Positano :: All Things Andy Gavin

Archive for Positano

Eating Positano – La Cambusa

Aug14

Location: Piazza Amerigo Vespucci, 4, 84017 Positano, Italy. +39 089 875432

Date: June 28, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent, and right by the beach

You’d think that restaurants right by the port and the main beach wouldn’t be up to snuff — but far from it.

Located right next to the main church at the edge of the beach.

The extra story gives it a nice view and a great atmosphere. Of course up the hill are far better views, but who wants to hike up there in the middle of a beach day?

Caprese. Fresh local buffalo mozzarella and tomatoes.

Fried zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta cheese.

Crudo. Italian sashimi. Certainly a bit of Japanese influence (soy sauce, wasabi), but with Italian touches too like the fruit and olive oil. Very nice fish with bright flavors.

Penne pomodoro.

Spaghetti pomodoro.

Seafood ravioli. Housemade ravioli stuffed with fish and covered with shrimps in a gauzetto sauce. I love this tomato, garlic, white wine reduction sauce.

We didn’t have an extensive meal at La Cambusa, but everything we did try had a really nice polish to it, above average for sure. If I get back anytime soon I’ll have to go for dinner. Or if I finish inventing my Star Trek Transporter, then I’m all over it.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating-italy, La Cambusa, Positano

Eating Positano – il Tridente

Aug13

Restaurant: il Tridente

Location: Viale Pasitea, 148, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. +39 089 811111

Date: June 27, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Great food, great service, great view

Returning hastily from Revello at a late hour with no restaurant reservation, we quested around for a last minute spot to dine.

Online reviewers liked the restaurant hidden away in the Hotel Poseidon (which we actually had reservations at before we found a great villa to rent).

After a long 200+ stair descent, then a hike up four flights in the hotel, the location turned out to be an oasis of paradise. Live jazz was playing as well.

Check out the view.

And to the other side. The Italian/American “hospitality manager” dropped by our table too and was quiet charming.

Bread is good as usual.

The menu.

An amuse of eggplant and raw shrimp.

2013 Azienda Agricola Tenuta San Francesco Costa d’Amalfi Per Eva. I liked this wine, ordered it on two occasions.

Tomato salad.

Saute misto di frutti di mare. Mixed seafood saute.

Bread to soak up the garlic sauce.

Penne pomodoro.

Linguine artigianali con scampi, pomodorini del pendolo e vongole veraci. Linguine with scampi, clams, and cherry tomatoes. I couldn’t get enough of this guazzeto sauce based local dish.

Spigola al sale profumata al finocchietto selvatico con patate e verdure. Sea bass cooked in salt crust with wild fennel, potatoes, and vegetables.

The salty shell keeps the fish moist.

And plated with olive oil. This dish is common to the whole Mediterranean. Not always the salt prep, but the basic grilled/baked sea fish with olive oil.

Chocolate gelato.

Delizia al limone Amalfitano. This incredible cake consists of a sponge cake dome with a lemon creme or lemon gelato center, and covered in lemoncello cream sauce made from Amalfi lemons. It was just so creamy lemony good.

Dolcezza del Vesuvio. A miniature volcano of chocolate and orange.

Il Tridente was a touch hidden, but it was well worth trekking to as the food was great, the view spectacular, and the service very nice.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
Comments (1)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: Delizia al limone, eating-italy, Hotel Poseidon, il Tridente, Positano

Eating Positano – da Gabrisa

Aug12

Restaurant: da Gabrisa

Location: Viale Pasitea, 221, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. +39 089 811498

Date: June 26, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Fine, but not great

Our assault on Positano’s restaurants continues. Because of the stairs, we tended to focus for dinner on places not to vertically offset from our own location.

Da Gabrisa is located just up the road (there is only one) in a nearby hotel.

As usual (for Positano) it features a lovely view.

The menu.

