Book Review Index
    • Favorite Fantasy Novels
    • Andy Gavin: Author
    • The Darkening Dream
      • Buy the Book Online
      • Sample Chapters
      • Short Story: Harvard Divinity
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Untimed
      • About the Book
      • Buy Untimed Online
      • Book Trailer
      • Sample Chapters
      • Reviews
      • Info for Reviewers
      • Press Coverage
      • Awards
      • Cast of Characters
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Games
    • My Video Game Career
    • Post Archive by Series
    • All Games Posts Inline
    • Making Crash Bandicoot
    • Crash 15th Anniversary Memories
    • World of Warcraft Endgames
    • Getting a Job Designing Video Games
    • Getting a Job Programming Video Games
    • Naughty Dark Contest
  • Movies
    • Movie Review Index
  • Television
    • TV Review Index
    • Buffy the Vampire Slayer
    • A Game of Thrones
  • Food
    • Food Review Index
    • Foodie Club
    • Hedonists
    • LA Sushi Index
    • Chinese Food Index
    • LA Peking Duck Guide
    • Eating Italy
    • Eating France
    • Eating Spain
    • Eating Türkiye
    • Eating Dutch
    • Eating Croatia
    • Eating Vietnam
    • Eating Australia
    • Eating Israel
    • Ultimate Pizza
    • ThanksGavin
    • Margarita Mix
    • Foodie Photography
    • Burgundy Vintage Chart
  • Other
    • All Posts, Magazine Style
    • Archive of all Posts
    • Fiction
    • Technology
    • History
    • Anything Else
  • Gallery
  • Bio
  • About
    • About me
    • About my Writing
    • About my Video Games
    • Ask Me Anything
  • Contact

Archive for January 2025

Eating Carovigno – Già Sotto l’Arco

Jan06

Restaurant: Già Sotto l’Arco

Location: Corso Vittorio Emanuele, 71, 72012 Carovigno BR, Italy. +39 0831 996286

Date: August 2, 2024

Cuisine: Southern Italian

Rating: Great, but long

_

We drove out to the pretty town of Carovigno for this Michelin one star place.

The main square of Carovigno just after sunset.


Already under the arch is a place of enchantment, a restaurant located in an eighteenth-century building in the white Carovigno, in Puglia.

A place of timeless charm, this restaurant is like a shell of poetry that encloses the art of a family that since 1982 has enchanted with an unstudied mix of art, culture, solid roots, passion and above all love.

Already under the arch is the creature of Teresa Galeone and Teodosio Buongiorno, creators and interpreters of a very personal gastronomic magic on the border between tradition, creativity and refinement.

Osteria gia Sotto L’arco has 1 star.




Delicious amuses.

Creamy and amazing.

Tuna on a cracker leaf.

Beet cannoli.

Another amuse.

Lots of great bread sticks etc.


Crunchy breads.

And grisini.

I grew addicted to these southern bread rings — called “Taralli Pugliesi” — which have been in the Italian diet for at least 2500 years! These donut shaped breads are ancient, once offered to Demeter as sacrifices (tossed into the fire).


And even more local bread! The bread down here is insane.

More orecchiette pomodoro.


Tuna tartare with “jus.”

Fish.

Seared cuttlefish, chicken jus, bergamot and wasabi.

Risotto with yellow peppers, caciocavallo fondue, sea bass and lime ceviche.

Egg, potatoes and peas.


Seared Snapper with Soy Eggplants.

Lamb (or veal?) chops.

Soufflé.

Dessert amuse.

Dessert amuses.

Dessert amuses shaped like and tasting of peanuts.

Faux raspberries.

The food and service were excellent.

This meal was epically long. That can be a Michelin problem. It might have been 1.5 hours between finishing our savory and getting out of there. Hard with jet lag.


Lovely meal, lovely town.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Sotto – Sicily con Sardo
  2. Sotto Rossoblu Mashup
  3. Sotto – Sicilian & Sardinian Scents
  4. Seconds at Sotto
  5. Eating Venice – Quadri
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food

Eating Polignano – Tranquillage

Jan04

Restaurant: Al Buc Preferito Tranquillage

Location: zza Giuseppe Garibaldi, 4, 70044 Polignano a Mare BA, Italy. +39 080 424 7977

Date: August 2, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Meh

_

A meh lunch at this random location in the main square. It was selected for speed.


