Restaurant: Varius
Location: Via Giovanni Presta, 5, 73100 Lecce LE, Italy. +39 320 263 4936
Date: August 7, 2024
Cuisine: Italian
Rating: Modernizing local classics
Due to a combination of factors, we ran out of Michelin’s that were open on this particular night or were willing to deal with the complexity of our Gluten Free guest’s “rules.” It’s noticable how much less flexible top places have become post pandemic.
In any case, I picked this as it was the #1 place in Trip Advisor — yes, giving that lame site one last chance to fail. Plus it was named after one of the consuls who lost at Cannae.
The Varius Restaurant in Lecce was born from the owner’s ten-year experience in the restaurant business and from her dream: to open an intimate and elegant restaurant, furnished and managed with care and attention to detail, from the dining room to the kitchen.
Varius Food is therefore the realization of a dream, of a passion that takes shape in a few tables and 35 seats, in traditional and at the same time modern cuisine and in the warm welcome in the dining room.
The menu.
Fish fritter.
Ricotta and candied something.
Tuna cubes with tsuyu and lime, gazpacho. Marinated cucumbers and crispy rice nest* (Allergens: tuna, soy)
Fried anchovies Salento style accompanied by our aioli and spicy sauces (Allergens: gluten, fish, eggs, garlic)
Fried fish and mayo, just like the east coast shore places.
Frisella crumble with ricotta mousse, marinated anchovies, caramelized red onion and caper flowers (Allergens: gluten. Lactose, fish)
Orecchiette pomodoro.
Shellfish risotto with raw scampi in the mistral contrada li vecchi (Allergens: shellfish, sulphites). Sometimes it’s tough to chose between pasta and risotto!
Grilled or Gallipoli-style tuna fillet with flavoured breading (Allergens: gluten, fish)
Martinesi Bombette au gratin with caciocavallo fondue and toasted hazelnuts (Allergens: gluten, lactose, nuts). These cheese coated/filled beef rolls with hazelnuts were quite interesting.
TA didn’t fail. Sure, the food here was in the bottom third of our dinners this trip, but our standards were high and it was pretty solid — not to mention being quite fast.