2013 Azienda Agricola Tenuta San Francesco Costa d’Amalfi Per Eva. 90 points. Delicious Italian white blend from campanula. There is a strong Aroma of fresh flowers and honey. Floral notes forward with a powerfully nutty finish. This wine is “sweeter” (still fully dry) than the very tart single varietals.

Bread.

An amuse of toast with whipped cheese.

Pumpkin cream soup served with fresh buffalo ricotta cheese.

INSALATA ISABELLA, CON PERA, NOCI E SCAGLIE DI PARMIGIANO. Green salad, with pear slices, Parmigiano flakes and walnuts.

ANTIPASTO GABRISA, VARI GUSTOSI ANTIPASTI DI VERDURE DELLA NOSTRA TRADIZIONE. A house speciality made of a mix of tasty vegetables starters of our Neapolitan tradition.

Penne pomodoro.

Spaghetti pomodoro.

RISOTTO ALLE VERDURE GRIGLIATE, MANTECATO ALLA SCAMORZA SORRENTINA. Risotto with grilled vegetables, creamed with local melting cheese.

CALAMARATA DI GRAGNANO ALLA PESCATORE. Local large pasta rings prepared with a cherry tomato sauce, cooked with shrimp, squid, black mussels and clams.

UNA SCELTA DI VARI GELATI TARTUFO PRODOTTI ARTIGIANALMENTE DA GENNARO BOTTONE. Special Tartufo ice creams produced by a famed maitre chocolatier.

SEMIFREDDO AL TORRONCINO CON PRALINA DI MANDORLE CARAMELLATE. Frozen dessert, with caramelized almonds and caramel.

Mild Italian raison cookies.

Service at da Gabrisa was great (although it was consistently good in Positano in general). The owners appeared to be American and our server certainly was. She was extremely friendly and accommodating.

Food was solid and well presented. Flavors and prep were perhaps slightly less tuned up than a few of the other places, but it was still quiet good.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: da Gabrisa, eating-italy, Positano

Eating Positano – Next2

Aug09

Restaurant: Next2

Location: Viale Pasitea, 242, Positano SA, Italy. +39 089 812 3516

Date: June 25 & 28, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Excellent updated style

My wine and food buddy Walker recommended we try Next2 while we were in Positano, and as it happened it was just a couple hundred feet from our villa — plus 115 stairs. Next2 as it turned out was not only our favorite Positano restaurant (of the 7 we tried), but a bit more updated and modern in terms of menu and presentation than most.

The menu.

2013 Pietracupa Greco di Tufo. 89 points. Oh so dry!

An amuse of caprese.

And one of bruschetta.

Bread. I like the crispy flat things.

Tre assaggi della tradizione. A selection of three traditional starters: a small pizza, stuffed zucchini flowers, and eggplant parmigiana. It all tasted as good as it looks.

Crocchette di verdure e provola, insalata all’aceto balsamico. Vegetable and smoked provola cheese croquette, mixed salad with balsamic vinaigrette.

Insalata caprino fresco, mandorle tostate e miele. Mixed greens with fresh goat cheese, toasted almonds and honey.

Carpaccio di pescato, finocchi, arance e sale al sedano. Catch of the day carpaccio (in this case amberjack), fennel and orange salad, celery salt.

2014 Cantina del Taburno Falanghina Sannio Falanghina del Sannio.

Penne pomodoro!

Penne with butternut squash and seasonal truffle.

Tagliolini, aglio, olio, rosmarino, pomodoro candito e scarola. Taliolini with garlic, olive oil, and rosemary served with roasted tomato and bitter green.

Gnocchi di patate, zucca, salsiccia e tartufo di stagione. Potato gnocchi, butternut squash, pork sausage and seasonal truffle.

Polpette al sugo, polenta e provolone del Monaco. Traditional meatballs cooked in tomato sauce served with polenta and Provolone del Monaco. Pretty old fashioned dish in some ways, even Italian American (which is basically modified Southern Italian cooking). But this version was really good. Maybe not quite as good as the ones at Gusto, but very good.