Town was gorgeous, however.

Orecchiette con pomodoro. You will see a LOT of these in Puglia.

A Mortadella and pesto pizza that was a pare shadow of the fabulous one I had in Venice.

Pizza Margharita.

Place was just so so — one of the worst meals we had in Italy (given the fact that most were great).

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Venice – Rossopomodoro
  2. Eating Venice – Alle Corone
  3. Eating Milano Marittima – Lo Sporting
  4. Eating Positano – La Cambusa
  5. Eating Santa Margherita – dei Pescatori
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food

Eating Ostuni – Cielo

Jan02

Restaurant: Cielo Restaurant

Location: Vico Pergola, 9, 72017 Ostuni BR, Italy. +39 0831 305925

Date: July 1, 2024

Cuisine: Southern Italian

Rating: Wonderful and interesting

_

Cielo was our first dinner in Puglia. It’s located in the lovely town of Ostuni, inside a nice hotel and has a Michelin recomendation.



The 5-star Relais La Sommità will make your stay an enchanted one with stylish menus featuring seasonal offerings in our elegant Cielo restaurant.

It is a perfect balance between new and ancient, in an unreal atmosphere, told as if it were a century-old fairy tale set in the rocks that characterize the building.
The Chef offers sensorial journeys between tradition and experimentation, through dishes that play with shapes and colors, using local excellences and preciousness from all over the world.

We give you the opportunity to order à la carte or choose the 4 or 7 course tasting menu. To complete our dishes, a we choosed Apulian, Italian and international wines.

When you book, please view our menu and inform us of any intolerances or allergies, just to guarantee an experience that meets your needs.

From the restaurant of the Relais La Sommità, on the highest point of Ostuni, you have a suggestive view of the alleys and the dazzling Lime of the city walls which frame pictures of clear skies.
The atmosphere of the restaurant is one of sober elegance, even the background music can become a pleasant moment of personal silence.

During the summer period the scent of the citrus fruits of the Spanish Garden make the aperitifs of Relais La Sommità unforgettable at sunset.
They have a beautiful garden, but it was so hot (95F perhaps) that we ate inside the cellar dining room.






As usual for this trip, I wasn’t “allowed” to get the tasting menu because the “entire table” had to use the same format.


As amuse of fresh tomato pizza. I think this one was a gluten free bread.

This may have been the “real” (non GF) pizza. The red blob on the right was tomato jam.

Spherized puffs.

Leaf tacos.

A kind of cucumber like fruit.

The local bread was very good with an ultra crispy crust.

CABBAGE. in cold sauce, soft egg, lentil miso and yuzu.

COD. marinated and fried, caroselle of fennel in vinegar and parsley.

RABBIT. in porchetta, apple and green peppers.


Spaghetti Pomodoro.

SPAGHETTONE. smoked, garlic, oil and chilli pepper, green beans, strong
ricotta fondue and anchovies. This had a strong smoky flavor that was fabulous.

BRANZINO. marinated and grilled, helichrysum, zucchini and sweet garlic.

BEEF DIAPHRAGM. with padre peppe liquor, spinach, savory and black truffle butter. This sounded scary but was very tender and tasted great.

An amuse, I think plum flavored.

ARAGUANI CHOCOLATE. spicy, osmosis watermelon and liquorice parfait.

PEACH. three wines, liquid celery and lemon soda.

FIG. iced and creamy, crusco pepper compote and herbal cheese.

Petite Four.

Petite Four.

Petite Four (fabulous, actually).

Petite Four.


This was a very nice meal, certainly better than our first two in Venice. Quite elegant.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Venice – Alle Corone
  2. Eating Venice – Quadri
  3. Eating Baja – Somu
  4. Eating Senigallia – Madonnina del Pescatore
  5. Eating Santa Margherita – La Paranza
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Ostuni, eating-italy, Italian cuisine, Michelin, Ostuni, Puglia, Wine
All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2026 All Rights Reserved
Programmed by Andy Gavin