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Eating Naples – Palazzo Petrucci

May07

Location: via Posillipo 16 b/c, Naples, 80123, Italy

Date: August 11, 2024

Cuisine: Seafood Italian

Rating: Fabulous food and setting

Our final dinner of the trip was at this Michelin 1 star in Naples. They didn’t have a direct email so we were worried about the dietary restrictions, but it turned out not to be a problem.

Palazzo Petrucci is the restaurant with the best view of the Gulf of Naples . On the beach of Posillipo Bay , it is nestled between Vesuvius, the island of Capri and Palazzo Donn’Anna. A breathtaking view that accompanies the enchantment of a refined cuisine born from the gastronomic tradition of the city that loves authentic flavors. Fish, meat, seasonal vegetables are the ingredients that enrich the seafood and land dishes of our menu.

Amuse of cabbage. Snacks and the first drink were actually upstairs with a higher view.

More amuses.

Puffy bread amuse.

Ham and cheese sandwich amuse.

Brioche with anchovy.

Great bread.

GF breads.

Grisini and Taralli.

“salad” of chickpeas and shrimps. Delicious and refreshing.

Stuffed eggplant.

“Spaghettone” pasta with clams. A linguine vongole except the pasta was actually made from cuttlefish! Delicious.

Penne pomodoro.

Classic vegetarian pasta.

GF version.

A salty pasta with lemon and caviar — lovely.

Seabass with pepper. The pepper had tons of flavor.

Passionfruit amuse.

Dessert of chocolate, cream, and candied nuts.

Pastiera Napoletana — in parfait form.

Petite Fours.

Turned out to be another great meal and a fitting wrap up to our tour of Italian 1 stars!

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Eating Naples, eating-italy, Italy, Michelin Guide, Naples, Palazzo Petrucci

Eating San Foca – Aura

May04

Restaurant: Aura

Location: Via Lungomare Matteotti, 157, 73026 San Foca LE, Italy. +39 0832 700433

Date: August 10, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Hotel restaurant

My wife always likes to try the hotel restaurants — even when I’m a bit skeptical. We compromise with just once per hotel. Some hotels in Europe do have great restaurants, but we don’t usually pick the hotel on that basis.

The Aura Restaurant is set in an intimate location with breathtaking endless view on the Adriatic Sea. “Well begun is half done” is the philosophy applied to the breakfast, where you can delight in a welcoming, relaxing atmosphere. For lunch and dinner serves contemporary Italian inspired dishes; it offers a refined, creative and gourmet cuisine from the passion of our chefs.

In the preparation of dishes, they reproduce the colors and the emotions of both the Salento land and the surrounding seas

Bread.

Grisini.

More bread.

Whipped butter.

Amuse of fried oyster.

Mozzarella with tomatoes and anchovies.

Sgombro del Mediterraneo afumicato all’ulivo leccino, crema al latte di capra nostrano, nocciole tostate e scapece di zucchine. Mediterranean mackerel smoked with Leccino olive trees, local goat’s milk cream, toasted hazelnuts and courgette scapece. — this was pleasant enough.

Orecchiette pomodoro.

A special of lobster Spaghetti. This was excellent.

Risotto Carnaroli invecchiato 18 mesi mantecato al canestrato pugliese, asparagi scottati alla maggiorana e gocce di vincotto ai fchi. Risotto Carnaroli aged 18 months creamed with Apulian Canestrato cheese, seared asparagus with marjoram and drops of fgs vincotto. The heavy fig sauce on the edge was a touch distracting.

Polpo croccante, la sua maionese all’olio Evo, tempura di alga nori, carciof e salsa agrodolce di peperoni. Crispy octopus, its extra virgin olive oil mayonnaise, nori seaweed tempura, artichokes and sweet and sour pepper sauce. — this was a little weird and heavy.

Chocolate gelato.

Spuma al mango gelato, croccante alla mandorla e cioccolato. Frozen mango foam, almond brittle and chocolate.

La nostra versione dei Tre Cioccolati. Our version of the Three Chocolates.

Overall, that this was arguably the weakest dinner — or certainly close to it — in terms of “kitchen” spoke to how good the general quality of our dinner restaurants was this trip.

For more Italian dining reviews click here.

By: agavin
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Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Aura, Eating San Foca, eating-italy, Hotel, Italy, San Foca

Eating Otranto – ArborVitae

May01

Restaurant: ArborVitae

Location: Via G. M. Laggetto, 38, 73028 Otranto LE, Italy. +39 0836 806816

Date: August 10, 2024

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent more “classical” Italian

We wanted to visit the lovely town of Otranto at night and so chose this place, probably from TA.

Telling the story of Sirio Paiano means also and above all telling the story of a city, Otranto, and its sea, the Adriatic.

These two living elements have contributed so much to his education and his idea of cooking, still the beating heart and fulcrum of a strip of land that between the coast and the countryside offers a variety of products with unique characteristics.

In chef Sirio’s dishes, the aromas, flavours and “memories” of this fascinating place can all be found.

Fresh catch.

We ate in the lovely garden.

The menu.

This aglianico rosato was excellent.

Caponata and burrata. Local!

Raw fish. Shrimps, scampi, tartare, carpaccio.

White broad bean puree, Otranto chicory, bread croutons.

Orecchiette pomodoro.

Spuare spaghetti with tomatoes and fresh local shrimps. Very simple but delicious.

Fresh fish cooked “the med way.”

Grilled vegetables.

Tiramisu-sud. grandma’s pasta, coffee, almond milk, ricotta, mustacciolo powder, egg white. I was a little dissapointed in this, thought I might love it.

Dried figs, copeta, chocolate.

This was one of the most “typical” (aka regular) restaurants we ate at for dinner this trip, but the cooking was very solid and tasty.