The dessert menu.

Chocolate gelato.

Chocolate torte with almonds and vanilla ice cream.

Cannolo nocciolato ripieno di mousse al mascarpone, sorbetto al caffe e baileys. Hazelnut cannoli filled with mascarpone cheese, coffee sorbet and baileys sauce. Yum!

Semifreddo of almond and hazelnut with caramel sauce.

Overall, Next2 offers up a really delicious take on modern Amalfi fare. It’s spiritually faithful, but turns up the style and presentation by a couple of notches. Not to the formal level of the Michelin places, but enough to feel fresher than the completely straight up trattorias.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating-italy, Italian Cusine, Next2, Positano, Wine

Eating Positano – Mediterraneo

Aug08

Restaurant: Mediterraneo

Location: Viale Pasitea, 236, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. +39 089 811651

Date: June 25, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Solid neighborhood Italian

Night two in Positano and yet another… you guessed it… Italian.

The manager of our rental property recommended this one.

Which also abuts the road, although doesn’t actually straddle it this time.

The view.

The menu is big again, and includes a handle pasta key.

2014 Cantina del Taburno Falanghina Sannio Falanghina del Sannio. Another pretty tart local white, this time from the Falanghina grape.

Ricotta stuffed squash blossoms.

Caprese of local cherry tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella.

Mixed appetizer plate with various cured and fried seafood. Octopus, cured anchovies, fish carpaccio, fried shrimp.

My son’s pomodoro.

Gluten free pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce.

The better homemade pasta with eggplant and tomato sauce.

Risotto del Mediterraneo. Mixed seafoods.

Gelato with chocolate sauce.

Hazelnut semifreddo.

The food at Mediterraneo was good, although not superlative. Still, they made up for it with a certain lively atmosphere and extremely friendly staff. There was live music, and they passed out tambourines, and just generally kept the party going.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

By: agavin
Comments (0)

Posted in: Food

Tagged as: eating-italy, pasta, Positano, Wine

Eating Positano – Saraceno d’Oro

Aug04

Restaurant: Sarceno D’Oro

Location: Viale Pasitea, 254, 84017 Positano SA, Italy. +39 089 812050

Date: June 23, 2015

Cuisine: Italian

Rating: Tasty Amalfi Tratoria

On our first night in Positano we hiked (slightly) down the hill to a recommended local spot.

The name translates as the Golden Saracen (generic term for moorish, implying pirate in this context).

The resteraunt is squeezed on both sides of Positano’s single road, split by the busy traffic.

The menu is fairly epic.
2014 Feudi di San Gregorio Fiano di Avellino. The Amalfi whites are dry dry dry.

Packaged gluten free bread!

Insalte Mixte.

Marinated local small fish like sardines. These are always yummy.

Gli sfizi del Saraceno. Potatoes and croquets with ham, fried bread, mozzarella cheese and mixed fried vegetables. A whole lotta fry!

Penne pomodoro.

Penne alla Siciliana. With mozzarella and eggplant.

Scialatielli allo scoglio. House made pasta with sea food. This was a really nice pasta with an al dente bite and a great tasting gauzetto (garlic, cherry tomato, wine sauce).

Grilled Spigola (seabass).

Roasted potatoes.

t

Tiramisu. Biscuit with cream and coffee. Too much straight whipped cream. Maybe some mascarpone, but certainly not the complex Zabaione, pastry cream, whipped cream, mascarpone I make.

Profiterole al cioccolato. Pastries stuffed with chocolate cream, covered in sauce and whipped cream.

Limoncello. I really want to love limocello, because I do adore lemons, but it’s just so alcoholic tasting. Burns my palette. Better as a gelato flavor.

Overall, food in Positano seems to be a bit more touristy/international than some of the other spots we visited, although this was of course solidly Italian. Still, it was very tasty. The mixed seafood pasta being a highlight.